My wife it to the point of just rolling eyes. She gave up long time ago with me and tech!! Lol
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Does the Ask Sonos skill work yet? I didnât know Echo could connect to Sonos yet.
note that the UK echo/dot has no IFTTT support and no ETA for if/when this will be added, which cripples the device for me - Iâll be returning over the next few days.
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IFTTT have advised that it is in progress and to âstay tunedâ, but that is very much how long is a piece of string I suppose.
In the meanwhile, IFTTT still works with smartthings, so as Alexa can only call IFTTT routines with an âAlexa, trigger xxxxxxâ, then you could just add a virtual switch/momentary button to smartthings, and ask alexa to turn on xxxxx, and have an IFTTT routine looking at that switch as a trigger.
as an example:
I used to have an IFTTT trigger for boosting the hotwater on my evohome and it used to be âAlexa, Trigger the hot waterâ IFTTT would pick that up and turn on the hot water for 1 hour.
Now I have a momentary button called âhot waterâ. I Ask alexa to turn on the hot water, IFTTT still has the ability to turn my hot water on for an hour, only instead of an alexa trigger, it has the smartthings hot water button as a trigger.
Hope that helps.
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No, there is no official skill yet.
However, using the insructions here: (with a little modification for UK Echos), then you can do it now.
Once working its actually very good - however, it makes it awfully more difficult for alexa to hear you over the music from sonos. I dont know how the official integration will get round the problem of music from other sources drowning out your voice to Alexa. Clearly when it is playing the music itself, it knows what to expect, so can still hear you over the music (if this makes sense)
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I was originally going to sit on the fence and wait to see how Echo compared with Google home. But when I found a way of getting Alexa for ÂŁ75. (offers and vouchers) I jumped and got it on launch day.Generally impressed but most of the skills should really be called dumbs. Iâm glad I did as it looks like the google is not planning on launching to the rest of the world anytime soon.
However my home is set-up for Chromecast in most rooms and I mainly use google services so now knowing GH will play well with Smartthings, I know It will be on the shopping list when itâs released.
My only question now is whether I will get additional dots or additional Google Homes. that will depend on which give the better coverage and the best overall integration.
For me at the moment Alexa looks like the potentially weaker of the two platforms if google can get the ST & IFTTT integrations right. But Iâm also hearing that on the Pixel the assistant which GH is built around is not living up to expectations. so we wait and see.
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If you ask me, everyone here is really excited about the âpotentialâ of Google Home. Which makes sense. Itâs new and shiny and has some really cool features.
However, as someone who has been using Alexa for over a year, I can tell you that I havenât regretted it one bit. And Google Home still isnât out or put to use yet. So Iâm tempering my excitement until it gets put to the test by some of the smart power users here. And until I can see how deep Googleâs commitment to this space is going to be. One thing I can say for sure about Amazon, I have zero doubts that theyâre going to stick around and keep developing Echo.
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Thatâs why I orderd one GH and 5 dots to go along with my three echos. If GH proves to beat out what is a great device echo is ill switch. If not Iâll use GH as needed or just for fun and stick with the echo.
Iâll also know more when my new pixel phone comes in a few days as it has Google assistant built in which is what GH is based on. Which early reviews say you can have an actual back and forth conversation unlike Siri ok Google and alexa
Iâve got one echo and pre-ordered two dots, these will be set up with my denon HEOS. I too will get one GH and test it (I land in the US on Nov 5th - hopefully I can grab one from a store). So letâs see how it compares.
What I like about GH is the multiroom element and contextual search, but letâs see whether it lives up to the marketing. If it does great, worst case I sell 
If Amazon can get Echo integration with the fire tv that would be great, Iâd love to talk to it without having to press the button on the remote. Also Iâd like better search responses. Otherwise the Echo does everything I need.
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I have read that a bunch of places but Iâm not sure itâs an apples to apples comparison. I think it depends on the speaker quality. A good Bose is $200 or more, plus $35 for Chromecast Audio and then itâs a bit clunky with the Chromecase Audio hanging off the speaker.
I hit the button on the Echo as soon as the UK pre-orders went live.
I then had âearly adopter regretâ when I saw that GH looked cooler (I donât really use the speaker in Echo) and incorporated Google Play Music, which I have a family plan for so donât want to swap to Spotify.
I then started using Echo for the radio and it sounds great after a bit of a bass bump. So Iâm back to loving my Echo.
I suspect I may get a bit green again when GH launches in the UK (2017?) as I think the search intelligence is better across Google products, their assistant in Allo is really good. Some of it will depend on the natural language parsing too, it still feels clunky structuring phrases like âalexa, ask blah blah to do somethingâ. Iâd prefer something less artificial. I want Alexa to handle it, not just act as the go-between (in a conversational sense, I know how the technical side works)
Then again, maybe Amazon will up their game when GH is in homes. I think most of my complaints are software based, and software can change overnight.
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Well thatâs definitely the catch. What quality of speakers do you want/need. You âcouldâ go with something much cheaper (or more expensive), but thatâs up to you.
Also, the Sonos is way more elegant than a clunky dongle + speaker.
So for the tinkerer, cheapskate, or person with a high end audio system already, itâs an option. For the person that just wants something to work out of the box, Sonos is worth it.
Iâve got Sonos kit, most of it has been disassembled and put away since I found them too clunky. The speaker I probably use most is a Samsung soundbar (quite a high end one, the H750 with glowing valves in the top) because it does WiFi like the Sonos, but also Bluetooth.
Maybe if I had a bigger house and a better social life Iâd need more multiroom, but I was listening to Sonos in a single room, being forced to use their app and really not getting the benefit.
Sonos is great kit - I used to sell it for a while, and people were always impressed with the quality. But the flexibility is mostly about multiroom and not about opening up to other apps.
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If google assistant on the pixel is any preview GH will dominate Alexa without Amazon making changes fast.
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