Apple HomePod

Sure! I don’t have too much yet, but I’m currently making the local Amazon delivery driver’s life a nightmare with the number of parcels I’m getting each day.

So far, here’s what I have:

  • Philips Hue Lights. I have these in every room in my house with the exception of the downstairs bathroom. I plan on getting a few light strips and some bloom lights for the office to make it a nicer environment.
  • Yale Smart Lock. Love this thing. Being able to walk up to my door and never need to worry about looking for my keys is great.
  • Logitech Circle 2 home security camera.
  • A couple of smart switches that switch things off when I leave the house.

The next thing I’m really aiming for is some kind of HomeKit compatible coffee machine, but I don’t think anything like that exists. Instead, I think I’ll be rigging something up in a kind of hacky way!

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I thought those are not compatible with UK doors/locks/standards/insurance/whatever :thinking:

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I want these

https://www.yale.co.uk/en/yale/couk/products/smart-living/smart-door-locks/

It’s the Yale one I use - not the August one. Apologies for the mix-up. (I do own an August one but it’s still in the box).

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I want an august one as well, but not worth it if it is going to void my insurance :frowning:

I’ve heard they’re making a kit to make it fully compatible with UK locks but I’m not sure if I’d need buy a completely new one or if they’ll make the conversion kit available separately :thinking:

To be honest, the Yale one does the job really well. I think the August one looks nicer though. I don’t even really think about it at all now, although I do often get a little bit of a “but what if it isn’t really locked” fear :cold_sweat:

Do they unlock bluetooth or geolocation?

The Yale lock? It uses bluetooth :slightly_smiling_face:

For those who can’t wait, David Pogue has tested it.

One line summary:

Great speaker, not so great AI or home automation.

https://www.yahoo.com/tech/david-pogues-sneak-preview-apple-homepod-190227102.html

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They either have really great stock levels or sales have flopped, cause I can still order now for launch day delivery.

I’m happy with my Sonos Play:1’s for the time being, and as much as I love Apple, Siri is really not all that helpful for the most part.

Big Apple user here but I’m sticking with my Sonos and Alexa.

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At the moment all ‘AI’ is pretty basic, the fact that Siri can only open an app on the iPhone and not close it or that Alexa gets confused over the simplest of things or that you have to say X do this/that proves this.

We are years away from a true AI smart home like Jarvis from Iron Man so till then we are stuck with what we have.


Not buying Homepod now

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I might get one if they did that…

I never really liked ‘OK Google’ I don’t say ‘OK Wife’ or ‘OK Dog’. Amazon have this right with Alexa… you just start with the name and it’s more natural.

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I tried that. The doctors say I’ll be able to see out of my swollen eye soon. :smirk:

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On the other hand, I’m going to buy a dog tomorrow. It’s name? Okaydog.

I don’t agree, although you’ve been able to change it with Amazon for a while. My issue with “Alexa” as a keyword is that it normalises the idea of commanding a woman (or in that case I guess a female-presenting AI) to perform tasks. I can only imagine that it’s gotten very old for anyone out there actually named Alexa.

I think it’s very dangerous in it’s reinforcement of unconscious biases. There’s a good article here about it.

For that reason I much prefer “Hey Google”, although would be interested to change it to a genderless technology based name, like aforementioned “TARDIS” since I love Doctor Who and already have my WiFi network named “Gallifrey”. K9 could work too.

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I watch WWE from time to time and there’s a character called Alexa Bliss. Makes the Amazon Echo Dot go mental every time the commentator says her name.

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I have Alexa set to respond to the command ‘Computer’. Try watching Star Trek set this way and poor Alexa melts down in confusion repeatedly.

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What smart switches do you use?

Note for future me; don’t write forum posts on 3 hours of sleep :see_no_evil:

What I meant to say was plugs; I have a few of these: https://www.apple.com/uk/shop/product/HKEH2B/A/elgato-eve-energy?fnode=44d904d9885a211a5a9a2b5d4450970f7ceca14fff9461fd4bfe99d8646903aeffe5178a77f66e0fd7caba86d4cdf3b6b9ac87dfa0e48ce16e6f1b4205fc9c13b9e66303098967930960f271f06a4c9515de0d028ce7c9278d2c9aaec94a16529eb2d358aca18dc4e74ecac3f3fb267e

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