Going to use the word "cheeky" wherever possible on HUKD. Seems to really upset some people :laughing:

You could set this up, then ask Alexa to turn on your telly.

Or you could press the button the remote?

:confused:

Cheeky is a word. It's overused by ****, but it's still a word that can be applied to things other than chicken for chavs.

"Cheeky pint after work" acceptable.
"I had two G&T's before dinner!" "Ooooh! Cheeky!"
"I bought a new dress" "Wow! Check out that cheeky little number".

Please don't let this be another "Cheeky Nandos" pandemic...

If you need help or advice on setting this up with Amazon Alexa, take a look at the Facebook support group: http://www.facebook.com/groups/alexafansuk

It's more cool to tell Alexa to change to BBC one. That's exactly why I want it. I ask Alexa to do as much as I can. Not because I don't have remote. It's because it was designed to be used with voice commands and it's more convenient than looking for remote which wife/kids misplaced or when your hands are full i.e. eating greasy pizza :man:

​or you could just get the missus to do it then make a pot of tea not that I would do that :wink:

​cheeky cheeky cheeky recurring :stuck_out_tongue::stuck_out_tongue:

The hub sends the signal out in every direction not just one so i'm guessing that makes it blanket the room as it's bouncing off every surface

That's brilliant thanku but how does it work then if u have it on top of the TV?

I have this setup and belkin don't support the wemo devices, bloody waste of time so I can not control my switches with the harmony hub and I don't see why not its just like any other device so yet again the Logitech hub can not control my llights.

I was wanting this so I could build a set of events to turn on my tv and lights at the same time with one alexa command but instead I have to ask two commands to do this

It doesn't have to be, mine is on top of the TV unit and still controls the Tivo on the shelf below. I've found that i can place it pretty much anywhere and it'll still work.

It also comes with an extender that you can put down by the sky box on the off chance you need to anyway, looks like this https://i.imgur.com/8i2tsFs.jpg

How does this work please
Does it have to be pointing towards my sky box my TV etc ?

Won't all hubs do the same?

Right, appears that the Harmony skill has arrived for the Alexa app in the U.K. Not tried it yet but the IFTTT option works perfectly.

Not yet but you can use the IFTTT app to get the two working together. IFTTT is a free smartphone that essentially sits between the Harmony hub and Alexa app.

However, the Alexa app does have direct support for the Harmony hub in the US and it's coming to the U.K too. When it arrives IFTTT will not be needed.

You need to look at a HomeAssistant with a RaspberryPi, it links with Alexa and emulates Hue kits for most of the things you add in. So I just say "Alexa, turn on the living room" and lamps, tv, amp and Satellite box and my backlights all turn on. I've got a Samsung TV as well but it's older and doesn't keep the network alive when off but it turns on when the satellite box/amp turns on

it's all about the forthcoming updates - reading several articles, this integration will get better and better very quickly.

I said it's a cheeky deal because there doesn't seem to be any form of message communicating it but clearly there's a decent saving on the bundle so they have got some kind of offer.

My bet will be that they advertise it at some point so i was trying to get in before anyone else noticed it!

Obviously it's not as easy as that, and I'm not an App Developer, but the theory is sound

Presumably the answer to my question is that "it doesn't sell any more hardware". :disappointed:

:wink::wink::wink:

apologies i should have elaborated
i saw the hub has been £62.53 before, and the dot was cheaper on prime day at £39.99
the combined total would be £102.52
so £114.99 doesn't feel like much of a deal to me as i can wait
and maybe even get the next generation device
imagine if the dot came with Infrared functionality built in, then you wouldn't need the harmony hub at all
:smiley:

One perfect use would be when people are babysitting and not familiar with the Harmony remote. I'm forever having to talk relatives through how to turn the tv back on etc when they've changed the activity using the remote but not quite aimed it at the devices for long enough for all to change. Bit of a niche though I suppose.

Yeah I do use that quite a bit actually

Bit daft, Alexa isn't really finding it then.

My phone is on silent all the time, but my watch can make it ring really flippin' LOUDLY if I lose it - that's useful.

Why ever did you buy it. Must have been the most expensive option at the time? The hub is great if you have lots of AV kit.

Actually Alexa can find phones which is actually quite handy, if you haven't left it on silent of course

I've got lots more time if you want to ask anymore stupid questions

I have Dots in four rooms. So as I move from kitchen to lounge I start the activity. I have a TV, Amp, Theatre PC and a server that all need to start and spin up before the system is fully useable. It's definitely one less thing to wait for. That being said before Alexa I sued the app all the time and still do on occasions. The other option is of course it to walk into the lounge. Turn it on with the remote first and then walk back into kitchen to make the tea, but that would be stupid

I'd argue it's not setup right or situated perfectly. You can easily tweak inter device delays or device delays to help with things not doing as required.

And it's not a moral high ground at all. People asking something to turn the volume up or down on their device is plain lazy. Simple as that. If you are lazy then that's fine but don't try to dress it up as something else.

