One of the more popular smart lock options on the market is getting a bit more versatile today. Schlage has announced that it is bringing expanded Alexa support to its Sense and Connect smart locks. While the two have long supported HomeKit and basic Alexa commands, this update gives further controls to users…
Amazon is adding new personalization options to Alexa, starting first with users in the United States. The new Alexa Skill Blueprints feature makes it easy for anyone to create a range of custom responses for Alexa, ranging from jokes to instructions and much more.
After being teased last summer, ecobee has officially announced pricing and availability for its new Switch+ smart home accessory. Switch+ is available for pre-order starting today and ships on March 26 for $99 in the US and $119 in Canada. Like other smart light switches, Switch+ includes Alexa integration as well as HomeKit support for controlling lights — but Switch+ takes integration with Amazon’s voice assistant a step further by building it in to the light switch.
If you have family or friends with Amazon Echo devices, you can now contact them using Alexa’s free messaging service from your iPad – no Alexa hardware required …
HomePod may leave a lot to be desired in its current state (and the occasional wood-stained ring), but we’ve seen no reports of Siri spontaneously laughing for no apparent reason. The same can no longer be said for Amazon Echo’s Alexa…
Canary has announced that its home security camera system now works with Amazon Alexa devices with screens including Echo Spot and compatible Fire TVs. Alexa support lets you use voice to view live video from connected cameras. While the company is shipping Echo integration, Canary is still not offering a clear roadmap for when Apple HomeKit support may be coming.
In the run-up to the HomePod’s delayed release, I’ve been experimenting heavily with Amazon Alexa in various forms. While Alexa is most present at home where I’ve placed Echo Dots throughout my house for controlling lights, I’ve also tried Alexa in the car using Garmin Speak which is a dash-mounted GPS with Amazon’s voice assistant built-in.
In the wake of the HomePod delay, I’ve found myself tinkering more and more with Amazon Alexa-enabled smart speakers like the Sonos One and Echo Dot. The main appeal of HomePod for me is HomeKit control, managing Apple Reminders and Cultured Code Things tasks and entries, and controlling Apple Music and Apple Podcasts playback.
I’ve found that most HomeKit accessories also work with Amazon Alexa, so voice-enabled smart home control is relatively easy to do with Alexa. Adding new entries to lists in Reminders is something else I frequently do with Siri, and luckily it’s possible to make this work with Alexa too.
Sonos has officially launched support for controlling Spotify music playback using Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant with the wireless speaker system. The partnership between the three companies brings voice control to the largest music streaming service on hi-fi wireless speakers ahead of Apple’s delayed HomePod smart speaker launch.
ecobee is the maker of what I consider the best HomeKit thermostat on the market, and the new version called ecobee4 adds built-in Amazon Alexa voice control and works with Google Home. ecobee4 offers the same features as the HomeKit-enabled ecobee3 which we reviewed last year, so should iPhone users spend the extra money on the new version?
AOL, now part of Verizon, is today launching an updated version of its Alto email app that it first launched back in September of last year. Today’s update includes new calendar integration, Amazon Alexa support, and more.
One of the highlight new features arriving in today’s update is full calendar integration in the app’s Dashboard interface:
The high-performance far-field microphones found in Amazon Echo products may soon find their way to other hardware companies as Amazon has announced that the technology will be available to those who want to integrate into the Alexa Experience.
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In a blog post long on words but short on specifics, wireless speaker firm Sonos has announced that it will be increasingly focusing on support for streaming music services – but also moving into voice control. CEO John Macfarlane says that in the immediate term, the company will need to layoff employees as part of its refocusing plans.
Macfarlane hints at a possible collaboration with Amazon, using Alexa, the company’s competitor to Siri.
We’re fans of what Amazon has done with Alexa and the Echo product line. Voice recognition isn’t new; today it’s nearly ubiquitous with Siri, OK Google, and Cortana. But the Echo found a sweet spot in the home and will impact how we navigate music, weather, and many, many other things as developers bring new ideas and more content to the Alexa platform …
The Amazon Echo has become somewhat of a hit success, with many users preferring Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant to Apple’s Siri because of faster speech recognition speed, reliability and overall better performance. Amazon is continuing to compete in the voice assistant space with the release of two new products today: the Amazon Tap and Echo Dot.
The new products focus on expanding Amazon’s voice assistant into more rooms of your house as well as on-the-go. It’s an interesting strategy to make Alexa-dedicated devices, whereas Apple currently offers Siri only as a feature of its existing iOS, Apple Watch and Apple TV products.