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Jonathan Gleich Posts: 58
1/9/2015
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http://www.amazon.com/oc/echo/ref_=ods_dp_aeAny thoughts on using these boxes instead of the Microsoft xbox 360 controllers? A real roadblock to true home networking has been the room to room usage, where running USB all over the house is costly and kludgy, -- There are a MAJOR SH*TLOAD of home automation devices at CES this year Apple with Siri is starting to make inroads, NEST / GOOGLE also are nipping the the HA world. You really need to think of a wireless, or Net connected controller. Jonathan
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Chris Cicchitelli Administrator Posts: 3390
2/11/2015
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Christopher Macnichol wrote: Just got my Amazon Echo. I have to say, that as much as the kinect impressed me, this thing blows that out of the water. It will recognize anything I say across the room with full music playing. I am REALLY hoping they release an API. If we could get this thing interconnected with CastleOS, that would be the best of both worlds. Especially with the build in speaker. Just hoping Amazon does not drop it as this product has a huge amount of potential. We're in direct contact with the Echo team at Amazon. That's all I can say for now...
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Phil Hawthorne Posts: 400
7/20/2015
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Guava wrote: shopping lists, and to-do lists. "Add carrots to the shopping list," for example, and have that document updated not only on the CastleOS machine but also on my phone (so I don't have to connect to the cloud or some possibly insecure wifi network while I'm out shopping). You can get away with this using IFTTT. Guava wrote: be a replacement for kinect. I surely hope not (yet) Guava wrote: Besides, Micro$oft has discontinued both the windows pc kinect and the xbox 360 kinect so that should be a sign to look for another option. So this got me worried for a minute. Technically you're correct. However the Kinect is still around and supported. The Xbox360 Kinect was v1, and has been superseded by v2 for Xbox One. Its a bit like a car maker continuing to make a 1960's model car brand new, while selling the 2015 model as well. So that makes sense. For the Kinect for Windows, all they've done is remove the Kinect for WIndows item, and made the Xbox One Kinect compatible with Windows by adding an adapter. Which makes sense for them logistically.. Kinect ain't going anywhere yet. Guava wrote: It makes good business sense to support the Echo. It makes sense to support it, but not replace the Kinect. Here's my reason why I (at this point in time). The Echo is only available in the US. Great if you live there, but for the 99% of other countries in the world, the Echo is useless. Taking into account international mail forwarding (cause they'll only send an Echo to a US address), currency conversion, etc its not cost effective for me to purchase an Echo, considering how limited it will be where I am (Australia). All the Echo will be able to do for me is tell me the time, record a shopping list, and maybe control some lights with CastleOS.
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Chris Cicchitelli Administrator Posts: 3390
7/22/2015
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Guava wrote: Add me to the list of people who want the Amazon Echo supported by CastleOS.
It would be great if the whole range of Echo capabilities would be integrated, if CastleOS can't already do this (it's late and I'm too tired to search the forums for the answer). Specifically of interest are calendar integration and voice-controlled alarms, timers, shopping lists, and to-do lists. "Add carrots to the shopping list," for example, and have that document updated not only on the CastleOS machine but also on my phone (so I don't have to connect to the cloud or some possibly insecure wifi network while I'm out shopping).
Really hope the Echo could be fully integrated and be a replacement for kinect. This could significantly reduce the total cost of implementing CastleOS. Instead of needing a several hundred dollar windows pc plus a $100 to $200 kinect in each room PLUS a pair of computer speakers, all one should need is an Echo in each room. Besides, Micro$oft has discontinued both the windows pc kinect and the xbox 360 kinect so that should be a sign to look for another option.
And since the Echo is both a 360 degree microphone array and a speaker one would be able to further reduce the number of items they need to buy in order to actually voice control your whole house (or at least the most important rooms in it).
It makes good business sense to support the Echo. We'd love to support the Echo, and have done quite a bit of prep work to do so, however we're hamstrung by the lack of runtime capabilities in the current Echo ASK. In short, it doesn't allow runtime capabilities that would allow for us to discover the smart devices in your home. If you really want to help push it along, please send the Amazon Echo team a message saying they should open it up to home automation controllers like CastleOS! 
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Chris Stack Posts: 167
5/12/2016
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T- Brad wrote: It looks like Insteon is now supporting Amazon Echo on their site. http://www.insteon.com/amazon-echo/.
Can you tell me what your experience has been using Insteon with Amazon Echo?
edited by AVGeek on 5/11/2016 I have been using insteon with echo for about 6 months, with very good results. It even seems to be working well in parallel with CastleOS. I am using CastleOS through my 2245 hub, and the echo uses the same hub. When a device is activated by the echo, it shows up as such in CastleOS.
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Tommy Long Posts: 218
5/27/2016
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I look forward to the CastleOS Echo support!.
In the meantime, I've been working on a fun project which takes Alexa voice commands sent to the cloud using a private Skill and redirects them to a web server I have which in turn talks to CastleOS using the REST APIs using the PHP wrappers developed by Phil Hawthorne (Thanks Phil!!). This allows Echo to control any of my Home Automation devices through CastleOS. I also have a GC100 IR Blaster which also allows Echo to control some of my A/V and TV equipment too.
Once again, thanks for the APIs!!
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