Here is what each of the new products does and how it fits into the impressive range.

PS. We recommend buying your Echo devices directly on Amazon, currently starting from under £50.

Improved Amazon Echo

The improved Echo is slightly smaller than the first generation Echo, introducing a more subtle design. It also features a removable cloth cover with additional designs going on sale soon – this is a great addition as the previous Echo did look a little industrial compared to other Smart Home Tech.

One other big change is the tech inside, Amazon has added a dedicated base speaker and improved the microphone to allow it to be activated from even further away and generally improve activation. It also now supports Dolby Audio so music should sound better.

The new Echo will be available in packs of 3. This is a clever move and has obviously been done to push their new multi room music solution using Alexa. As we said before, be afraid Sonos!

They have also dropped the price, it is now £90!

Shipping Starts October 2017 – just in time for Christmas.

Echo Plus

Amazon has obviously realised that the way to dominate the Smart Market is to release a platform or Hub that properly integrates other tech. Meet Echo Plus the smart hub.

It integrates with other smart tech via ZigBee. ZigBee really seems to be the protocol of choice with Philips Hue and IKEA Smart Lighting both using it as well over 100 supported tech.

The Echo Plus even comes with a Philips Hue lightbulb.

Amazon Echo Plus costs £140 and ships 31 October 2017.

Echo Spot

Recently Amazon Released the Echo Show and it received a very mixed response. Echo Spot is their second attempt at a Alexa with a screen, however it is much smaller than the show. It’s the equivalent of a Amazon Echo Dot of the show.

With design similar to a Nest Thermostat the Echo Spot has a 2.5 inch round screen with a camera on top.

The Echo Spot also doubles up as an alarm clock with the screen displaying a clock face. Somehow I think Amazon are telling us this is the one for the bedroom.

It supports video calling as well as all the standard Alexa features and Skills. You can connect it to your speakers via Bluetooth or an old fashioned cable.

At present only a USA ship date has been confirmed, that is 19th December 2017 and no prices.

Echo Connect

The Echo Connect requires a landline and becomes a speaker phone. Allowing voice dialling as well as the normal Alexa features.

We assume this is to try and introduce Alexa to a generation that might otherwise not fit into the existing range.

As yet no release date or prices on the Echo Connect.

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You can buy Amazon Echo products from Amazon directly for under £50.

Cortana, Microsofts yet to become popular, voice assistant has created a world first integration between Cortana and Alexa!

The collaboration will be available later this year and will allow users to access Alexa via Microsoft Cortana. Likewise you will also be able to access Cortana via Alexa-enabled devices.

Microsoft commented

“Ensuring Cortana is available for our customers everywhere and across any device is a key priority for us. Bringing Cortana’s knowledge, Office 365 integration, commitments and reminders to Alexa is a great step toward that goal.”

Once enabled Microsoft Cortana users will be able to for example shop on Amazon by simply asking Cortana to open Alexa, as well as use any enabled Alexa Skill. Alexa users will be able to, for example, access Cortana’s Office 365 diary.

This is a very positive step and something we didn’t see coming!

It seems the smart home market is really evolving, the separations disappearing and the biggest winner is the user. Next move to Apple let’s see if Siri decides to make friends..

PS. You can buy Amazon Echo products from Amazon directly for under £50.

The post Microsoft Cortana say hello to Amazon Alexa!! appeared first on Smart Home Geeks.

PS. We recommend buying your Echo devices directly on Amazon, currently starting from under £50.

Toni Reid, Vice President, Amazon Alexa said

“Today, we’re making Alexa even smarter with an all-new feature that lets you play music synchronised on multiple Echo devices to provide room-filling music throughout your home.”

To use the feature users group more than one Echo device naming it, for example ‘downstairs’ or ‘kitchen’. They can they ask Alexa to play music across the group or different music in different rooms.

The feature is live now on Amazon Echo, Echo Dot and Echo Show in UK, Germany and USA. This must be Amazon’s largest smart home markets.

Amazon didn’t stop there, they also announced a set of tools to allow integration to Amazon Alexa Multi-Room Music.

