Google pulls YouTube from the Echo Show

Last week I was disappointed to find that I could no longer play YouTube videos on my Echo Show.  I asked Alexa to play a particular video and her response was that "Currently, Google is not supporting YouTube on the Echo Show".

After a little googling I found that Amazon and Google have been in negotiations for a while but Google pulled YouTube because the Echo implementation violates their terms of service and creates a broken experience, but they hope to reach an agreement and resolve the issue soon.

So each company is blaming the other and the customer loses, very unfortunate.  My guess is googles issue if that on the Echo you can't subscribe, comment, like or most importantly view and click on ads.  That is a whole revenue stream google is missing out on so that are taking their ball and leaving.

My guess is the Amazon could just serve up YouTube videos through a web browser which the Echo show must have.  Then ads and all the other functionality would be available and wouldn't violate their TOS.

For me the loss of YouTube on the Echo Show is kind of a big deal as I am not an Amazon Prime or Music Subscriber  so I have no way to listen to music on the show.  But that may be a non issue now that Sonos has released Alexa integration.  I will post about the Sonos/Alexa Integration after I have had a chance to play with it a little more.  So far though it looks pretty good.

I think as more companies get into the home automation and music streaming game there will be more and more issues like this as the companies jockey to come out on top.  Will be interesting to see how it all plays out over the next couple years.

Sonos Sub

I purchased my Sonos Playbase a few months ago and it drastically improved on the sound of my TV speakers but I still felt it was a little weak on bass.  Even though the Playbase has a built in subwoofer port I felt I was just not getting the lows that I was used to with my old home theater.

I demoed the playbase and sub a few times and knew the sub would make the difference I was looking for but the $700 price tag was really making me hesitate.  I could get similar subs for around $250 but I have bought into the Sonos ecosystem so I knew I has to pull the trigger.  Then I got an email from Sonos that they were having a 15% off sale and that tipped the scales for me.

I picked up the Sub a few weeks ago and I have to say I am pretty happy with the purchase.  Is it worth $700?  That is debatable but for me to be truly happy with my home theater system it was what I needed.

Setup of course was very simple.  I just unboxed the sub, plugged it in, added the sub to my room, synced it, ran through TruePlay and I was up and running in about 10 minutes.  The sub really adds a lot of depth to music.  The room I have mu home theater in is about 25' x 25' with cathedral ceiling so it is a lot of space to fill with sound.  The PlayBase and Sub are up to the task.  But where it really shines is movies.  The explosions can now be felt but it feels to be like a more natural low rather than sound that you would get from a cheaper Subwoofer.  Even my 10 year old daughter commented on how much more fun it was to watch Beauty and the Beast with all the extra rumbling and growling.

I've yet to watch a movie to really test it.  I may wait until I am home alone and play Saving Private Ryan at good volume to not disturb the wife and kids.  Overall pretty happy with the purchase I am still struggling a bit with the price but the 15% off makes it a little more palatable.

Next on my Sonos wish list is probably going to be a Play 1 for my office but I think I may wait a bit as I am reading rumors that Sonos will be releasing a new speaker with integrated microphone and voice control.  Sound pretty interesting....

Update:  My sub died.  This is the second sonos product that has died on me too soon.  No lights, would not turn on, nothing.  Makes me worried about the QC of these product but maybe 5 years is what you get out of smart products.   I quick search on the sonos message boards and it seems I am not the only one with this issue.  I do feel like the price you pay for Sonos products, they should last at least 10 years.  When my playbase died, it was just out of the warranty period so they sent me a new unit,  I was not expecting the same with a 4 year old product but they did give me about a 45% discount on the purchase of a new sub.  So I would consider that pretty good customer service, although I do have some concerns moving forward about quality and reliability but for me there is no real alternative to Sonos.

New Products from Nest

Happened to be on Nest's website the other day and noticed that they are releasing a few new products.  I remember reading an article a few weeks back that they had some products in the pipeline and I guess this is it.  I have to say I am a bit disappointed.  The products they have released are either just upgrades to their existing products or their versions of a competitors product.  Nothing game changing like the original Nest Thermostat.

Nest Secure

Nest secure is their new do-it-yourself home security system.  I guess one of the benefits is ease of install so you don't have to hire a professional to install it.  This is typical with nest products.  I haven't found anywhere whether they offer professional monitoring which to me is a must have with a home security system.  To me this just looks like a rehash of some of the other do-it-yourself home security systems like SimplySafe.   But I guess if you have already invested in Nest cameras it may make sense to go with this security system.   Will be interesting to see how this sells.  At $500 for a starter kit it is not cheap.

