Voice activation devices

sprite1275 · 21 Sep 2016 at 20:55

I've been oblivious to these but apparently 'Alexa Echo/Dot' are out soon and 'Google home' not long after.

Seen a few reviews of the echo and it seems pretty nifty. Personally I've pre ordered a Dot with netamo thermostat. Already have some Hue lights which will work with it.

Anyone else pre ordered?

Moley · 21 Sep 2016 at 22:20

I pre-ordered an Echo. Been wanting one for ages since an old colleague who works for Amazons black projects department told me about them.

It seems a great device.

CapitalOne · 21 Sep 2016 at 22:23

Agreed and also pre ordered an echo and 2 dots. I've been glueing smartthings, hue, sonos etc using siri and cortana but they are limited to single "depth" actions. Alexa seems to be able to string commands together better and has IFTTT integration.

bainbridge · 21 Sep 2016 at 22:39

Use it on my phone a fair bit, Sony z5 compact.

The Google woman is quite intuitive.

sprite1275 · 22 Sep 2016 at 20:04

Hmmmm. Looks like I might have to go for the Google offering as I've just had an email off the echo sellers saying i have a high return rate and they may close my account.

Don't really want to be investing into an eco system that I might be barred from.

Diddums · 22 Sep 2016 at 20:18

Nope. Call me old fashioned / tin foil hat / whatever but I ain't having NOTHING in my house that can listen to me. I even unplug my webcam when not in use. I *think* my Samsung smart TVs listen to me but that's about it.

Kreeeee · 22 Sep 2016 at 20:21

Diddums · 22 Sep 2016 at 20:25

Nah. I don't go out of my way to cover stuff up, but I dont buy stuff I don't need that could listen in. I did a lot of reading about the NSA and whatnot (factual stuff, not Internet crap) and it certainly made me think.