GregCAMS Posted December 31, 2020 Share Posted December 31, 2020 1 hour ago, malelan said: I think its very reasonable to expect this to work 'out of the box', the control4 driver for Josh.ai is very functional today, and didn't require much setup at all. They have a very solid grasp on audio/video matrix/routing through control4, so i would imagine its as simple as binding the core outputs to your matrix and making sure the systems are aware of these connections. To the comment up above about removing t3s/t4s, i thought about this, but i use them pretty often to display cameras, its pretty nice to tell josh to 'show me the driveway' and have it pop up on the navigators. If anyone has josh specific questions, i'll do my best to answer, i've spent a ton of time playing with it and using it for a few months now. I'll be installing the nanos/core once available as well. The biggest difference for me over alexa/google was as follows - not being locked into the ecosystem was a bonus - reserved commands in alexa/google were annoying - not being able to play music throuh anything expect the google/amazon speaker i'm talking to, i realize there are some hacks you can do to get this to work better with chromecast audio, etc, but it always required a non intuitive command to initiate. - one of my big gripes (and something my wife could never understand) was why we couldn't just say something like "Listen to Metallica in the living room" and get it to play over the speakers. additionally, as we're spotify users, we wanted the ability to listen to a specific song "listen to enter sandman by metallica in the living room" . This was the simple request, Josh has taken this a stop further as i no longer have to even specifiy the living room if i'm in the living room, and i have a micro (or future nano) in the same room. With Google/Alexa i found myself going out of my way to initiate and use voice control, it was a cool novelty when people came over and i got to show it off with a very specific set of pre-set commands. and occasionally, if i went into the baement with my hands full and i needed the light on, i'd say "Turn the basement on, Turn the basement light on, turn the light in the basement on" until the light came on, sometimes it took a few tries. With the Josh stuff it's been better, I find myself using it out of convenience more than just forcing it into my routine. In situations where my phrase doesn't do what i want it to do, its as easy as logging into the josh web portal, finding what i said int he history log and making sure it knows what that means for next time.. I know i probably sound like a salesman, so i'm going to go through some of the negatives below. - Josh and control4 don't really have a great way to exchange information between the systems with the exception of device status. Meaning they can tell each other when a light is on , etc, but if i needed to pull the status of my alarm system from Josh, there isn't really an easy way to do this (some work arounds) - Devices that are natively supported by Josh need to be setup on both sides (control4, and again in Josh) specifically Roku, Sonos, etc. - Josh is missing a ton of internet functionality that Google and Alexa have. Look up information (Alexa, how old is gary busey?) Josh cannot do any of this stuff, we used it once in awhile and it was handy, Additionally we used the google home in the kitchen to set timers for various cooking tasks. The language recoginition around this in Josh is not as well built out as it is in the other systems. Agreed on many points here. Touchscreens - I've had different generations of the panels since 2011 and rarely used them other than light, shades and music for the backyard. All of these are much easier using the Micros especially on the shades now that all have been converted to Lutron in the home. In this case the non-C4 installers for the Lutron shades put them in, set the limit and I was able to control with voice immediately with zero programming on the additional ones. The C4 dealer will be here next month to link into the OS when needed. The scenes programming has worked great. Being able to create new scenes by voice alone and testing in less than 2 minutes was well worth it. I've set 10-15 programs with most being based on time of day and the others on a callout command via voice Internet - could care less about google searches with the voice prompts. I have my phone on me most of the day and can use Siri or google for that. Music - looking forward to the VoiceLink functionality next year and deeper integration into all of the music services. The company makes no bones about this being a discretionary spending product and are not in the market segment to compete with the other offerings currently available. Not for everyone as they say. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejn1 Posted December 31, 2020 Share Posted December 31, 2020 "Discretionary" to me means, buy JoshAI and you are not subsidizing your personal information to be marketed to the world. With Amazon and Google, you are basically giving a way your personal data in exchange for a lower cost. For me, this is the reason I've been interested in JoshAi... I'm not trusting a 24/7 open mic in my house to Amazon or Google Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malelan Posted January 1, 2021 Share Posted January 1, 2021 16 hours ago, ejn1 said: "Discretionary" to me means, buy JoshAI and you are not subsidizing your personal information to be marketed to the world. With Amazon and Google, you are basically giving a way your personal data in exchange for a lower cost. For me, this is the reason I've been interested in JoshAi... I'm not trusting a 24/7 open mic in my house to Amazon or Google The privacy issue is a really big part of their sales pitch and its highlighted very well in their material, i'll be completely honest though, myself and most people that opt for this system, already had either a google or amazon microphone in their house prior, and with the types of devices we're integrating into these systems, privacy is already kind of out the window., while it is nice peace of mind, a microphone in your house is still a microphone in your house. I do think its clear though that selling your information is not part of Josh.ai's revenue stream. