Amazon quietly announces new Echo devices today

Not much publicity, but it looks like some more coolness form the Echo folk; including an Echo Plus, with a "Home Automation" hub built in...

https://www.engadget.com/2017/09/27/ama ... ber-event/

https://www.engadget.com/2017/09/27/ama ... -home-hub/

https://www.engadget.com/2017/09/27/amazon-echo-spot/

https://www.engadget.com/2017/09/27/ama ... 4K-dongle/

Terry

Nice... I'm just waiting for Amazon to enable calling in the UK so I can finally use all mine as intercoms.

I just put a dot in my office at work today and “Dropped In” in my wife at home. It scared the crap out of her!

I like the Echo Spot. It seems a touch expensive but I like the form-factor for bedside clocks.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I like the Echo Spot. It seems a touch expensive but I like the form-factor for bedside clocks.

I agree -- assuming it can dim WAY down... the WAF is very low in my house if there are any lights at all visible.

Had missed the drop in feature. Thanks for the heads up. Now just got to wait for uk activation!

[jay (support)]

I like the Echo Spot. It seems a touch expensive but I like the form-factor for bedside clocks.

I agree -- assuming it can dim WAY down... the WAF is very low in my house if there are any lights at all visible.

I'm totally with her on that one - when I sleep, I want it dark. I had to replace the KeypadLinc face in the master bedroom with a black one to get it dark enough so that I couldn't really see it. I've got an old Samsung Plasma TV in there. Samsung, being unable to do any real usability testing, decided that a very bright glowing blue ring around the power button must glowing when OFF. Brightens the room enough to easily see everything. Very annoying especially since it's also the IR receiver so I have to find something to put in front of it that will block visible light but let enough IR through to still work. I've resisted taking the frame off to try to disable the LEDs because I've always been able to find the right thing to block it but I've come very close on occasion.

I also had to put black electrician's tape over the LED on the smoke detector in there because it was so bright. We put blackout blinds in there, but light still seeps around them - still trying to figure out how to solve that little issue.

Did I mention I like it very dark when I sleep?

I like the Echo Spot. It seems a touch expensive but I like the form-factor for bedside clocks.

I agree -- assuming it can dim WAY down... the WAF is very low in my house if there are any lights at all visible.

I'm totally with her on that one - when I sleep, I want it dark. I had to replace the KeypadLinc face in the master bedroom with a black one to get it dark enough so that I couldn't really see it. I've got an old Samsung Plasma TV in there. Samsung, being unable to do any real usability testing, decided that a very bright glowing blue ring around the power button must glowing when OFF. Brightens the room enough to easily see everything. Very annoying especially since it's also the IR receiver so I have to find something to put in front of it that will block visible light but let enough IR through to still work. I've resisted taking the frame off to try to disable the LEDs because I've always been able to find the right thing to block it but I've come very close on occasion.

I also had to put black electrician's tape over the LED on the smoke detector in there because it was so bright. We put blackout blinds in there, but light still seeps around them - still trying to figure out how to solve that little issue.

Did I mention I like it very dark when I sleep?

Sheesh! I'm lucky that neither my wife or I are like that. We each have a bedside Kindle Fire as an alarm clock, KPL and two Insteon dimmers, a couple of computer monitors (powered off but LEDs on) and also a Samsung TV with that same blue ring. As you mentioned, it's VERY easy to walk around in the 'dark' and still see fine - although I do kick the floor-colored dog from time to time...

My big thing is noise, not light. I have to have white noise on at a decent volume to mask all the random house/street/dog/cat/people noises or I'll wake up at every bump in the night. I use Sonos and it took a while to find a sound file that didn't have an obvious pattern or sound when it re-looped; I found that I would hone-in on any consistencies in the noise and then wait for it to occur, making it harder to get to sleep.

Terry

[jay (support)]

My big thing is noise, not light. I have to have white noise on at a decent volume to mask all the random house/street/dog/cat/people noises or I'll wake up at every bump in the night. I use Sonos and it took a while to find a sound file that didn't have an obvious pattern or sound when it re-looped; I found that I would hone-in on any consistencies in the noise and then wait for it to occur, making it harder to get to sleep.

We humans are odd creatures indeed...

Now available for pre-order in the UK

EDIT: Not the echo spot though