February 2017

Alexa Can Now Control Wink-Compatible Smart Locks

rmiles7721February 28, 2017Home Automation

Recently Amazon has added smart lock capability to it’s Alexa smart home API. I’ve been patiently waiting for the fine folks at Homeseer to update their skill so that I can start doing the same without having to say “Alexa, tell Homeseer to lock the front door” etc….

Anyway, Wink has beaten them to the punch and you can now control or check the status of smart locks from Schlage, Kwikset and Yale.

In the past I’ve written about my Wink hub and how much I hated it because it was unreliable, would lose it’s Internet connection and several other problems. About five weeks ago I did a full factory reset on it and moved it to a new position in the house. Since then it’s been rock-solid. I run my Z-wave network (including door locks) from my Homeseer controller so unfortunately it’ll be a while before I have that capability unfortunately. I am considering using Wink as a secondary controller but there are issues with that such as Alexa duplicating devices so I’m putting it off for a while.

Anyway, if you have a Wink hub and want to connect your locks to Alexa go check out the article over on the Wink blog for directions.

State of the Smart Home?

rmiles7721February 26, 2017Home Automation

So I’m browsing around the other day and came across an article over at Wareable. Haven’t ever been there but I’ll probably stop back by and check it out occasionally.

Anyway, the article is titled “The State of the Smart Home” and they attempt to give a brief history of home automation over the last 45 years. I say attempt because it was obviously written by someone who doesn’t know squat about Home Automation or smart home devices or just decided they didn’t have time to devote to it.. Now don’t get me wrong, later in the article there are some really good points about smart home devices and home control but there really isn’t much about HA. Of course you can’t really say much about the history of home automation in three short paragraphs, which is what the author has attempted to do.

Back in 1966, while everyone else was busy watching the World Cup and debating whether The Beatles’ Revolver was bonkers or brilliant, engineer Jim Sutherland was at home in Pittsburg, quietly creating his ‘Electronic Computing Home Operator’

…some other stuff….

It would be another 44 years before the designer of the iPod, Tony Fadell, took a similar step towards revolutionising home automation with his groundbreaking Nest Learning Thermostat. A wave of launches followed – Samsung announced its SmartThings ecosystem in 2012, though arguably its thunder was stolen by Philips’ Hue lighting system. Belkin’s WeMo app-controlled plug socket arrived at CES in 2013, and by 2014 any tech brand worth its salt was talking smart home, from LG with its HomeChat textable appliances to Apple and HomeKit.

 

44 years? Really?

I will say this. One thing the article mentioned is that it’s still a niche area and they are definitely correct about that, it’s just all the rest of it that’s wrong.

In 1975 the first widespread, general purpose Home Automation products were released. It was called X10 and for the most part it used electric wiring for controlling and also RF transmission.  A lot of other types of control have come and gone in that time including ethernet control, RS-485, IR, Bluetooth, Zigbee (Wink, Hue, etc…), C-bus, Insteon (built upon X10), UPB, xPL, EnOcean and Z-wave, not to mention probably 20 other protocols that I can’t think of currently. I came late to the game and started getting into the hobby in early 2000.

X10 had it’s good and bad points. One thing I can say about it is that even though I have moved on to mostly Z-Wave devices and a smattering of quite a few other technologies I’m playing with, I still have several X10 modules that I purchased in 2000 and they still work just fine. 17 years. I doubt there’s anything I’ve purchased in the last five that will still be up and running in 2034. Maybe my X10 modules.

By 2012 there were supposedly over 1.5 million households that had HA systems installed. Yeah, that’s a niche but a pretty decent sized one.

Back in 2,000 I was using wireless technology, voice recognition, infrared and scheduling along with true home automation; devices and parts of the house that react to different things (motion, time, light, heat, etc.) I say true home automation because most of the products offered are really just home control, not automation.

The article says that 2017 is the year of Voice. I would agree 100% with that. While I have used VR and text to speech all along, it’s so much easier now. The Amazon Echo, and to a much lesser extent Google Home, are awesome and have helped to turn my system into something that the whole family wants to use. The Wife Approval Factor (WAF) has gone through the roof with Alexa.

