This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
Fuck Amazon, fuck Alexa.
But that wall clock is glorious. It's a decently look clock, but seeing how much time you have left on multiple timers with a single glance is so incredibly useful. Especially when you're cooking.
I'm currently in the process of migrating away from the shit Alexa ecosystem, but no matter what I end up with, I'll have to find an alternative for this clock
Multiple timers in the kitchen is a must. For those that don’t know, pro to prosumer grade kitchen gear has been doing it for years:
https://www.thermoworks.com/shop/products/timers/
Edit: I’ve used the TimeStack for years. You can pry it from my cold dead hands that’s how good it is.
I just use an app on my phone. Being able to set a timer with multiple stages is important to me for baking (I can make a custom timer that pauses at each stage of rising).
If i just need a quick timer, the basic clock app works for me.
Those look great but a physical timer doesn’t label which timer is which nor is it available throughout the house. Why shouldn’t i see my laundry timer when I’m in the kitchen or my kitchen timer when I’m in the family room?
While I wish for a home solution, nothing matches my Apple Watch. Voice response. Any number of timers. Timers are named. Timers go with me everywhere
The time stack does up to 100db (which is really effin loud) and each of the timers has a different sound.
It’s not as perfect as an Apple Watch or a digital device that always travels with you but I can hear this timer two stories away in our house
I also have the TimeStack and it's great. However, my one complaint is that there's no external power switch, and therefore, seems to use up batteries quicker than it should.
If you use home assistant, nabu casa has an ”Assist Sattelite” voice-kit hardware platform in the pipeline, I'm hoping to replace all my Alexa's once available.
Details in the top post here: https://community.home-assistant.io/t/respeaker-lite-new-seeed-studio-voice-assistant-development-kit-hardware-combine-esp32-with-xmos-xu316-dsp-chip-for-advanced-audio-processing-as-a-esphome-based-home-assistant-assist-satellite-voice-devkit/756944/321
There's a patent post on Reddit recently too, I won't link that 😂
I also really liked the wall clock but definitely too limited feature.
I still have the wall clock but never use it. My biggest complaint is that it is tied to one echo and it must be in Bluetooth range if it, but I want my timer visible throughout the house.
It’s easier and more convent to use my watch or phone
I just use my Google Home Max for timers, it'll display three timers at once on the screen and I can get the status of any or all with voice at any point. Plus it'll do all the usual assistant stuff of conversions, cooking temperatures, and has a big enough screen for me to read recipes or follow along with a recipe video. Bonus feature is that its a reasonable loud speaker as well so I do not need a separate radio in the kitchen.
Sure its not as pretty as the clock but its a whole lot more useful for cooking.
The $60 microwave was actually pretty good and the integration wasn't totally useless
The little ring form factor would be neat if it wasn't $200 and wasn't sending data to Amazon.
