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If you're old enough to remember cartoons like The Jetsons, you probably remember a vision of the future where our lives are fully automated. All it takes are a few verbal commands, and your whole ...

Setting up routines or automations is half the reason to get into smart hubs and assistants. Every major hub, from SmartThings to Alexa, lets you create routines, in which you use triggers to cause ...

Virtual assistants will soon be as commonplace as smartphones -- in many parts of the world, they already are. Most ...

Namely, you can now use person detection to fire off a set of commands as part of an Alexa routine. Think about lights that turn on and off depending on whether anyone is in the room. An air ...

I have had Alexa Echo devices from Amazon in my house for years, so when it’s time for bed, all I have to say is “Alexa, turn ...

Dale Smith is a former Associate Writer on the How-To team at CNET. Admit it. You're curious about Alexa routines. Maybe your friends or family sometimes show off their own home-brewed Alexa ...

On the hardware front, you can use an old smartphone with a working mic and speaker to use the Home Assistant Companion app on it. Alternatively, buy a tiny $15 Atom Echo smart speaker to start small ...

If you’re unfamiliar with Alexa routines, they’re a series of tasks that Alexa can do by only saying one phrase. For instance, instead of telling Alexa to turn off lights, turn on music, and turn on ...

So-called “Occupancy Routines” are nothing new to camera-equipped Echo Show displays, including the third-generation Echo Show 10 and second-gen Echo Show 8 and 5 devices. But now, some Echo speakers ...