I think what really bugged me about the article was that it (and most of the other ones I’ve now read there) is about gadgets. There’s really nothing about making your home a true “smart home”. Having a smart home isn’t about having to use 20 different apps on your phone in order to control everything. As a matter of fact, you shouldn’t ever have to take your phone out of your pocket unless you just want to (or are accessing it remotely). Not only that but most of the products they talk about force you to rely on the cloud. What happens to all of your gadgets and apps when your Internet connection goes down? Mine keeps humming right along, minus a few non-necessary items (Alexa, Wemo Mr Coffee, etc).

 

 

Enable System Wide Immersive Mode on Android Without Root

rmiles7721February 22, 2017Android

Several game and apps in Android the last couple of years implement what is called Immersive Mode. Basically your navigation and system bars disappear so that you can enjoy full screen mode. Google made this possible starting back in version 4.4

I used to use an app called GMD Full Screen Immersive Mode to force it when I wanted to use it but it unfortunately breaks the keyboard when you are using it. There’s also an ADB command that will trigger it but up until a few months ago everyone thought that you have to be rooted to use it. I personally stopped rooting my phones around the time I picked up my Nexus 6p, so around a year ago. It’s just not needed and I’m a huge fan of Android Pay, which is unusable if you are rooted.

XDA has an article up describing how you can enable system-wide immersive mode on demand, without root. Go check it out here.

 

Project Fi Testing Voice over LTE support

rmiles7721February 21, 2017Android

Apparently some Project Fi customers have noticed improved voice call quality over the last few weeks. That’s because Google has been testing Voice over LTE for some users. It was announced four days ago over at the Project Fi Help Forum.

Hi everyone,

Some of you have noticed this already, but over the past few weeks we have been testing VoLTE with a subset of Project Fi users.

A few advantages of VoLTE are:
higher quality calls over data – without using any of your data allocation.
faster data browsing during an on-going call
faster call setup

You can tell you’re making a VoLTE call because your signal indicator will continue to display LTE instead of falling to H [HSPA] when you make or receive a call.

We will continue to keep you informed as we progress with our testing.

Thank you!
Alena
Project Fi Community Manager

Unfortunately I’m not one of the lucky few yet who are getting to test this. If you happen to be a Project Fi customer you can tell if you are a tester by looking for the signal indicator to continue displaying LTE when you are on a call.

VoLTE lets you use your data to make a call, without using your data allocation. It also means that you’ll be able to use faster data browsing even while you are on a call, such as when you are looking up contact info online or need to look up directions.

You can also go into your settings – data usage – cellular networks and there will be a new switch for you to turn it on.

Currently Project Fi is limited to the Google Pixel and Pixel XL, Nexus 6p, Nexus 5x and Nexus 6. VoLTE support for Fi is limited to when you are on T-Mobile’s network since it’s the only US partner that fully supports VoLTE. No telling when Sprint or US Cellular will get on the bandwagon.

 

 

 

 

The Guitar

rmiles7721February 21, 2017Site News

Several years ago the wife received as a gift a really nice acoustic guitar from a friend of her’s that was going through a divorce. She likes to tell the story about it as it belonged to one of the three or four men that she hates the most and truly wished harm to come to them. This gentleman belongs to a list that includes Kim Jong Il. Wow.

Anyway, the guitar is pretty awesome, like you might find at music stores st louis.

It’s currently being used by my eldest daughter, who taught herself how to play. She’s pretty good at any type of musical instrument that she wants to play.

Sponsored Posts

rmiles7721February 21, 2017Reviews

It’s been several years since I’ve done so but I am probably going to start doing sponsored posts (or just sponsored links inside some posts) to help defray some of the costs I incur running my site as well as other things. I made pretty decent money while I was heavily doing it. I don’t see it taking over the site like I did before as I prefer writing the how-to’s and reviews and I really don’t want it to take away from what I prefer,

Verizon Offers Unlimited Data Plan

rmiles7721February 12, 2017Site News

Hell has officially frozen over.

I ditched Verizon a couple of years ago after the salesman in the Carrollton, GA store outright refused to sell me a phone at full price so that I could keep my grandfathered plan. While I do have to keep an eye on my data, it’s never really been a problem and I haven’t looked back.

Anyway, as of tomorrow, February 13th, Verizon will again be offering an unlimited* data plan for $80 a month. Not too bad actually. Unfortunately they are saying that customers that use over 22GB of data in a month will have their connection throttled in case of network connected.  I guess that’s like alternative news. Alternative unlimited.

