Boss Your Z-Wave Devices Around

So I broke down and purchased the Amazon Echo. I wanted to try it while I had the WINK setup in my home, as for right now, the only two hubs that will work with it are the WINK  and Smart Things (coming soon).

Like the WINK, the Echo doesn’t have an Ethernet port. Setup was initiated by downloading an App on my smartphone. (Unlike the WINK, there is a web interface available too, once you initiate the install.) I put the small cylinder (about the size of a fat bottle of wine) in the living room. A female voice (Alexa) guided me through the rest of the setup. Soon I was asking questions, making jokes (which she didn’t understand), and looking for more.

I synced up my iHeartradio and WINK to the Echo, which gave me voice command to play music, and actually control my Z-WaveProducts.com devices! (I had to go back and rename some devices on my WINK, since complicated names were more easily misunderstood).

Within two days, I had my son giving commands to ‘turn off ugly light’ and ‘turn on my desk’ as well as asking factual questions and controlling music stations (and volume – 10 is  damn loud!). Pretty cool for a device so easy to setup.

My wife was jealous, however. I think Alexa has a crush on me.

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