Gadgetory

bill junk junk hey a genuine fan letter dear CNET smart home huh first time a long time a little strange we've only been around for a month all day at work I have to use my hands to open doors and to turn on lights it's a terrible burden is there any way I can avoid such tedium in the comfort of my own home good news first that a long time you're in luck because that's exactly what we're gonna talk about you're there we're here at the scene at smart-home taking a look at controlling the tech in this house with our voice why because voice control is cool and because controlling tech with your voice keeps it all simple and accessible to that end we have four kind of one two three four option number one corta the AI from the popular Halo video game franchise Cortana is a personal assistant on Windows phones and Windows tablets but she doesn't offer any smart home integrations so she's at option number two Google now the Android personal assistant you can use Google now to control the nest thermostat which we have installed here at the smart house but that's it right now so Google's out - that leaves us with these two opportunity three Siri your iPhones digital assistant can control things compatible with apple's homekit option number four Alexa the personality inside the Amazon echo which is not only a Bluetooth speaker but can act as a smart home controller and manipulate devices that homekit can't so between these two options which one best meets our needs pick me pick me I'm great for this sort of thing I can let you control things remotely this shouldn't even be up for debate you must be crazy if you don't pick me everybody knows I'm the best this is the best with home kit you can control all kinds of gadgets time objects how matter that you want stop because you do stuff that you don't and because you do stuff that you don't we're going with both for the CNN smart between Siri and Alexa were able to control almost everything we have set up in the CNET smart house Alexa can control the smart things accessories and the Belkin Wemo switches searing can control the Philips hue lights as well as the Schlage door locks we currently have installed both platforms also have a lot of strengths and weaknesses but they complement each other well Alexa you can't control remotely at all Siri cat you need to have an apple set up but if you do you can control any homekit devices from wherever you have your iPhone and soon you won't even need an Apple TV to do that but Syria doesn't have any centralized controls if you don't have your iPhone with you or a family member doesn't have one at all then they're completely out of luck in terms of being able to control anything with Alexa all you need to do is say her name and if she can hear you she'll respond turn on the porch lights lock the front door I can't think of a better metaphor for the current state of the smart home than two robots vying for our attention but that's where we are for now so for the moment Siri and Alexa are going to live side by side in the CNET smart home be sure to check back in the coming weeks and months to see all of our plans for this house