Amazon Echo

Given the echo itself is a music player I can't very well see them allowing it to control a rival device such as Sonos.

I just saw this too. It's certainly a glimpse of the future, and I love it if I could use one to control my Sonos'!

http://gizmodo.com/amazons-echo-might-be-its-most-important-product-in-yea-1655513291

Surely Amazon will need it to control other home devices for it to be successful; they don't make enough products themselves for it to allow good home automation without allowing it to control other devices, and it shouldn't be too difficult to implement if devices already have apps to do it.

You never know....fingers crossed here!

Unfortunately I've already been told by my wife that we're not allowed one that has Scarlet Johannsen's voice! 😞

Surely Amazon will need it to control other home devices for it to be successful; they don't make enough products themselves for it to allow good home automation without allowing it to control other devices

I've not seen any suggestion from anywhere (including the Amazon video) that they're interested in home automation with this, I don't think that's the point of it.

No, but there's no reason it couldn't. It'll be pretty dull if all it ends up being is a hands free Siri.

It is not the future, it is just another way to buy Amazon stuff.

Apart from that: how is a hardware device in this category useful when it is fixed (by electricity cable) in one room?

Can't see that it's much use to buy stuff - hardly the sort of thing you'd use to shop online.

If it's not Echo, something else will come along.... "play Maximo Park in the kitchen", "read out my emails", "dim the lounge lights". It'll get here eventually, one way of the other.

Don't fight the future, naysayer...! :D

I agree with the wired bit, though....that's just welcome to the invention of electricity!

It would be great though, if the Sonos app could integrate some of the voice control features. The Macronos app on Android has some voice control, but I haven't tried it out yet (although I use the app).

"Sonos announce to the entire house that dinner is ready."

Or when the phone rings, "Sonos, pause playback". Then, "Sonos, resume playback".

Or just have Sonos pause, while Alexa tells you how many pints in a quart.

I hope Amazon open up the echo, it could be useful in the kitchen if it was capable of context / handoff to other devices (TVs, mobiles, Sonos, computers etc) and services; realistically it will be tied to the Amazon content ecosystem, so no complete. However at $99 little harm in trying it out.!

But how often do people buy from Amazon? Surely having a device that's main use is to buy something verbally would only be used half a dozen times a year - do most people not research options and compare prices first, which they'd need to generally do on a computer/mobile device?!

I just think you're over cynical on it. It's the first iteration and as far as I'm aware hasn't even been launched yet, but whether it's Amazon or someone else, it looks to be an innovative new product that *may* actually make a difference *if* implemented properly - that's yet to be seen, but IMO it's good to see something different and fresh and potentially useful being released.

And on the Amazon eco-system issue, the Fire TV is hardly locked down to allow Amazon only content. You can use Spotify, Netflix and Plex amongst other on that, so that shows they're not against opening it up to other services.

From what I read there isn't much decent free/included TV/movie stuff on Prime that doesn't need additional payment for and that isn't already on Netflix with that cheap sub, and from my experience of using Amazon music player (I had a one year sub but didn't renew it as it was pretty poor) if they did only allow their own content it won't get very far!

It's certainly a very intersting device IMO, and where would we be if every new product was dismissed before it's even out.....?! 🙂