I actually had the logitech harmony with hib for 3yrs and never used. It may be the perfect time to start using it. Thanks

​I've given you a cheeky like for that.

Alexa, where did I leave the remote?

Alexa, do you think jouster has too much time to criticise this post?

Can't you just make your cup of tea 4 seconds earlier?

If you're watching TV lets be honest you're already in the lazy zone to begin with so not sure people should be taking the high moral ground that using a remote control is less lazy then speaking to Alexa is really splitting hairs! Perspective people :wink:

On another note everyone seems to be assuming that these harmony remotes actually work when pointed at the TV - the amount of times I have to hit the help button and do the Fix It now steps to get my blinking Sky Box to turn on is annoying. At least with Alexa when I am swearing at an inanimate object it might actually do what I ask it first time occasionally :smiley:

Alexa now has IFTTT support in the UK

https://ifttt.com/amazon_alexa

Where would the remote be. You could just find your remote. Yes in some instances I can see how it might be simpler but people are just finding excuses to be as lazy as possible.

What's next. Installing a commode in your sofa

Maybe they don't this stock in your local NI depot?

Access to the internet is overused, take a jowly chill pill and chilax.

If you're too lazy to get up and find your remote then shame on you Alexa doesn't currently have the ability to send network commands. That's the simple answer. Harmony hub also doesn't do network commands, users have been asking for just WOL for years but it's never materialised.

I believe there is a simple way to setup a raspberry Pi and then make it think it's a Hue Hub and you can then route commands through it but it still might not work for your TV.

To be honest whilst a lot of my home on controlled via apps, very few of them work well together.

If you're too lazy to get up and find your remote then shame on you

Well said sir. Some people have gone slightly Alexa crazy.

Not even close to being the same thing. Many will have the remote next to their hand on the sofa. Just lazy

Easier than unlocking a smart phone. Is that supposed to be a joke? Yes it's aimed at those without a remote but for certain commands it's pointless using Alexa. Starting activities makes perfect sense and I'm sure this is more what it's aimed at.

That is true but at some point it would stop feeling like more hassle. I'd probably still use the remote if it was right at my hand but if all i had to say was "Alexa, pause tivo" i'd be more inclined to say that in situations where i would currently rather take a couple of steps to wherever the remote is.

Just google Amazon Alexa. You'll find a much better explanation than just asking here

Cheeky

Totally agree with you. I use mine to verbally turn on the required activity after I've finished marking a cup of tea. Then when I get into the lounge everything is on and ready. Now I've got the KODI/Alexa voice control setup and can request specific movies or episodes of a tv series it's all working rather well together but I'll never be using Alexa for simple on/off volume up/down instructions. They would be totally pointless

The system isn't just activity based though. It is both. Even whilst in an activity you can shift to device mode and do many controls that aren't available in your activity.

Whilst info from some post is great, misinformation is tedious at best

Even if it were simpler to instruct Alexa it would STILL be simpler to use the remote for things like channel up and down or volume up and down.

With a compatible remote it's all tied together via wifi. If you turn on an activity via Alexa or the app. The remote will be in the same activity once complete. It's all seamless.

If using the remote as well you'll need to change what does what. I.e. Hub controls kits in my av cupboard directly but my tv via a blaster coming through the wall. I originally had mine set to control my tv vi the remote as well but that just confused things

Launched yesterday. Works well. I only use mine to launch my activities as I'm not super lazy and I'm able to move my finger a fraction of an inch to use the remote

Half the buyers of Dots will
Be on the ship in the Movie Wall-e soon.

Laziness overload

If you are sat down watching tv then the chances are the remote is right next to you or on the coffee table in front of you, well for me anyway. Currently i'm only using it for example when i get up to do something where i can tell it to pause as i move.

You have to also bear in mind that it's not just the time taken to say a sentence. I goes like this :

"Alexa"
Pause to see if hub lights up, if does carry on if not say Alexa again
"tell Harmony to change to BBC One"
If it's heard me correctly it will do the correct flashing then say OK and the channel changes, this takes an extra 3 seconds.

Assuming it heard everything correctly, which it frequently doesn't and you need to repeat yourself, it takes 8 seconds from saying "Alexa" to the TV actually changing the channel. Often, especially if the TV sound is on it mishears and does stuff like tell a joke instead and you have to start over again. Or you could just have pressed the remote button in the first place :smile:

Although ALEXA will do all of those things it would be just and quick and a lot less ridiculous to just use the Logitech app you'd have on your phone.

What is up with Amazon and their Northern Ireland shipping restrictions though?
"This item does not ship to UK - Northern Ireland."

Individually both the Hub and the Echo can be sent to NI.

Randomly they had CTEK MXS 7.0 Battery Charger on a Lightning deal last week, and bizarrely that also couldn't be sent to N.I. - even though all other models of the same charger could...

It can sit under your tv the signal it sends out is very powerful and can easily bounce off of walls back to your kit.

Mine (that came with my Elite) is in my AV cupboard and bounces sunglasses off off the fmdoor it faces and is able to control everything.