Nest Cam IQ Outdoor Camera

Another new product announced was an outdoor version of their Nest IQ camera.  The one thing this camera has going for it is it is true HD 1080p quality.  But it does have to be hard wired and you need to purchase a nest aware subscription to access video history.  One camera is going to set you back $350 but you can get two pack for $590.  Not a bad price but the whole Nest aware subscription just turns me off.  Even though they are just 720p quality I think I will stick with my Arlo Pro Cameras.  They are completely wireless and no subscription needed and I get 7 days of history.

Nest Hello Doorbell

The final product that they released this week is a video doorbell.  To me this looks like a knockoff of the Ring doorbell.  It does seem to have some functionality that the Ring doesn't such as person detection even if they don't ring the doorbell and it will be HD quality.  The product will be released in Q1 2018 and there is no pricing info yet.

Overall I am a bit underwhelmed by these new products.  Nothing I have to have and nothing that is going tp disrupt any industry.  And still no new version of the Nest Protect.

Amazon Echo Show

I have held off on picking up any of Amazon's Echo products thinking they were pretty much a novelty item.  Then last month the released the Echo Show with the screen and I was kind of intrigued.  Then I learned that the Alexa show works with Arlo cameras and now the Show was a must have product for me.  I love my Arlo cameras but often wished there was some kind of monitor that came with then.   My driveway and entry door in my home is just off my kitchen but there are no windows with a view of the driveway or door so if there is someone at the door I can't easily see them.  The Echo Show solves this problem, all I have to do is ask Alexa to "Show my side door camera" and the feed pops up.

I do have quite a few other smart devices in my home that integrate nicely with the Echo.  I can now easily control my Nest thermostats or check the temperature upstairs if  the kids are complaining it is too hot.  I can turn on and off my driveway lights that are connected to my WEMO switch.  I can also control my Rachio sprinkler system by telling Alexa to water a certain zone for x many minutes.  All pretty cool functionality but for me still pretty much a novelty.

Much has been made of the creepiness of the drop-in feature but it doesn't bother me as much as I thought it would and I actually find myself using it.  I only have my wife and I enabled but if we are away and want to check on the kids we can just drop in and see what is going on in the kitchen.

Setup was pretty simple I had all of my connected devices set up in less than an hour.  I find myself asking Alexa for the days weather more now than just checking on my phone.  The device itself is kind of ugly, but I am not bothered by how it looks.   I think the boxiness has to do with fitting in the fairly high quality speakers.   The speakers are good but they aren't going to replace my Sonos speakers anytime soon.  I am also not an Amazon Prime subscriber so I don't have access to any of the music or videos, so the functionality there is limited for me.   The price of the product at $229 was a bit high but I was able to use a couple best buy discount certificates I had and got it for about $180.  

This is the first generation of the show so there is lots of room for improvement.  It has a touch screen but there is not a lot of functionality there.   There is no web browser.  With the Arlo integration it takes about 15 seconds to pull up the camera feed.  The talk feature is also not available through the Echo Show.   But I imagine that more and updated functionality will be coming in the future.

One piece of functionality that I am really looking forward to is the Echo integration with Sonos speakers.  This functionality was announced a year ago and is expected soon.  I will be sure to review how it works as soon as it is available.

Overall, I am pretty happy with my Echo Show.  Looking forward to new functionality and getting new connected products and see how they integrate with my whole house system.

Nest Thermostat E

Nest just released a new, cheaper version of their thermostat called the Nest E, for easy.  It is currently priced at $169 which is $80 cheaper than their 3rd generation thermostat.  With local rebates that some utilities provide you the price could be less than $100 if the rebated apply to this model.   This undoubtedly is targeted to complete with the Ecobee 3 Lite which is priced the same.

The thermostat is made of plastic (polycarbonate) rather than the metal and glass that the 3rd generation nest is made from.  It is white and has a frosted display to blend into the background.  Probably will be pretty popular with consumers who are not comfortable with the high price point of the 3rd generation Nest or weren't into the modern look of the original.

 As far as features go it seems to have everything that the third generation Nest has except Faright.  Farsight is the feater that allows you to display the current tempeartire or time when the thermostat detects that you are near.  Kind of a cool feature nut not a mist have.  The nest E seems to do everything else the the 3rd Gen Nest does.  It is a learning thermostat, you can control it with your phone or the website, it is easy to install, and is just about the same size.  

I think this will be a winner for Nest.  The are going to pick up some consumers who were turned off by the price of the original.  I would be a buyer if I didn't already have 2 of the Nest 3rd Generation thermostats installed.

My only wish is that they would work on a cheaper version of the Nest Protect smoke and carbon monoxide detector.  I still can't get past the $119 price tag.  Hopefully they will at least release a new version of the Protect with some additional features that will help me justify the cost so I can pick up a couple.

