Hi,

I still use them everyday, from simple things like being an alarm clock/timer, getting the weather, finding flights, playing music from Spotify and of course getting the news. Also writing my own skills / Google Actions is fun.

Very happy them

Have fun

Martin

I tend to use spotify on my mac and my iPhone, and still use siri to turn on and off my hue lights

For convenience, yes - but only until I have google assistant on my next phone I suppose. I can open the door from the phone via the SmartThings app, but I don't want to take the handset out every time I approach the garage. I suppose I could open it via geofencing and IFTTT but we own two cars (and only one garage) and the phone doesn't know what car I'm in :-)

Hi,

just got the latest software update for my Amazon Fire TV which means it is now is an Alexa client.

The disadvantage is you have to press the button to speak. You don't need to say Alexa and of course the results are spoken but displayed with graphics on the screen.

It is also great that my Google Home recognises different voices.

Have fun

Hi,

the announcements from Google IO look very promising. Still have not got multi user voice recognition. Hopefully, it will appear soon. Google Lens also looks very interesting.

It is great to see the competition between Google and Amazon.

Have fun
Martin

Has anyone got multiple Google Homes throughout their apartment?

Do they play nice together? Was thinking of adding one by my front door and/or bedroom, but would like to know if practically that's any good?

What starts to worry me a bit is that neither are officially available in Switzerland.

hi,

why does that worry you ? The both work perfectly here and both have German versions. I doubt there will never be officially supported versions in Switzerland.

Loving all the new features that Google Home is getting...I wonder if the free phone calls will also come to Europe.


Have fun
Martin

Are these the features we're talking about?

https://www.theverge.com/2017/5/17/1...lendar-io-2017

I like the calendar thing! That should have been out of the box though.

I'm quite tempted to get one in my room also now, so I can ask it to tell me what i've got on today, followed by a bit of news or music. It's as close as I can get to feeling like Tony Stark for now!

Some simple things: warranty handling etc, for instance, considering that these devices aren‘t sold here or only at a massive premium. The Amazon products don‘t support Swiss addresses, which is an issue as well, as lots of services don‘t work here (e.g. anything where you can order something). Google is better in this respect I suppose.

Well, the good thing is that Nest products are now officially available here. Considering that Google uses similar retail solutions for Nest and Google Home, there‘s hoping that the latter will eventually be fully supported here.

Hi,

By the way did you see now there is going to interop between Cortana and Alexa. A very clever move by Amazon as it will eventually plug the big problem of Alexa not being able to answer questions as well as Google home. As for waranty I have never really though about it but I can just pop over to Lorrach/Freiburg and buy an Echo or a Google Home. It looks like you can change the languages on the devices and so you get a Germany warranty if that is important.

I have the beta preview of Google Home and device and I am getting pretty much all the updates including the rather pointless Bluetooth update. Just curious to see when I will be able to make phone calls. I don't use either device for ordering stuff.

I also use my Fire TV to access Alexa.
Have fun
Martin

If people here are using Echo Dots, what speaker are you using with it?

I'm using a Bose unit but it's not the latest version and I have a bluetooth dongle on the rear AUX in socket.
Sound quality is great and much better than the Dot's own speaker.
However, after twenty minutes or so of inactivity, the Bose turns it's volume down to 0 so if you want to use the Dot again, you have to manually turn up the volume each time which rather defeats the hands-free ability of the whole thing.

So what speakers are you using that don't have the auto-shut off?

In writing this, I just came up with a possible, but quirky solution, using a PIR near the Dot linked to a microcontroller. When the PIR is triggered, the uC would send out a sequence of IR to mimic the Bose's remote and thus turn up the volume.

I have a BIG Jambox which I use occasionally and it works very well.

But I recently got three of these badboys!
Stacked together they are awesome... but a little pricey. They work individually and I took one of them with me to the US and used it every day inside and outside.

Both brands connect and work immediately with my Echo Dot.

I have been using the echo dot itself without any additional sound device, but I was looking for options like Bose. After having read the above comments, I assume that Aifi would be a cool option if it is working perfectly with alexa.

By the way, Anybody using multiple echo dots at home ?

It's only the older (much older) Bose units that have this problem. The newer ones the auto-off function to be disabled.

I've got a solution now anyway for my old unit - you can buy a Bluetooth adaptor that plugs directly into the iPOD dock, rather than into the Aux socket which doesn't switch off after half an hour.

No, but I was thinking of turning a spare raspberry Pi into one.

Are you planning to get more?

Good to know, thanks

I am planning to have another one yes, the one that I/we are using is being used mostly for music/radio at the living room, daily usage I would say.

I am planning to get another one for the so called office/guest/hobby room where I am planning to have more detailed usage like home theater, Chrome cast(s), NEST devices and more "home" compatible further tests.

Yep. Three actually. (Kitchen/Livingroom, Office and the Cave) Why ?

Didn't see this thread before, 6 pages, phew, couldn't read all of it yet.

Well, I took delivery of my Echo Dot yesterday and after a bit of re-naming jiggery now have it working with the Philips Hue lighting. Ok yes it's essentially a gimmick, but it is pretty cool not having to unlock my phone to access my Hue apps to turn the lights on and off. Hit rate is around 7/10 commands understood so far. However as I only bought one I can only do it in the Living room so far. I also didn't know that it artificially blocked out Switzerland addresses which I had to admit is very annoying, though being Amazon I guess I shouldn't be surprised.

Now I see Google Home is maturing so I am tempted to buy that too to try it out, although I will likely wait for the next version as apparently it will feature a built-in Wi-Fi extender.

So, those of you who have tried both:

1. Which one do you prefer... Amazon Echo or Google Home? Interesting comparison here https://www.forbes.com/sites/jaymcgr.../#5fdae0fd64a6
2. Any tips and tricks to maximise Alexa usage in Switzerland?

Cheers.

I use the shopping list function a lot.
Our dot sits between the kitchen area and sitting area and whilst cooking, if you find you are running out of something, you can add it to the list without breaking stride and then later print the list out or transfer it to your smart phone.

So last week I duly printed out the list, stuffed it in my pocket and later retrieved it at the supermarket.

It read:

• Olive oil
• Sugar
• Weetabix
• Poo
• Poo
• Poo Poo
• Poo
• Poo Poo Poo
• Poo
• Poo
• Poo
• Poo
• Poo Poo
• Poo
• Poo Poo Poo
• Poo

I found out later that this was my six year old's handywork!

We use Alexa together with the app Bring! for shopping.
Philips Hue lights are also being used
Tune-in and Spotify are main usage area for us.
Also for setting timing for cooking, games, etc
I am also looking for a way to get my 3 year old non-english speaking child somehow involved :/