There is an Amazon Alexa Event happening now. They just announced local voice control, not sure if this will be tied to their new Echo with a home hub built in or if it will work with HE as well. If it does this will be a big leap for Alexa ahead of Google...
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And a plug. They're making quite a firm step into true home control. Probably Staples Connect scraps tbh... Local voice is cool... Wish it supported Apple Music... I know I'm the only person that uses Apple Music but it works with the walled garden... One step closer to Spotify...
I am an Apple Music lover too. Sorry won’t go to Spotify now that it is owned by MSFT. Every time they buy something they screw it up.
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The question I'm wondering, is it indefinite local control or conditional on the Echo maintaining constant power? Philips Hue Bridge for example, will continue to control lights when I lose internet, but if I then lose power momentarily, but still don't have internet, I can no longer control lights via the Hue Bridge until internet is restored. I think Caséta bridge acts the same way, but not sure if the telnet connection from Hubitat circumvents that. Something I need to confirm.
Can't recall for sure, but I believe Wink is one of the few cloud based hubs that will continue to have local control even if it's power is temporarily lost and the internet is out.
Seems I should return new ordered Echo Plus and wait for the 2nd Gen Echo plus...
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Might sound better, but unfortunately the volume control of the first generation Echo and Echo Plus is a great feature and it's a shame it gone now.
I've been waiting for an affordable 'wireless' 2-1 home theatre solution for years. Those new flat screen TV have incredible video/pictures but the audio is absolute crap.
Their new Sub and 2 Echo combo looks like the cat's meow. Can't wait.
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Hi there, so does the echo do local control by now?
Certain commands are supported locally for devices directly paired with the echo plus. There is no way alexa will ever be fully local, it relies on a huge cloud infrastructure. No embedded device will ever have enough power... at least not in our lifetimes.
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Ok thanks. But I guess pairing e.g. my hue lights directly to the echo and the hue bridge at the same time won't be possible? To use local control I would have to unpair them from the bridge and pair them with the echo hub?
Correct. You can only pair with one hub. That said I don’t know that you can even pair hue bulbs directly with an Echo? Never had a reason to find out. Keep in mind this would also now mean you can’t control them from HE locally as you’d need to setup cloud based Alexa routines with HE virtual switches to control them.
Hue bulbs pair fine with the Echo Plus and will work with local voice control.
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Ok thanks....I'd lose local Hubitat control then,...that would suck😀
I was just wondering if a driver for something like @iharyadi home made zigbee devices could be developed to leverage some of this local control functionality.
Or could it be possible to link alexa directly to hubitat zigbee to use this functionality with some development?
