Logitech has announced a partnership with Amazon today that brings Amazon’s popular Alexa virtual assistant to its Harmony platform. As part of the new feature, users of Alexa-enabled devices like the Amazon Echo and Echo Dot can now use their voice to perform common functions relating to entertainment.
In a press release, Logitech says that a new Amazon Alexa skill allows users to “enable voice control of your entire living room entertainment experience using a Logitech Harmony Hub with Alexa-enabled devices.” Essentially what this means is that, when the skill is enable on an Echo or Echo Dot, users can say things like “Alexa, turn on the TV,” or “Alexa, turn on Netflix” to control their TV and other smart home devices.
Logitech says that more than 270,000 devices can be combined to bring a scene to life, as well. For example, users can say “Alexa, turn on my evening activity” and Harmony will perform a series of actions that were previously defined by the user. Those actions could be things like turning on HBO, lowering the blinds, and dimming the smart lights.
The partnership between Amazon and Logitech brings more capability to Amazon’s already powerful Alexa platform. It’s partnerships like these that are helping Amazon set Alexa, the Dot, and Echo Dot apart from other platforms.
The Logitech Harmony Alexa skill will be available this week in the U.S. and will be available in the UK in the coming months, Logitech says. The full press release is below.
[9to5-press-release]
Now Amazon Alexa Can Control Your Entire Family Room Entertainment Experience with Logitech Harmony
New Skill Creates Novel Ways to Navigate your Smart Home with Harmony
LAUSANNE, Switzerland & NEWARK, Calif. — Oct. 25, 2016 — Today Logitech (SIX: LOGN) (NASDAQ: LOGI) announced a new Amazon Alexa skill that enables voice control of your entire living room entertainment experience using a Logitech Harmony Hub with Alexa-enabled devices such as the Amazon Echo or Echo Dot.
When the skill is enabled on Amazon Echo or Amazon Echo Dot, you can start and stop Harmony Activities, control your entertainment devices, or even turn directly to your favorite channels, hands free, using only your voice. Harmony users can simply say “Alexa, turn on the TV,” or “Alexa, turn on Netflix” to control the TV as well as other entertainment and smart home devices, and Harmony makes it happen.
“This new capability is both practical and fun for our users,” said Renee Niemi, general manager of the smart home business at Logitech. “We’ve been working closely with Amazon to deliver robust voice control of your smart home using a Harmony hub-based remote and an Alexa-enabled device — and if you don’t have Harmony yet, just say ‘Alexa, order a Harmony Hub’ and have one delivered.”
With Harmony Activities, different actions and more than 270,000 devices can be combined to bring an entire scene to life. For example, you can say, “Alexa, turn on my evening activity,” to your Amazon Echo or Echo Dot and Alexa will use Logitech Harmony to start a series of actions that you’ve previously defined, such as turning the TV to HBO, bringing down the blinds and dimming the smart lights — all at once.
“The Alexa experience just got smarter, thanks to our friends at Logitech,” said Rob Pulciani director of Alexa at Amazon. “Logitech Harmony is an innovator in entertainment and smart home control, and together through this new Alexa skill and the Harmony hub-based remote, we’re bringing voice control of the living room entertainment experience to Alexa and Harmony customers.”
Logitech continually creates new experiences for Harmony remotes, so people always have access to the latest home entertainment and control experiences. These updates are delivered for free and over the air to our remotes, so our users can rest assured that a purchase today will also deliver the key features they will want tomorrow.
Availability
The Logitech Harmony Alexa skill will be available this week in the U.S. and will be available in the UK in the coming months. To take advantage of this new capability, launch the Alexa app on your smartphone and select Smart Home from the left-hand navigation menu, Get More Smart Home Skills, and search for ‘Harmony.’ A Logitech hub-based remote such as the Logitech Harmony Elite or Logitech Harmony Companion is required. For additional information on using Logitech Harmony remotes with Amazon Alexa, please visit myharmony.com/alexa, our blog or connect with us on Facebook.
About Logitech
Logitech designs products that have an everyday place in people’s lives, connecting them to the digital experiences they care about. Over 30 years ago, Logitech started connecting people through computers, and now it’s designing products that bring people together through music, gaming, video and computing. Founded in 1981, Logitech International is a Swiss public company listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange (LOGN) and on the Nasdaq Global Select Market (LOGI). Find Logitech at www.logitech.com, the company blog or @Logitech.
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