New Z-wave controller

[wkearney99]

"Already" only means someone else thinks there's enough opportunity for sales.  Sometimes that's the hardest part, identifying whether the market would actually buy.  That someone is doing it, well, competition is always a good thing.  
 
From what little I've read, SA still has a long way to go.  Lots of nonsense related to the ports and import/export.  It was a great place to visit for vacation.  Travel time (from the US) was a killer though.

 

[JimMurphy]

Yes, SA makes a great long-haul destination if you earn in USD, GBP or EUR as it has depreciated significantly over the past year or so.  My parents were saying their UK papers were advertising to come to Johannesburg on holiday, but I didn't think it was that great up there.  You are about 6000 feet above sea level with lots of dust from the mines and it must be around 700 or so from the sea.  The only thing is there are more direct flights into Jo'burg than any other SA airport, so you then need to take a 1.5 to 2 hour internal flight to your final destination, which adds to both the travel time and the cost.  I would recommend coming to Cape Town - there is easily enough interesting things to see and do in the Cape Town area to keep you busy for 2 or 3 weeks.  There is also the Garden Route, which is a nice scenic drive that starts near Cape Town and ends around Port Elizabeth.  If you like tropical weather then you might also like around Durban. 
 
I married a South African woman and we had a holiday in SA every year or 2 - it is a long flight of 10.5 hours from London to Jo'burg or 12 hours from London to Cape Town.  I think there is a flight from Jo'burg that goes to Atlanta, but I've never looked into travelling to the USA from here.  As you say it is a long flight and the weak Rand makes USA holidays expensive!

 

[wkearney99]

Our trip was two legs, one from Dulles (DC) to Dakar, Senegal, refueling and then onward to Jo'burg, on South African Air.  Overnighted there and then a short hop up to Richard's Bay.  This was back in 2010, I don't recall the exact exchange rate but I don't remember the expenses being out of line.  Not cheap but not overpriced either.  Does look like the Rand has slid a bit since then, ouch.

 

[Dean Roddey]

The developer docs and their presentations explain it well enough.  Skills can use whatever name they'd like.  The trick is to use one that's something folks will be comfortable using.  Overlaps would only be an issue if two apps used the same name, so you'd only be able to install one or the other.  First tier usage, however, is something that has to be coordinated with Amazon at a much higher (management) level. 

 
My point though was that, in our current scheme with CQC, each user can select whatever trigger word he wants to use. It's configurable. 
 
The other point was that, if a 'first tier' skill still requires a skill specific trigger word, then in terms of the complaints above about naturalness of syntax, it's no better off that a non-first tier skill, whatever it's other features (which may be those that the end user never even sees and therefore wouldn't necessarily care about anyway.)

 

[jdk972003]

So Dean...
 
Have you looked into/asked Amazon what it would take to be an integrated partner vs the "skill" approach?  Just curious.

 

[Dean Roddey]

Not yet. Too many other things to deal with. However, I don't think it could possibly be 'skill-less', as mentioned above. Does anyone have a link to a general description of this new scheme?

 

[pete_c]

I am using this service echoless and the Kinect is serving as a microphone for my stuff.
 
The audio will play back anywhere I choose throughout the house.
 
I can talk to the Kinect with whatever SAPI speech font I have (lately its been Loquendo Grace) and Alexa just fine here.
 
I can also control the HS Touch screens on my multitouch / Kinect set up without touching them.
 
The Echo (initially limited to Amazon Prime members or by invitation) became widely available on June 23, 2015.  Additionally, the service behind it (Alexa Voice Service) is now available to be added to other devices and other companies’ devices and services are encouraged to connect to it (using the Alexa Skills Kit).
 
Alexa Voice Service (AVS)
 
Here is a quickie drawing of my testing set up.  I do not need the touchscreen.  It is there to play with HS Touch interaction.
 

 

[jkmonroe]

Not yet. Too many other things to deal with. However, I don't think it could possibly be 'skill-less', as mentioned above. Does anyone have a link to a general description of this new scheme?

 
https://developer.amazon.com/public/binaries/content/assets/html/alexa-lighting-api.html
 
https://developer.amazon.com/public/community/post/Tx23PZD8E8GWHAY/Introducing-the-New-Alexa-Lighting-API
 
but i don't think it does what everyone thinks it does.   :icon_pai:

 

[Dean Roddey]

Yeh, if that's it, it's not really very useful for general purpose automation.

 

[pete_c]

Here the plan is to utilize the Kinect application and the Alexa application to get the best of both worlds. 
 
Liking a bit the almost AI qualities of the Alexa application and what the Kinect can do today and tomorrow.
 
I can today tell Alexa or Grace to do whatever automation wise.  The Alexa application shuts down when not utilized. 
 
I have shut off my Amazon Echo for the time bean and will be utilzing multiple instances of the Alexa / Kinect application.
 
I am still learning the use of the Kinect and the Alexa application and how both will be utilized in my automation sandbox.
 
Going baby steps here.
 
@Dean
 
Why not offer both mechanisms or consoles of automation with your software?
 
Both running or either or could be a positive thing. 

 

[Dean Roddey]

Well, yeh, it's not like we'd stop supporting the Echo just because we added support for the Kinect or something. There's no issue supporting both of them, though presumably most users would pick one or the other I guess.
 
If you mean that lighting interface linked to above, essentially we kind of already do that. There's already a driver that emulates a Hue to the Echo. You can respond to the Echo sending off/on commands to 'faux lights' that are configured for this faux Hue device. Since it uses the Hue's syntax, it doesn't require any extra verbiage.

 

[pete_c]

Well, yeh, it's not like we'd stop supporting the Echo just because we added support for the Kinect or something. There's no issue supporting both of them, though presumably most users would pick one or the other I guess.
 
I dunno.  Maybe not. 
 
There are still many automation folks that do not want to leave a cloud connected VR console on device on 24/7. 
 
You could also add support via Alexa application concurrent to the Amazon Echo device. (real and virtual Amazon application).
 
The Kinect console would add some candy to your wares. 
 
 
Nah didn't mean lighting per what you have written.

 

[JimMurphy]

OK guys, I'm wondering if some of you guys can do me a favour since it is the season of goodwill! I have entered a Qubino competition in an attempt to win a smart energy meter.  The 3 people with the highest number of likes to their comment gets the chance to choose a Qubino module. 
https://www.facebook.com/QubinoModules/photos/a.769218889784919.1073741828.763809550325853/1091534244220047/?type=3&comment_id=1092540060786132&notif_t=like
I'm currently in 4th place, but just need 9 more likes to come in at number 3!  I would be grateful if you would spare 1 minute of your time to click on the link and then scroll down to "James Murphy" and "like" my comment.  The competition ends in 3 hours and I know most people in the US will be asleep now, but this is worth a shot!  Thanks and have a very Merry Christmas!

 

[JimMurphy]

Update - the Qubino competition closed at 14:00 CET (15:00 CAT).  The last 15 minutes were hectic, as there were 3 of us fighting for the 3rd prize all on 35 likes! Unfortunately 1 guy finished on 39 to take 3rd, I finished on 38 to take 4th and the 5th guy had 36 likes. So I needed 2 more votes to win the smart meter that I wanted! You win some, you lose some... :-(

 

[macromark]

FWIW: Oomi appears to be dead. Well, at least the website is broken (images won't load) and the online store is offline.