Discussion
bristolracer said:
Alexa can sing happy birthday
Do NOT under any circumstances tell my 9 year old this. He’s enjoying Alexa so far (arrived today) but he’s autistic and “happy Birthday” is one if his triggers for some unknown reason.Anyway, finally managed to get Alexa to work with my lightroomrf switches via a raspberry pi running Domoticz. Very nice.
I’m finding the app fairly awful though. It’s really, really slow and that’s running on an iPhone X.
bristolracer said:
durbster said:
Anyway, back on topic it looks like Google are matching the Echo price drops. You can pick up a Google Home Mini for £34.
https://store.google.com/gb/product/google_home_mi...
Just ordered onehttps://store.google.com/gb/product/google_home_mi...
Seems if you use google services,mail calendar etc it will be a lot more use than Echo
I’m surprised Apple haven’t gone into this in a bigger way, it’s the kind of technology that is fun to use and intuitive mostly. It’s just the sort of thing Apple used to go for under jobs.
I’ve got loads of echo devices and lights and lamps all going on and off by themselves. It’s all great but utterly pointless. Unless the point is just to have lots more little things you like happening during the day. Which for me it pretty much is tbh.
Edited by anonymous-user on Saturday 25th November 22:40
El stovey said:
To me this is the drawback with echo, although my calendar links to it from iCloud it’s not obviously linked to Apple stuff like google is with the google devices.
I’m surprised Apple haven’t gone into this in a bigger way, it’s the kind of technology that is fun to use and intuitive mostly. It’s just the sort of thing Apple used to go for under jobs.
I’ve got loads of echo devices and lights and lamps all going on and off by themselves. It’s all great but utterly pointless. Unless the point is just to have lots more little things you like happening during the day. Which for me it pretty much is tbh.
Apples version is the most expensive and is delayed til the new year. I’m surprised Apple haven’t gone into this in a bigger way, it’s the kind of technology that is fun to use and intuitive mostly. It’s just the sort of thing Apple used to go for under jobs.
I’ve got loads of echo devices and lights and lamps all going on and off by themselves. It’s all great but utterly pointless. Unless the point is just to have lots more little things you like happening during the day. Which for me it pretty much is tbh.
Edited by El stovey on Saturday 25th November 22:40
I finally got to use an Echo in real life after we got one at work last week. It's very impressive so I gave in to Black Friday and ordered a Dot for home.
I'm going to connect it to a HEOS speaker but I can't figure out whether that'll interfere with its normal operation. Does anyone know?
I'm still uneasy about the fact that it's basically a wiretap in my home but if it means I can switch the shed lights off without having to get up...
Apple's big successes came from spotting a market where the idea was there but the execution wasn't. MP3 players existed before the iPod but they weren't that user friendly, tablet computers were around long before the iPad but they were outdated, slow and heavy and the software didn't work on them.
I'm going to connect it to a HEOS speaker but I can't figure out whether that'll interfere with its normal operation. Does anyone know?
I'm still uneasy about the fact that it's basically a wiretap in my home but if it means I can switch the shed lights off without having to get up...
El stovey said:
I’m surprised Apple haven’t gone into this in a bigger way, it’s the kind of technology that is fun to use and intuitive mostly. It’s just the sort of thing Apple used to go for under jobs.
I think the problem for Apple is that Amazon and Google appear to have done it properly already, leaving Apple with nowhere to go with it.Apple's big successes came from spotting a market where the idea was there but the execution wasn't. MP3 players existed before the iPod but they weren't that user friendly, tablet computers were around long before the iPad but they were outdated, slow and heavy and the software didn't work on them.
ecsrobin said:
Apples version is the most expensive and is delayed til the new year.
