Is There an Amazon Echo In Here?

Home automation is usually thought of as a complete system, wired throughout the home. Multiple pieces all working together in perfect harmony. That's often the case, but it doesn't always have to be. The Amazon Echo is an example of a type of home automation that, while basic, only requires one device.

At its core, Echo is a bluetooth speaker. It's a tall cylinder that sits in the middle of your home, on a table or shelf. The trick is that it connects to your home's Wi-Fi network, as well as your smartphone, and listens to you. Sounds creepy, doesn't it? Well, it kind of is, but it's kind of cool too. All it's listening for is a trigger word, either "Amazon" or "Alexa." When it hears its name called, it wakes up and starts taking voice commands, very much like Siri or Google Now on your iPhone or Android.

So what can it do? Pretty much everything you'd expect from something like Siri. Set alarms, play music, create to-dos, tell you the weather, etc. Nothing all that fancy. In fact, I would personally wonder what the big difference is between something like this and your smartphone, apart from the fact that you have to press a button on your phone to trigger the voice commands. Even that's a stretch, as the iPhone will listen for the phrase "Hey Siri" if it's plugged in.

The bottom line is, the Echo is just a glorified smartphone with a bluetooth speaker attached to it. There's every been some speculation that the Echo is just reusing parts from the unsold Amazon Fire Phones, which haven't exactly been flying off the shelves. Still, it's an interesting idea, especially if it were to be integrated into other home automation systems in the future.