Alexa Voice Service (AVS)
Multi-Room Music SDK

This allows users to play their music across Amazon Echo and their own supported speaker.

For example if you own two Amazon Echo devices and two AVS enabled speakers they can all play together and controlled via Alexa. Exactly which speakers will be AVS enabled is yet to be announced. This feature will be released early 2018.

This space is moving very quickly!

Just yesterday a new voice supported Sonos was leaked, followed by a Press Invite featuring lips, a big hint. Now Amazon make this release.

The very positive thing about this release is the collaboration and tools, a refreshing approach when compared to a lot of the big competitors.

Despite the collaboration if we were Sonos we would be pretty worried as unlike never before users can kit out their smart home with multi-room audio for less than £50 a room! The quality of the audio and power of course differ greatly however price point is always a very big factor, especially if purchasing multiple units for the entire house.

PS. We recommend buying your Echo devices directly on Amazon, currently starting from under £50.

The post Alexa announces multi-room feature! appeared first on Smart Home Geeks.

“We’ve added a section on what it means if you choose to enable a voice assistant to control your Sonos system when that becomes available in your country. It’s no secret that we’ve been working on this for some time, and we want to make sure we’re preparing you well in advance of this addition.”

The clue in this statement is “when it becomes available in your country”, we really hope the UK is not left behind with a later release date.

Before you worry about any hidden nasties don’t worry, they go on to state.

“Sonos does not keep recordings of your voice data.”

As the privacy policy has been announced we’re assuming the integration update is immanent!

If you have one of the other voice assistants like Google Assistant or Siri don’t be dismayed. Earlier this year their CEO, Patrick Spence, said they are:

“Engaged with every major voice player out there today.”

We expect Sonos will take the same approach they do with music integrations and offer as many as possible. Allowing its users choose which they prefer.

PS. You can buy new Sonos products from Amazon UK, starting at around £100.

The post Sonos almost announces Alexa integration appeared first on Smart Home Geeks.

We know what you are thinking, another Sonos and Alexa update however this is a very exciting one!

An Alexa Sonos integration has been spotted on a Non-Beta testing users Alexa app. The icon did not do anything however it suggests to us the integration is very near, if they have integrated an icon into a Non-Beta release.

PS. You can buy new Sonos products from Amazon UK, starting at around £100.

Generally this will only be done by a developer when they are getting ready to announce. The icon is integrated and hidden from live ready for the big reveal when it is added and activated.

This was spotted in the USA however we are optimistic Sonos will do a worldwide update rather than release to USA first. When they have released updates, like Trueplay it was global.

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Source: http://www.aftvnews.com/sonos-integration-with-amazons-alexa-inches-closer-to-release/ 

PS. You can buy new Sonos products from Amazon UK, starting at around £100.

The post Sonos & Alexa integration spotted live! appeared first on Smart Home Geeks.

PS. You can buy new Sonos products from Amazon UK, starting at around £100.

However as is often the case with Sonos there was no further updates, despite it being 7 months into 2017. That was until now, an official spokesman ‘Ryan’ on the Sonos forum community said:

“The Alexa integration already has the highest priority here and the team’s working to bring it out with all necessary fires burning under the right seats. While we’re not sharing a timeline beyond the promise that it’ll be out this year, that doesn’t mean it’s far out, just that it isn’t here yet.”

This keeps us optimistic a Sonos Alexa integration will be released this year and we will not get a later update delaying it till 2018.

He also gave a little insight into the communication strategy of Sonos:

“We tend not to give timelines but wanted everyone to know this was the direction we’re heading, so in this case, the company broke the usual silence and let slip some plans”

This confirmed what most Sonos fans already knew, they take the somewhat old fashioned approach of sharing very little. We can only assume this approach was broken due to the rapid growth in this area. Sonos wanted its fans and owners to know a solution is coming so they don’t invest in competitors tech. We just hope they hurry up or ours and other fans patience might run out.

We have emailed Sonos asking if they have anything to add and as usual will update you if we hear back.

PS. You can buy new Sonos products from Amazon UK, starting at around £100.

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