What if you could just speak and your smart home did what you told it to do? Well, a little company you may have heard of called Amazon has just made this possible.

“Alexa, turn on the lights in the living room and turn the heat up 2 degrees in Betsy’s bedroom.”

Most people I speak to about smart home technology would be all for it, as long as it was easy to manage. They don’t want to have to open numerous different apps to control the lights, the thermostat, to start a load of laundry, and brew coffee in the kitchen. Wouldn’t it be sweet if there was one main device that linked all your smart home devices together? Wouldn’t it be even sweeter if we didn’t have to dig out our phone to control it all? What if you could just speak and your smart home did what you told it to do? Well, a little company you may have heard of called Amazon has just made this possible. “Sweet ass sweet!”

The voice controlled device is called the Amazon Echo, and don’t feel bad if you’ve never heard of it. Owners of the Amazon Echo—which is still only available for purchase by invitation— recently received an email updating them of a new feature: In addition to streaming music from the cloud and giving time and weather updates, Alexa, the Echo’s voice-driven personality, can now also command smart home appliances from Belkin WEMO and Philips Hue. This is huge! Amazon will undoubtedly be making more and more smart home devices compatible with the Echo.

So basically, as long as the Echo is connected to the same wireless network as your WEMO Switches and Philips Hue light bulbs, you can just tell Alexa to “discover my appliances.” From there, you can control anything from smart light switches to the ‘dumb’ coffeemaker, lamp, or stereo plugged into your smart outlet, all by using your voice. No smartphone needed. How’s THAT for easy and simple to use!

Amazon has not been shy about their plans for the smart home market, and it looks like the Echo is being setup to be the hub to control it all. Knowing Amazon’s ambitions and vision for smart homes, it’s just a matter of time before the Echo could become like a personal concierge, telling you when you’re out of milk, hand soap, and Wheat Thins, then ordering more for you to be delivered that same day via Amazon’s Prime Air delivery drones. As soon as Amazon links Echo to its Dash Replenishment Service, that’s exactly what the future could look like.

 

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EAP Homes Realtor

EAP Homes, Realtor

About the Author: The above article on How to control your house with your voice was written and provided by EAP Homes, a leader in the field of Real Estate sales, marketing, and smart home technology. Chris can be reached via email at [email protected] or by phone at 801-455-8753. Chris has helped many people buy and sell Salt Lake City area homes for years.

Thinking of selling your home? I have a real passion for buying and selling Real Estate, as well as marketing & smart home technology. I’d love to share my expertise!

I help people buy and sell real estate in the following Salt Lake area cities & neighborhoods: Holladay, Cottonwood Heights, Millcreek, Olympus Cove, Canyon Rim, Sugarhouse, Midvale, Murray, East Millcreek, Sandy, White City, Draper, Riverton, Daybreak, South Jordan, West Jordan, Herriman, Bluffdale, South Salt Lake, The Avenues, Federal Heights, and of course, Salt Lake City.

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