You can also add a connected device, such as a tablet or the Wear 24, for an extra $5 a month.

The other thing is that Verizon is calling this an “introductory plan” so I’m not sure how that will effect existing customers. You can get more information at Verizon.

Google Home Review

rmiles7721February 10, 2017Android, Home Automation

So I set up Google Home a couple of weeks ago and figured it had been up and running long enough for me to give a preliminary review.

So far the WAF factor (as well as children) has been meh…

Don’t get me wrong. I love gadgets. I love Google stuff. I was a big fan of the Nexus program and now am using the Pixel XL. I have several Chromecasts scattered throughout the house and am on Google Wifi. For the time being though (and maybe only temporarily, I don’t know) Alexa is kicking Google Home’s ass at my casa. Maybe because we’ve been using the Amazon product for two years now and it definitely has a place in our home. I have an Echo in the living room and three Echo Dots in other rooms. I also use Fire TV (a lot more than my Chromecasts the last few months) and they have become an extension of my home automation system (Homeseer). I can control all of the lights with Alexa as well as my thermostat, TVs, audio receivers, my CCTV system, my coffee maker, etc. Can’t do that with Home, not easily anyway.

There are workarounds. I have Autovoice set up and can ask Google home to “tell Autovoice to…” but that’s such a pain in the ass. “Alexa, turn on the TV” just comes naturally.

I don’t use very many skills with the Echo, so won’t even compare how many are available. Most of them are crap anyway.

As far as setup and ease of use, Google Home is awesome. It was painless to set up and quick. Currently I have it in my kitchen (one of the places I DON’T currently have an Echo or Dot. I spend the majority of my time in our bedroom though, so it’s not getting used as much as the other devices.

The speaker itself is decent. I’m not an audiophile so don’t have anything to complain about as far as volume and range and all that other stuff. It sounds good to me so that’s all that’s important. I like Google Home for playing my music. That’s one thing I don’t normally do with the Echo. My wife and daughter listen to Pandora all the time so Alexa is good for them. I’m not a huge Pandora fan, or spotify for that matter. I prefer listening to what’s in my own library and all 18,000 songs are on Google Music. A very small portion of it is on Amazon so if I’m listening to music it’s through Google Music casting to one of the Chromecast Audio’s here, or through Google Home.

I also like the integration with other products. Keep for instance. Except for my oldest daughter, who has an iPhone 6, we all have androids here and there are a few Keep notes that we share with each other. Our menu and grocery list are two of them. I can use workarounds and IFTTT to get that stuff from Alexa if I want but it’s a pain in the ass and as anyone who uses IFTTT can tell you, it’s not instantaneous. Usually it’s fairly quick but occasionally there’s a delay of up to an hour. With Google Home if I add something to the shopping list it’s immediately added to a Google Assistant Shopping List in Keep. Now if I could just get the wife to use THAT one instead of the one she keeps creating and sharing.

There’s a lot of other stuff I could be doing with Home, particularly with Tasker, but I haven’t gotten around to it yet. As I integrate it more fully with my system I’m sure I’ll start to like it more and more. Whether the rest of the family can get used to saying something besides “Alexa…” remains to be seen.

Google Assistant on the Pixel Gets Home Control

rmiles7721February 9, 2017Android

Looks like Google Assistant on the Pixel is finally getting proper home functionality, without having to have Google Home. Up until now you could issue commands to the Nest, for instance, from your phone if you had already set it up on the Home. For instance, I already have a few Hue lights and a couple of Wemo devices (only one switch) that I have set up through Google Home. Now though you can do it through assistant, which is awesome.

If you open Assistant and go into the settings, Home control should be there. Since I already have a few devices set up through my home these already appear for me but you can add devices from Nest, Hue, SmartThings, Honeywell, and WeMo, create rooms, and assign a device to each room. Not too bad. Unfortunately Homeseer is not in the list but they are working on it and hopefully will be there shortly. Currently I’m using a workaround with Tasker and Autovoice to coomunicate with Homeseer, as well as IFTTT although that’s a lot slower than HS with the Tasker plugin.