Arlo Solar Panel

The Arlo Solar panel is a great addition to the Arlo Pro Camera for those who don't feel like recharging batteries every few months.  I believe the panel also works with the Arlo Go cameras.

I have had the panel installed for about a month now and it had kept my battery charged at 100%.  There are some customers on the Arlo forums that seem to be having issues with the panels showing an error message in the app.  I have never experienced any errors with my panel.

I have two Arlo cameras but only chose to purchase one panel as my front camera does not get that much activity and I only have to charge the battery every 6 months or so.  Also the camera faces north so there would no easy way for me to face the panel toward the sun which is obviously key to solar panels.  

If you are considering installing one of these panels male sure of the following:

1. The panels are facing the sun, preferably south (if you are in the Northern hemisphere) and angled properly.  There is an app called SinplySolar that can help you with angling your panel
2. The plug for the panel is fully seated.  To make the panel water tight the connection is kind of difficult to seat filly especially if you are on a ladder.  
3. Make sure there are no trees or other obstructions between the panel and the sun.

So far I am pretty happy with the performance of my panel.  It will be interesting to see what happens when the days get shorter and colder and we start seeing some snow.  Hopefully the panel will still be able to keep the batter charged.   Time will tell I guess.

Update:  November 2017

I noticed a message the other day on my Arlo App stating that "Charging Paused, Battery temperature is too low".  It seems that the solar panel cannot charge the battery when temperatures are 32 degrees Fahrenheit or below.  Although I am pretty sure I was seeing the message the other day when temperatures were in the 40s.  Pretty disappointing.  This basically means my solar panels are going to be useless from November through March.  Kind of defeats the purpose of the panels as the main reason I bought mine was so I would no have to climb up and replace the battery when it is cold and icy out.  So for those looking at getting one of these panels, if you live in a cold region be aware that they won't charge your batteries when it gets cold.

Sonos - Playbase

For the past year I am been browsing around looking for a good soundbar that would fit in my family room.  In my old house I had a pretty good Cambridge Soundworks  6.1 surround sound system installed, which did not come with me to the new house.  In my new house wanted better home theater sound, but I did not want to run wires. With the layout of the room, it would be impossible or at least extremely ugly to run wires around the walls.  I have been looking at higher end soundbars, but I was unable to find one reviewed well enough to encourage me to pull the trigger.  My other issue is my TV sits so low on the base that most soundbars would block the IR receiver.  This seemed to be another instance where the technology was not yet where I needed it to be but if I waited long enough something would eventually be released.  I have not been real impressed with the performance of any of the Bluetooth speakers I have owned and I have never really been a fan of Bose products.

I had read about a bit about Sonos products, and really wasn't looking very closely at them as they are pretty pricey.  Then last month I came across a couple reviews of the Playbase.  Although pricey, it seemed to fit the criteria of most of what I was looking for.

• Great Sound
• Plenty of bass for movies
• Expandable
• Wireless
• Can play music form just about anywhere

So after a lot of research I pulled the trigger and picked up a Playbase.  I have to say I am impressed.  The sound obviously does not rival my old 6.1 system but it is pretty damn good.  I no longer find my self turning the volume up to hear dialogue and then down when the explosions get too loud.  It also looks great under my TV.  Very sleek and unobtrusive.

What has impressed me the most is the ability to stream different types of audio.  I have been a Pandora user for a while so it was great to be able to use it on the Playbase as well.  I am also able to listen to local radio stations through TunedIn.  The system supports 49 streaming services so most likely your favorite is supported.  Most impressive is I am able to share out my whole music library on my PC and stream it to the Playbase.  The great thing is it just works.  The app is great, very intuitive.  You don't get any drops like on Bluetooth.

I can't really find much to complain about regarding the system but if I had to come up with something....

• Its expensive - Yes it is expensive but for me it is worth it
• Limited connection options - The playbase connects from your TV using an optical cable only. 
• It does not support DTS or other advanced audio formats

The problem is now I am wanting to add more components to the system.  While the bass output is good I am sure it would sound a lot better with the sub so I will probably be adding one soon.  And once I have the sub I might as well get a couple Play1s for the rear.  Then of course I need a Play 3 for the office.   Not to mention the kids rooms and bathroom.   The good thing is once I do build the whole system out it will be so easy to setup and manage through the app.  You can have one audio source playing in one room and another audio source in another room.

Also on the horizon is integration with Amazon Echo so if you are a user of voice control products it is coming toward the end of 2017.  Overall very happy with my Playbase and looking forward to adding more components as budget permits.