May 24, 2018 • Product Reviews
Amazon introduced Alexa, its voice-controlled assistant in 2014. Since then, smart-home and connected-device companies have been trying to integrate their products with the smart AI assistant. Integration has been ongoing, and it may be hard to know just what you can connect to Alexa.
In this article, we’ll connect the dots and list just some of the things you can connect to Alexa.
Music to your ears
One key feature of Alexa is her ability to play music on demand. With the Amazon Echo, you can ask Alexa to play anything you like. Stream your favourite tunes from such sources as Spotify or Pandora, or stream radio and podcasts from iHeartRadio and TuneIn.
The second-generation Echo offers all the features and functionality of the original Echo. It boasts a slightly larger tweeter and includes Dolby Audio for improved audio quality. Connect your Echo with your existing audio setup: connecting with external speakers is now standard across the entire line of Echo gadgets.
Turn up the heat with a cool thermostat
Smart thermostats such as the Ecobee4 make Alexa available throughout your home. The Ecobee4’s room sensors can read the temperature and detect occupancy, ensuring comfort in every room.
Shine a light on smart technology
With the GE Lighting Sol lamp, Ecobee light switches and Instinct Light Switch by iDevices, you can put Alexa in every room of your home.
A smarter switch with the Alexa built in, the Ecobee light switch lets you ask for the help you need. Simply ask the switch to control your lights, help you out with a task, play music or podcasts, or control other voice-enabled devices in your home.
The GE Lighting C is an all-in-one smart light with all of Alexa’s features, functionality and voice control. Who could have imagined that you can now use a table lamp order your dinner, listen to the latest headlines, preheat your oven or give a host of other voice commands!
Instinct Light Switches come with a button that lets you activate or mute Alexa. No Echo device required here: simply speak your command to the switch itself. Among the switch’s features are full dimming capabilities, support for three-way switch setups, and onboard sensors for motion and ambient light.
Smart home hubs: central to your peace of mind
Several of today’s smart home devices connect to a smart home hub, allowing you to control them from an app or website. But did you know that a number of these hubs, including Vivint, Samsung SmartThings and Nexia, are already compatible with Alexa? This means that you can now control these devices with your voice.
With an Alexa-compatible smart home hub, combined with smart door locks, you can tell Alexa to lock (but not unlock) your doors. imagine if a tech-savvy burglar were to leverage Alexa’s superior voice recognition to shout at Alexa to unlock your doors!
For the same reasons, while you can ask Alexa to arm your smart alarm system, Alexa won’t disarm your smart security system.
With the breadth of compatible products currently available and all the creature comforts just a voice command away, what can we say? That Alexa! Pretty smart!
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