Amazon Echo

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#2141108 7-Dec-2018 11:32

Website Menu. I had a pretty good look around the skills store and the amazon skills section for a "ability' to ask alexa show 2nd ed to open a specific website (the show now has a browser).

Question Has anyone happen to see a skill where one could say "Alexa open fav no 3" and it would go to display a specific website?

There is a skill called Alexa browserhelp but it doesn't access the echo browser but your desktop browser.

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#2141706 8-Dec-2018 18:25

So, wondering if anyone has managed to register items in thier household like Amp's and what not, so you can say :

Alexa : Play xxxx song to xxx device?

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#2141708 8-Dec-2018 18:50

I had a bit of time last night while my wife was out so I finally got around to setting up a few things to work properly across Alexa, Logitech Harmony Hub, and other devices in my home.

Currently, with the Harmony in the middle of most scenarios, I can say something like "Alexa turn on the TV" or "Alexa let's play a game" (the temptation to say "Do you want to play a game" was strong...), and this kicks off a few things: the TV turns on if it's off, or changes to the right HDMI if it's on. The lights in the lounge go down to 50%, the dining goes to 75% (it's open plan for both). The hue strip behind the TV for bias lighting goes to 100% crimson. Pretty sweet really.

I managed to get my Fujitsu heat pump to work with Alexa and the Harmony Hub too, although I need to reposition one of the IR blasters to keep it consistent. Because the heat pump isn't fully supported I had to teach the Harmony Hub some basic commands from the fujitsu remote - things like Cool, Heat, Fan, Temp Up/Down. So now I can say "Alexa turn on the fan" and that will happen, or "Alexa change the aircon to Heat" etc. All that without needing to get one of the Sensibo or other things.

I'm quite chuffed with it all, but it's still not in the average consumer's reach. Setting everything up on the Harmony Hub has its complexities, then getting that integrated with Alexa has it's own complexities, then getting it all to work with the right phrases takes setting up routines on Alexa and Activities on Harmony Hub that all happen concurrently. But it works, and it's excellent.

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#2141709 8-Dec-2018 18:52

networkn:

So, wondering if anyone has managed to register items in thier household like Amp's and what not, so you can say :

Alexa : Play xxxx song to xxx device?

Yip. I can do that. Alexa knows the LG Sound Bar and will change it to BT and use it as it's speaker when I ask it to play something. Not that I do that much, but will likely do it much more often once Apple Music's skill comes out.

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#2141782 8-Dec-2018 22:27

Parents-in-law were here today so I linked their Amazon Echo account to their Skype account, manually added their number to my contact list on alexa.amazon.com (and vice-versa) which allows us to now Alexa call each other (why wouldn't it automatically find each other is still a mystery).

I still can't control my Amazon Fire TV via voice from the Amazon Echo, despite both devices being linked... It complains it can't reach the Amazon Fire TV - which is strange because I can happily remote control the Fire TV from my smartphone so it's visible on the network...

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#2141816 8-Dec-2018 22:47

Well I can't get the Echo to link to my Yamaha Reciever. Search for new items finds 17 devices in my home, none of them the Yamaha!

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#2141820 8-Dec-2018 23:16

Via Bluetooth?

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#2141824 9-Dec-2018 00:20

No, ideally I'd like it to work over Lan/Wifi.

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#2142041 9-Dec-2018 14:23

Depends if the device is discoverable and compatible with Alexa via IP. If not, it can be paired as a BT device and Alexa can access it that way, switching it to the BT input when required.

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#2142043 9-Dec-2018 14:26

By discoverable you mean on same network, right?

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#2142044 9-Dec-2018 14:39

Yeah but isn't it right that even being on the network doesn't necessarily mean the device supports being seen/used by Alexa by default? I'm still wrapping my head around all this stuff, having only experienced my own kit.

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#2142051 9-Dec-2018 14:48

Correct. And that is why I still can't understand why my Echo cannot control my Fire TV but is happy with my Hue lights.

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#2142058 9-Dec-2018 14:56

Yeah that's a bit counterintuitive. Surely an oversight on their part? Anything on the feature roadmap?

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#2142062 9-Dec-2018 15:11

It should work. It is linked in the account and you should be able to say "Alexa play the man in the high castle" or "Alexa open Hulu" but it does not...

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#2142093 9-Dec-2018 15:19

So is that voice command going to an Echo device first and then it should open the request on the Fire TV? Or does the voice command go direct to the Fire TV?

If the former do you have to tell Alexa which device to open that thing on? E.G. "Alexa play The Man in the High Castle on the TV" where TV might be the device name of the Fire TV? Using Plex as an example, I had to tell my Echo Dot to use the Plex app on my TV as the device that Alexa implements voice commands on. I had to first tell Alexa which Plex server to use, then the Plex player (being the Apple TV Plex app). Once done, it now does it by default to that device every time. I wonder if Fire TV playback is similar?

Of course if it was the latter, that paragraph is redundant :)

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