Lowes IRIS Shutdown and Payday, Amazon Alexa FTW – HGG391

Dewain Robinson joins us again (might be a guest record) to talk about the Lowes IRIS shutdown of service and what you need to do RIGHT NOW to get a refund on products that are covered.  We also catch up with his work at Microsoft.  All this and more! Join Jim Collison / @jcollison  and Mike Wieger / @WiegerTech  for show #391 of Home Gadget Geeks brought to you by the Average Guy Network.

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Full show notes and video at http://theAverageGuy.tv/hgg391

Podcast, Home Gadget Geeks, Lowes,IRIS, Arcus, ZigBee, Zwave, Amazon, Alexa, Google, google home, smartthings, samsung, microsoft

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Topics:

• Lowe’s Iris
  • Service is being decommissioned 3/31/2019
  • www.irisbylowes.com
  • You can get a refund on your equipment that doesn’t work in other places (Ends 3/31/2019)
    • I got $404 in refunds from Lowe’s in a Visa Debit Card
    • Took about 2 weeks to get the payment
    • You will have to sign for it
  • Don’t take to the store!
  • Logon online and follow instructions.  It will look at devices connected to your hub and calculate payment.  SO DON’T UNPAIR OR DELETE DEVICES FROM YOUR HUB!!!
  • Iris is going open source and renamed Arcus
    • So, don’t throw out your HW as it may be interesting

• Why did Dewain choose Iris?
  • Security System
  • Pin Pads
  • Monitoring Service
  • Zwave and Zigbee support

• So, Iris is dead now what?
  • Evaluate your devices
    • Do you need ZigBee and Zwave?
    • What Hubs support your devices?
    • How much does it cost to replace?
    • Thermostats and Locks are high dollar ones
  • What are your needs now?
    • Cameras – (Arlo and Ring Doorbell)
    • Security – (Iris)
    • Home Automation – (Iris)
    • Voice Control – (Nothing had an old Echo and Cortana Invokes)
    • Integrations – (Nothing really)
    • Music – (Sonos)
  • Systems Evaluated
    • Samsung Smartthings
    • Vera
    • Ring
    • Alexa
    • Google Home
    • Apple (Laugh)

• What did I go with?
  • Not an easy answer
  • Started with Alexa – https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B07H1QBW2L?ref_=nav_em_T1_0_4_8_2__k_ods_ha_lr
    • Alexa says it supports tons of stuff, but the devil is in the details… HOW DOES IT SUPPORT?
    • Echo Show and Echo Plus only support Zigbee
  • Ring Security System – https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B07L91DC51/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o08_s01?ie=UTF8&th=1
    • Already had the doorbell
    • Free Dot with purchase
    • Bought by Amazon (surely this will work seemlessly together)
    • Adds support for Zwave (or so I thought)
  • Samsung Smartthings – https://www.bestbuy.com/site/samsung-smartthings-hub-white/6265835.p?skuId=6265835
    • Zwave and Zigbee support
    • Using for legacy device support and Zwave
  • Arlo Cameras – https://smile.amazon.com/Arlo-NETGEAR-Security-System-Siren/dp/B01LR8PG6Q/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=arlo&qid=1550788347&s=gateway&sr=8-3

• What did I learn?
  • Where to use what for what?
  • Alexa is the future (Hub of Hubs) – Google isn’t even close
  • Alexa custom intents
  • Arlo Cameras working but Ring Doorbell camera doesn’t
  • Alexa Drop In – In House and Out
  • Alexa Integration to Sonos
  • Careful what you call things in Alexa – Example: Front Door Lock vs. Front Door ; Kylie’s Echo vs Bedroom 1 Echo
  • Alexa Announcements
  • Set rules from top and then go to the bottom
  • Samsung Smartthings ain’t so smart
  • Schlage Door Lock PINs need to be supported at the Hub
  • It’s a shame that Lowe’s Iris is dead (or is it…..)

In other news:

• Soundscape
  • https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/product/soundscape/
• Neural TTS
  • https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/services/cognitive-services/text-to-speech/
• CES Visit
  • First time ever
  • Huge conference
  • Fun to get to be behind the scenes at some places
  • Most awesome thing I saw – https://www8.hp.com/us/en/premium/convertible/spectre-folio-13-b.html
• Tesla Update
  • Favorite Car Ever!!!
  • Other cars are not ever driven
    • Annoys me that other cars take gas and you have to go to these things called Gas Stations
  • Not missing the Jag as Model S 100D is about the same in speed, faster in real driving
  • Yes, I have the fart app…. Yes, it was a blast over Christmas
• Most recent phone purchase
  • Galaxy S10
  • Deal on pre-orders  Trade in on S9 is $550 and comes with free $150 new earbuds – https://www.samsung.com/us/mobile/galaxy-s10/buy/
  • Ended up $350 for the purchase
• New Webcam
  • Razer Kiyo – https://www.razer.com/gaming-broadcaster/razer-kiyo
  • Ring Lighting

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