Cheeky is a word. It's overused by ****, but it's still a word that can be applied to things other than chicken for chavs.

"Cheeky pint after work" acceptable.
"I had two G&T's before dinner!" "Ooooh! Cheeky!"
"I bought a new dress" "Wow! Check out that cheeky little number".

I'm in IT so this is more of a rhetorical question, but, I'm open to detailed explanations:

My Samsung TV accepts commands over the TCP/IP network using Samsung or third party remote apps. I don't understand why Alexa won't talk to the TV directly?!?

Why does it need the hub to convert the commands to old fashioned IR to beam at the TV. Why not just have the Alexa API in the cloud (via IFTTT perhaps, albeit slowly) or the Echo/Dot device to talk to the Samsung API and cut out the middle man?

Ultimately, I don't even need volume/channel/source or any of that nonsense. I just want her to turn off the TV when I ask her to "turn off all of the things" just like she does with the lights and the Christmas tree and the coffee machine etc.

If you have the control next to you then typing 1/101 is definitely quicker than asking Alexa but if the remote isn't next to you or is missing somewhere and you're too lazy to get it/look for it then Alexa would be handy. If you have the Harmony Hub and no remote I guess Alexa would add more value.

I've not used it yet but getting harmony remote/hub next week so will try Alexa at some point. I have set low expectations for Alexa/Harmony to avoid disappointment! Having to invoke the skill is a bit cumbersome.

As you say though improvements should come. The first remotes were were wired and only had three functions!

^ This. Someone invented the remote to overcome an actual problem, that you couldn't change the channel or volume from your chair.

There are only a few very specific situations where you would actually need to use your voice to control something, when it is not practical to touch something for example, or when you physically cannot manage to press a button.

Not really the same thing though is it. Pressing the button on a remote is easier than getting up to press the button on the telly. Saying "Alexa, tell Harmony to change to BBC one" isn't less hassle than pressing a single button on a remote, it's complicating things rather than simplifying them.

In time i expect it to improve a lot but right now i'm less than impressed.

can this be set up to flush a toilet?

You could set this up, then ask Alexa to turn on your telly.

Or you could press the button the remote?

:confused:

voted hot, not quite sure after i checked with the camels :confused:

Ok but you didn't make that point very clear.

I'm presuming as this deal is for the hub only then it's aimed a people who don't have a Harmony remote and using Alexa is easier than unlocking a smart phone and using the App

​You mustn't have a missus that likes to hide the remote under her **** or under her blanket or just leave it in the most random locations ever then.

I know how it works, I've had one for years, that's why I said what I said.

You can already press one button to turn on and off whatever AV equipment is needed. One button.
It's not making it any easier by routing a voice command through a Dot.

Also, saying "Alexa tell Harmony to turn the volume up a bit" is going to be far more annoying less user-friendly than pressing a button on a remote.

That's only the original US harmony skill that lets you skip the "tell harmony to" part, that skill doesn't let you control the volume, pause etc it just starts and stops activities. It's the new 'custom' skill that they released both over there and here in the UK that we have access to, it can do the remote presses but requires "tell harmony to" for everything.

They get access to both skills while we only got the latter unfortunately.

Cheers I hadn't spotted that, I was actually reading about it yesterday, this may help it seems you can lose the "Harmony" bit https://support.myharmony.com/en-us/harmony-experience-with-amazon-alexa

Going to use the word "cheeky" wherever possible on HUKD. Seems to really upset some people :laughing:

So, is this just amazons version of cortana on the xbox or is it more useful, and if so in what ways?

Still waiting for Google Home...

Good deal if you don't have the harmony remote. But having the remote I don't feel I need the dot to use my TV, the remote is good enough! Maybe great if hungover and lazy, first wold problems though hey!

you could but the Harmony system is an activity based system. e.g My 'Play Xbox One' activity switches on the TV, turns it to the correct HDMI, switches on the AV amp and selects the correct input and also switches on the Xbox and dims the Hue lamps, the buttons on the remote are all mapped to that activity. If I choose another activity all the devices switch to the correct inputs and the buttons on the remote all remap to that new activity.

How does this interact with the Harmony remote control? Does it mean the Harmony will lose track of where you are in the process or is it smart enough to realise when the Amazon Dot has turned things on and off?

My old logitech remote is on its way out so going to give this a try I think.

I have this setup and it works surprisingly well after the initial setup. The hub can sit amongst your equipment and still work fine. It doesn't need to be facing. In the UK you will need an app called yonomi as Logitech haven't as yet sorted their Amazon skill.

I know the Hub works with echo in the US, and it was coming to the UK soon. Does it now work?

Does this need an IR zapper to control the TV? I was under the impression that you had to purchase theses separately to be able to control your TV.

It seems that way.

The Logitech hub IS the IR Zapper.

Well that's a cheeky comment............you can kiss my cheeky Ar se and sniff the gas :smirk:

Bright Red Cheeks of Heat.

Can you explain why it is cheeky please?