Amazon Echo adding voice controls for SmartThings devices

Since part of SmartThings’ charm is its cross-platform support, that means many home automation devices which may not have got around to integrating with Echo have nonetheless been brought onboard. Amazon Echo is a voice controlled Bluetooth speaker, which is designed to be a personal assistant by doing works like helping you to answer some questions, updating you with latest news, playing music and some other stuff. That includes non-SmartThings items that are plugged into a SmartThings Power Outlet, as well as switches and lights from the company. While it’s not the first such integration we’ve seen Echo add in the months since Amazon launched the chipper speaker, it could well be one of the most far-reaching, thanks to SmartThings’ broad compatibility with a huge – and growing – number of third-party automation devices. The artificial intelligence (AI) speaker simply plugs into a power outlet, connects to Wi-Fi and listens for your voice so it’s ready to answer your queries. If you plan on picking up a Samsung SmartThings Hub off of Amazon (currently available through pre-order for $99), users can tell Alexa to, “Turn on the TV”. All you have to do is start your sentences with “Alexa”, which is the name of Echo’s assistant, to start controlling these devices.

Amazon and Samsung are teaming up to make the smart home system of your dreams.

But based on the now-pulled blog post from SmartThings, it would seem that Amazon is broadening smart home options for Echo owners.

A blog post announcing the news popped up this week on the SmartThings website.