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejn1 Posted January 1, 2021 Share Posted January 1, 2021 I 2 hours ago, malelan said: The privacy issue is a really big part of their sales pitch and its highlighted very well in their material, i'll be completely honest though, myself and most people that opt for this system, already had either a google or amazon microphone in their house prior, and with the types of devices we're integrating into these systems, privacy is already kind of out the window., while it is nice peace of mind, a microphone in your house is still a microphone in your house. I do think its clear though that selling your information is not part of Josh.ai's revenue stream. I guess there is data privacy (eg data being retrieved on a Nest thermostat) and then there is having an open mic in your home... I can live with some of the former (although I typically try and opt out of everything I can in the settings) but the open mic I haven't been this welcoming into my home with the likes of Amazon, Google, TVs, etc. The JoshAi pledge of not selling your data was a nice selling point but indeed its still an open mic. Does Josh state that they dont retain any information on their storage? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rf9000 Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 What are the costs of the Nanos and the Core? Can multiple Nanos be connected to a single Core? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WisC4 Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 8 hours ago, rf9000 said: What are the costs of the Nanos and the Core? Can multiple Nanos be connected to a single Core? I believe when released the Nanos are $600 and Core is $1,500. Each core can handle up to 100 Nanos. Each Core has two audio outputs to a matrix, so if you have three or more people using voice commands at the same time you would need multiple Core units in the rack. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rf9000 Posted January 3, 2021 Share Posted January 3, 2021 16 hours ago, WisC4 said: I believe when released the Nanos are $600 and Core is $1,500. Each core can handle up to 100 Nanos. Each Core has two audio outputs to a matrix, so if you have three or more people using voice commands at the same time you would need multiple Core units in the rack. Dang. $600 each for those little microphones that look like temperature sensors? Compared to a $22 Echo Dot 3, plus have to buy the $1500 Core. Hard to justify unless you are die hard on voice control. In my scenario, it would cost me $9300 (retail) to do this, plus a subscription, right? And then you lose the query capabilities of Alexa too. Even at half that price it would be a tough call. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msgreenf Posted January 3, 2021 Share Posted January 3, 2021 But your not product in Josh.ai... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
am350z Posted January 3, 2021 Share Posted January 3, 2021 53 minutes ago, rf9000 said: Dang. $600 each for those little microphones that look like temperature sensors? Compared to a $22 Echo Dot 3, plus have to buy the $1500 Core. Hard to justify unless you are die hard on voice control. In my scenario, it would cost me $9300 (retail) to do this, plus a subscription, right? And then you lose the query capabilities of Alexa too. Even at half that price it would be a tough call. Worth every penny if the natural language processing works. Anyone have feedback on this? I hate how specific commands have to be for Alexa. Renders voice control useless for me. Gary Leeds UK 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSTRONG Posted January 6, 2021 Share Posted January 6, 2021 Comparison of a standard electrical box and the T3/4 back box retrofit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSTRONG Posted January 6, 2021 Share Posted January 6, 2021 And since this post is about Josh, I just ordered my Nano's and Core but they are not expected until March if we are lucky Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rf9000 Posted January 8, 2021 Share Posted January 8, 2021 On 1/3/2021 at 8:24 AM, msgreenf said: But your not product in Josh.ai... Yeah but how big of a deal is that? I mean if Amazon doesn't get you, somebody else will eventually the way the world is going. I know that Josh says this is their big selling point and why they can charge so much, but I think eventually with everything else around you becoming smarter and smarter, that will be less of a thing. Maybe not, I dont know Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WisC4 Posted January 8, 2021 Share Posted January 8, 2021 2 hours ago, rf9000 said: Yeah but how big of a deal is that? I mean if Amazon doesn't get you, somebody else will eventually the way the world is going. I know that Josh says this is their big selling point and why they can charge so much, but I think eventually with everything else around you becoming smarter and smarter, that will be less of a thing. Maybe not, I dont know I tend to agree rf9000. I think the Josh privacy point isn't actually as big of a factor as some believe. You could have the most private secure voice control out there, but everything else is listening and tracking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msgreenf Posted January 8, 2021 Share Posted January 8, 2021 i think those 2 posts summarize what makes technology great - Everyone can pick what works for them! If you don't have the concern, you can build your echosystem around it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejn1 Posted January 8, 2021 Share Posted January 8, 2021 24 minutes ago, msgreenf said: i think those 2 posts summarize what makes technology great - Everyone can pick what works for them! If you don't have the concern, you can build your echosystem around it! well said, For me, I would never have an open mic in my home where folks are incented monetarily to listen to me... But for others, folks say come right in and no worries... I do believe the millenials will have even less of an issue with it going forward as they have no problem putting tons of apps on their devices with little permissions and tracking their every movement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cnicholson