Yeah £350, not due till March and just one big speaker. Echo has all this great third party integration and you can have echo dots for £35 in a shed or garage or toilet or wherever. The echo dot will be a hugely popular Christmas present and then people will want some more in different rooms and wonder what the echo or echo plus is like and suddenly they’re hooked. Echo is at £70 odd and even the plus is around £90. Most people aren’t going to be putting larger Apple HomePods all over their house at £350 each.
It just seems crazy when Apple started with Siri years ago and amazon, who are (were) a shopping website have come along and made this fantastic and very intuitive stuff.
durbster said:
I'm still uneasy about the fact that it's basically a wiretap in my home but if it means I can switch the shed lights off without having to get up...
Might interest you.Tapping a device.
https://www.wired.com/story/amazon-echo-wiretap-ha...
And what happens to your data.
https://www.wired.com/story/amazon-echo-and-google...
Edited by anonymous-user on Sunday 26th November 09:33
Now I've got the third one from the black Friday deal, I've set up multi room. Renamed them as Bedroom, Living Room and Kitchen, and a group called everything, and now I can tell it to play radio 6 in the kitchen while I'm getting up in the morning etc. Is there an easy way of connecting to the Bluetooth soundbar on this when I say play on everything?
durbster said:
I'm going to connect it to a HEOS speaker but I can't figure out whether that'll interfere with its normal operation. Does anyone know?
All sounds will go through the speaker if you use the 3.5mm connection. I'm not sure about connecting with Bluetooth.It's an extra device but the way the Google versions interact with chromecasts actually makes load of sense now I've used them together, interaction is via the units speaker but music will play on the chromecast through your speakers.
ajprice said:
Now I've got the third one from the black Friday deal, I've set up multi room. Renamed them as Bedroom, Living Room and Kitchen, and a group called everything, and now I can tell it to play radio 6 in the kitchen while I'm getting up in the morning etc. Is there an easy way of connecting to the Bluetooth soundbar on this when I say play on everything?
Due to the delay of Bluetooth amazon disable Bluetooth speakers for multi room so you will not be able to set up the sound bar for this purpose. 
the Mrs has banned it already. bristolracer said:
dmsims said:
Apple offering in this field is dead in the water
No it isn’tBecause Apple
There will be plenty of fans paying £400 for something every one else will buy for £99
I'm a Google fan and I now have four Dots for the same reason.
I find it hard to understand anyone buying Apple or Google in this regard.
The price of Echo Dot's make them throwaway money. Plenty of people who own Dots will still go out and buy Apple because its by Apple.
I nearly bought a Google Home this weekend, before settling on the (for me) more sensible option of a second Dot (and a decent speaker.) The idea of putting £40 of Dot to one side wasn't a significant consideration, it's so cheap I was purely thinking about what I'd use most in future.
I nearly bought a Google Home this weekend, before settling on the (for me) more sensible option of a second Dot (and a decent speaker.) The idea of putting £40 of Dot to one side wasn't a significant consideration, it's so cheap I was purely thinking about what I'd use most in future.
Watchman said:
I'm a Google fan and I now have four Dots for the same reason.
I find it hard to understand anyone buying Apple or Google in this regard.
Yeah but the Google Mini is the same price as the Dot, the only issue with the GH Mini is that it has no 3.5mm output. If you want to use it for reasonable quality audio then obviously this is an issue, but I'd say that it's higher standard of voice recognition still makes it a contender.I find it hard to understand anyone buying Apple or Google in this regard.
That was what won me over anyway.
Watchman said:
Two serious Apple fans I know have bought Echo Dots because of the lead they have.
I'm a Google fan and I now have four Dots for the same reason.
I find it hard to understand anyone buying Apple or Google in this regard.
I do too, but I do know someone who turns his nose up at Echo devices I'm convinced will have the Apple one immediately.I'm a Google fan and I now have four Dots for the same reason.
I find it hard to understand anyone buying Apple or Google in this regard.
Everyone I work with has Apple kit and treats it like a tool, but the guy I'm thinking of has a whole different attitude, like it's fashion.
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