Not everyone is seeing it yet apparently. I have a Google Pixel XL running the Android 7.1.2 beta, with the Google app 6.12.19 and Play Services 10.2.98

Google Pixel XL, Three Months In

rmiles7721February 8, 2017Android, Home Automation

For the last few months I’ve been using the Google Pixel XL. In the past few years I have used quite a few smart phones. In reverse order my daily drivers were the Nexus 6P, Nexus 6, Galaxy Note3, HTC One M8, Galaxy Nexus, HTC Droid Incredible & the Incredible 2, Blackberry Storm, Samsung SCH-i730 and the Blackberry Pearl. I may be missing a phone or two in the list as well, IDK. Probably my favorite devices up until now were the Nexus phones and the Blackberry Pearl.

My biggest issue with the Nexus line was that the cameras have always been underperforming and slow. Until the last couple of years if I was going on a trip I always had to make sure that I carried my dslr with me. That’s changed now.

I can say without a doubt that the Google Pixel is an awesome phone. It’s responsive, fast and the camera is even faster. With one or two exceptions it’s the best phone I’ve ever owned.

The interface, for the most part, is the generic Android desktop. Google elected to replace the Google Now Launcher with the Pixel Launcher. There isn’t a lot of noticeable difference there and I like it. I’ve played around with several home replacements such as Nova (one of my favorites) and Lightning Launcher but I always seem to go back to the simplicity of the one that came with the phone. I am not a real huge widget person and I only use two screens, one with a few icons and folders containing my most used apps, and the Google screen. If Google would open up the API for smaller developers such as Nova to integrate that into it I would probably go back to using Nova but that’s something for an entirely new post.

As I mentioned above, I really like the camera. It’s super fast and takes great pictures, better than any phone I have owned, even better than the Samsung phones I’ve used. With other phones I usually have had to wait a second for the phone to focus and then another after I’ve “pushed” the button for the picture to actually take. That’s way too long and half the time the photo I’m trying to take is no longer there. With the Pixel XL it’s just point and click, which is exactly what I cell phone camera should be.

One of the other things that I am pleased with is that I don’t have to root my phone anymore just to be able to do stuff, or get rid of unwanted bloat. Up until the Nexus 6P I have rooted every single phone I have owned. I love using Tasker to automate stuff and do more with my phone and until the last year or so have always had to hack my phone in order to do so. With the 6P and now the Pixel XL I haven’t had to do that. With the fine grained permissions that have been added to Android the last couple of versions it’s much easier to get it to do things  now. Not to mention I love Android Pay and it’s not possible to use a rooted phone and use Android Pay without a lot of workarounds that I don’t really want to mess with.

There are a couple of issues I have had with it that I want to make sure and mention. They aren’t killers for me but it wouldn’t be fair to leave them out.

The biggest problem I had was that the Pixel was freezing several times per day, just completely locking up on me. When I received the Pixel I did the account and app transfer from my 6P and it started within a week. After doing some research this has been a semi-common problem with folks and the solution seemed to be to remove the Life360 app. WTF? I went ahead and did a hard reset and made sure not to install Life360 (which everyone in my family uses) and that seems to have done the trick. I am not particularly satisfied with that answer and after having left it off my phone for the month of December and most of January, I put it back on about two weeks ago. I have had one freeze up since then, just the other day, but other than that the problem seems to have gone away. Not sure if it really was Life360 that was the problem, or maybe a combination of that and the transfer I did when I first got it and all of the apps I had installed.

One other issue I have been having is with disconnecting from data after a phone call. It doesn’t always happen so I am not sure what’s causing it. I have been a Project Fi customer for about a year and a half now so depending on my location I’m connected to T-Mobile, Sprint or U.S. Cellular. The issue seems to be when I am connected to the Sprint network. I have to repair my connection or switch to another carrier (or just reboot) in order to fix the problem. Like I said, it’s not a major issue but one to be aware of. I use an app called Signal Info and one of the few widgets on my desktop allows me to repair or switch my connection.

So I spent a couple of paragraphs about “issues” but here’s the real deal…I consider myself a power user and with Tasker and a few other apps and plugins I push my phones pretty hard, so I have never owned a phone that didn’t have issues. So far the Pixel XL has been able to deal with things more smoothly than any other. Really starting to look forward to the Pixel 2…, particularly if they add waterproofing.