1. BB4matt's Avatar
    So I got an Echo Dot 2 for Christmas and wondered what to do with it. Well, today I set up my 3rd device , e.g. a smart plug after I put my 2 Honeywell thermostats as the first 2 devices on Alexa. It is a new experience for me to use voice for control stuff without using the phone. Of course, to control the smart plug and the thermostats one has to install apps on the Z30 which prompt for user and password info which are needed to feed Alexa later on. Controlling devices with voice afterwards is amazing.

    As mentioned before one has to do a bit of a work around since the Alexa app, which needs Android 5, does not work on my Z30. So I started with my lap top's WiFi set up to help to put the ‘echo dot’ on my home network.

    Next I used my WIN10 PC to run the Alexa's ‘on-line’ app via the Chrome browser: https://alexa.amazon.com and yes, one needs an Amazon account to use this app.

    Since I had previously installed a Honeywell ‘Thermostat’ app on my Z30 I wondered how to control the 2 WiFi thermostats via Alexa’s voice commands and not via the Z30. BTW, for this app to work on the Z30 one has to set up first the ‘Google play store’ app (check Crackberry for it), then download the ’Total Connect Comfort’ app. This requires of course an account set up with Honeywell’s https://mytotalconnectcomfort.com as well. Mark down your username and password which you must later on ‘reveal’ to the Alexa app. This app works with RedLINK Internet Gateway connected thermostats or standalone Honeywell WiFi thermostats, which is my case, one of each.

    Since this thermostat app was working on my Z30 for some time I ran the Alexa app via my browser and when I wanted to share my Honeywell user info with it, Chrome complained no ‘pop up’ allowed. I had to Google how to allow just the ‘pop up’ for Alexa. After this was done I shared my user info with Alexa, then let it search for my devices and I finally had voice control for both thermostats. It is truly amazing and a bit scary. For example, I was watching a video for the Alexa echo Dot 2 battery portable case on this link:

    https://www.amazon.com/Fremo-Evo-intelligent-Generation-unlimited/dp/B01M15235V/ref=pd_rhf_cr_s_cp_0_8?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B01M 15235V&pd_rd_r=Y0VN0EX79WG8Z1DWVMMA&pd_rd_w=pFsLN& pd_rd_wg=NSXDy&psc=1&refRID=Y0VN0EX79WG8Z1DWVMMA

    and while my Alexa was listening to the commands in this movie, my own Alexa started to transmit the Reuters news. I had to turn off the mic on the Echo dot 2 to stop this Alexa command overflow (literally). Wow, scary…

    OK, what else to test. I selected a 'smart plug' based on the app able to run in my Z30. So I checked what smart plugs on Amazon which came with software which could run on Android 4.3 or lower. I settled on this smart plug: the Meross WiFi plug which works with Android 4.0, i.e. good for Android 4.3 on BB10. The Meross plug has a button and an LED to show whether the relay is on.
    .
    I downloaded the app from the play store, installed it on the Z30 and connected to it via the Z30 WiFi which found Meross WiFi. I updated the firmware and was then able to use the smart plug icon to turn on a lamp, turn off a lamp. When one installs the app on the phone one has to set up an account with a username and password which needs to be revealed to Alexa later on.

    Again I ran Alexa’s ‘on-line’ version in the browser and under ‘Smart Home’ then 'Devices' I searched for Meross, selected ‘Enable’ on the top right, entered my Meross user info ( no pop up interruption this time), then let Alexa search for devices and there it was: Meross WiFi plug.

    The Z30 app let’s you schedule an off time, say I set the timer to turn off after 4 minutes everyday when the smart plug is on, e.g. I turn on the lamp with Alexa voice command and then the BB10 phone app turns off the lamp after 4 minutes. The Meross app recognizes that the ‘smart plug’ is on and the timer stops it after 4 minutes. Amazing, of course you need your WiFI net to be on, Alexa to be on, the Web to be on, your phone app to be on, o.k. so be it.

    But guess what , the smart plug has a manual switch and your hand can do it the old fashioned way, manually to be exact. I hope you had some fun reading how to keep BB10 in the loop for a bit longer by taking full advantage of Alexa's AI.
    FabriciusFab likes this.
    01-04-18 06:01 PM
  2. falbo's Avatar
    Well done. I also have a echo dot and have been using it about a year now. I couldn't get it to work with the passport and have set it up using my dtek50 phone. The first thing I done was change the key word to echo as every time a commercial was on the TV regarding the echo dot once alexa was mentioned my echo dot would respond. I purchased two smart plugs by kasa and downloaded the kasa app from GPS. So I now have voice control to activate the central heating pump for my open fire if lit and the other was controlling the Xmas tree over the Xmas period.
    I have now taken the one from the Xmas Tree and use it to charge a phone over night using the schedule function in the kasa app so it starts charging from 10.30 until 1 am. So it's not charging all night. I was also thinking of using one of the smart plugs to control the main oil fired central heating as the plug is rated 13 amps and the boiler and pump only 3 amp each. This would enable me to turn the heating on any time I wish via the app on my way home if late or early for example.
    I may now try again with the passport now I have it all set up using the dtek50 phone but I'm pretty sure that the kasa app will not work on bb10 so will look out for a similar plug that you are using.
    Hope you enjoy the setup and glad you posted.

    Posted via CB10
    01-05-18 01:50 AM
  3. BB4matt's Avatar
    While playing with BT on my Z30 I wondered whether Alexa could connect to my BlackBerry Music Gateway dongle and it did. Here is a quick guide, start the Alexa app, say in the Chrome browser and go to settings.
    under 'Devices' select: "your name"'s Echo Dot Online
    under 'Connected Devices' select: Pair Alexa Gadget
    then turn on the BT discovery mode on your device of interest, e.g. your headphone or in my case the BlackBerry Music Gateway, i.e. I selected the red and blue flashing mode
    then say:"Alexa pair". This will open a device list. Wait till your device of interest shows up and select it.
    In my case it showed "Blackber" which I selected. This completed the pairing and everything worked as expected.
    Alexa then talked back to me via my speakers of choice.
    A couple of thing to learn here.
    "Alexa disconnect" or "Alexa unpair" stops the BT transmission.
    "Alexa connect" will reconnect to the previous choice but “Alexa, pair [device name]” connects to another paired speaker, say my other device is a "JBL40BT" head phone.
    BTW, it is amazing how well my Z30 keeps working with BT, DLNA, and Miracast. Sometimes I wished BlackBerry would only update their OS10 browser (some sites don't accept this old version anymore). BlackBerry just spent 1.4 B$ to buy Cylance but no love for the browser. Anyway, here is some Alexa BT love.
    drobbie likes this.
    11-17-18 08:30 PM

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