Posted May 1, 2021 Share Posted May 1, 2021 Replying to old thread to ask if the Nano is shipping and if anyone has deployed it in Control4 environment. In particular, I'm trying to figure out how the voice feedback will work in a system with, say, 12 Nano's and one Core (with only two analog audio outputs). It would seem that the driver integration would need to be pretty tight so that the existing audio matrix would know that Core voice output #2 needs to get routed to zone XYZ at the same time that Core voice output #1 needs to go to zone ABC and then, a few seconds later, maybe Core voice output #1 needs to go to zone 123. And for this to happy in a snappy and reliable manner. If that makes sense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSTRONG Posted May 1, 2021 Share Posted May 1, 2021 Not shipping until June core will know what room you are controlling and respond to that room. cnicholson 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Time2Jet Posted May 1, 2021 Share Posted May 1, 2021 30 minutes ago, JSTRONG said: Not shipping until June core will know what room you are controlling and respond to that room. Josh is not without bugs... but if it had 5x the bugs it has right now, it's head's above anything in the voice control realm today. Most of the bugs are during setup and every now and then a system refresh (takes less than a minute) may be required. The tech support and setup support is also superb. I have a client that we just did 18 Micros (ultimately will add 18 additional Nanos and a few cores) with a Triad AMS24 and a MoIP switch. Threw 3 Sonos Ports on the AMS and it'll play anything you throw at it. You can deep dive all of the major video services (this client is Roku) "Play Season 2 Episode 4 of Stranger Things" and it finds an efficient path in milliseconds... This particular integration is Directv for cable, so it will also deep dive cable channels. Josh out of the box integrated with C4 is limited to Pandora native, but with Sonos Ports you can access pretty much anything you have an account for and have complete feedback to all of the TS's. Hard to really find anything we don't love so far. There could be some consumer resistance to the initial price points and ongoing license fees (they do have a lifetime for a large fee), but if you consider it an interface like a Touchscreen or Neeo Remote, it blows both away in terms of value added to an integration. Until they add camera view to the Neeo platform remotes, I still prefer the SR's (only need one hand and no eyes to use) and touchscreens definitely are high-tech modern additions, but you normally don't want to get up and walk across a room to use one 10x a day. Coming from a commercial cinema design build background and only really getting involved on the consumer professional side of automation over the last 2 years, I am always trying to think like a consumer. I love activity based programming of remotes and UI's and tons of motion, fencing and occupancy sensing automation, I think voice will be king until they develop a technology that reads our minds... scary. cnicholson and JSTRONG 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSTRONG Posted May 1, 2021 Share Posted May 1, 2021 Great reply time2jet. agree with Everything you said i did throw a Sonos on my triad matrix also. Works great. And just asking Josh for any show or video and Netflix or YouTube fetches it for you. I have several nanos on pre- order Time2Jet 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cnicholson Posted May 2, 2021 Share Posted May 2, 2021 You guys have convinced me. I'm going to go for it. It would be cool in the future if they add some sort of Alexa pass-through feature for non-automation queries. Like "OK Josh, ask Alexa how many ounces in a gallon" Or just listen for both triggers and route accordingly on the backend. A smart house should be smart, and smart things know random trivia! Breaks the "maximum privacy" value proposition, but I'd still use it all the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Time2Jet Posted May 2, 2021 Share Posted May 2, 2021 32 minutes ago, cnicholson said: You guys have convinced me. I'm going to go for it. It would be cool in the future if they add some sort of Alexa pass-through feature for non-automation queries. Like "OK Josh, ask Alexa how many ounces in a gallon" Or just listen for both triggers and route accordingly on the backend. A smart house should be smart, and smart things know random trivia! Breaks the "maximum privacy" value proposition, but I'd still use it all the time. Don't hesitate to reach out if you need any help getting set up. I have done a ton during Covid. I think you're making a great decision. I can't wait for the feedback! cnicholson 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ILoveC4 Posted May 2, 2021 Share Posted May 2, 2021 I’m getting more and more interested in this. What’s the subscription aspect? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Time2Jet Posted May 2, 2021 Share Posted May 2, 2021 59 minutes ago, ILoveC4 said: I’m getting more and more interested in this. What’s the subscription aspect? It's like a software seat license. Annual for a home <9 units it's ~$600 a year, over 9 it's ~$1200. Covers support and continued development. There are lifetimes as well... Support is amazing, development is dynamic. PM me and I can get you all of the lit. I 100% know you will love this @ILoveC4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSTRONG Posted May 2, 2021 Share Posted May 2, 2021 Yes. you can have as many josh micros or Nanos as you want for the license fee time2 posted above. its based on 9 rooms or less or 10 rooms or more. as an example you can have 1 josh controlling 9 rooms. It’s just much better when you assign a josh to each room then you don’t have to say the room name when you give commands. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cnicholson Posted May 2, 2021 Share Posted May 2, 2021 If I wanted to put Nanos in every room with several areas where your voice might be heard by more than one Nano, does the system have a means of deciding which one you are intending to speak to (for purposes of location awareness and voice feedback)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.