Amazon's new Fire TV can talk to your connected home (via remote)

[Scottmichaelj]

Amazon's new Fire TV can talk to your connected home (via remote & not always listening)

 

http://www.engadget.com/2015/11/29/amazon-fire-tv-4k-home-automation/

 

EDIT: This would be nice if you did have a AFTV 2gen in a bedroom and wanted to control the ISY though via voice commands and the remote. Or want to pay a bit less because you don't need or want "always on listening".

[stusviews]

I do have a Fire TV and all the devices I added to the Echo are controllable using the Fire TV microphone. Paul, thanks for the tip

[Scottmichaelj]

I do have a Fire TV and all the devices I added to the Echo are controllable using the Fire TV microphone. Paul, thanks for the tip

My name isnt Paul but your welcome. Good stuff and a nice addition.

[stusviews]

My name isnt Paul but your welcome. Good stuff and a nice addition.

 

I'm truly sorry about that. I really try to get someones name right. So, I'll try again.

 

Thanks, huddadudda. Now I can move one Echo to another room. And when my 2nd Fire TV arrives on Monday, it'll free up yet another Echo. Echo certainly beats Siri for ease

[MWareman]

That gives me a reason to get a fire TV or two....

[Scottmichaelj]

That gives me a reason to get a fire TV or two....

I don't have one but Im really interested to see how the integration works so please post back and let me know how it goes.

[stusviews]

Until the ISY is finally approved by Amazon, I added a few devices the the 2245 Hub. Echo recognizes (some) Insteon devices added to the 2245 Hub (Connected Home, Discover Devices). You can vocally specify an On-level, but the default is fully on. Alexa has a pretty good vocabulary, so, "Alexa, turn on the kitchen light to 50%" works equally well as "set the kitchen light to 50%," or "adjust the kitchen light to 50%."

 

Groups are Echo's equivalent to scenes, but again, the On-level for each device cannot be specified, nor are secondary buttons available. Only the light part of the FanLinc can be accessed. Thermostats are not recognized at all. There is no concept or controller or responder. All devices in a group are responders only, the group is the controller.

 

Alexa has some difficulty with some words. "Sconces" are a problem. I renamed them "wall lights." If several Echo's are registered to the same account, then a device added to one Echo gets added to all Echos. But, according to Michel, the ISY will recognize only devices registered to the same account. We'll all know more when Amazon grants approval