Amazon Alexa Being Built Into Houses In Sydney Australia

Amazon Alexa

 A recent article I read with interest was about the building in of Amazon's Alexa Smart Speaker, being built into new construction dwellings in Sydney Australia by a Perth based IoT company.

We are well aware of these Smart Speakers that have become an almost ubiquitous part of our psyche in recent times.

Amazon, recently approved for widespread marketing in Australia have started selling their Alexa product there and this enterprising company has devised a system to build it into new construction homes.


Google's offering, the Google Home Smart Speaker has also set the world on fire since it's release and is fast becoming a solid competitor to Amazon's Alexa.

Google Home

Amazon and Google are both leading the charge to adoption of Smart Search and voice controlled products including our door locks and security systems with a fervor not seen in many years and is setting the building industry on fire with slews of new Smart Products that can be controlled with just our voices. A Star Trek world inches closer to reality. Perhaps an agrarian mindset is not too far off?

The number of battery powered door locks that are continuing to enter the market are offering consumers wide choice in styles and features and few have integrated Alexa or Home into them at this time. I still believe that battery technology is too inferior at this time to make the investment in battery operated locks in my home. I believe that once we figure out how to conveniently and easily connect our door locks to mains power (perhaps with battery back-up), we will have solved the dilemma of the times. That dilemma? The constant and never ending need to be replacing batteries regularly.

I was working at a customer's home today, who was suffering from a malfunction to her new battery operated door lock. Her door had dropped due to weathering, causing the bolt mechanism to bind in the strike hole making the battery operated motor driven bolt work far too hard to release. After trying multiple times, the batteries died and she was locked out. I came out, picked the lock and put a wedge under the door to lift the whole door allowing the bolt to travel correctly.

I convinced her to carry her house key "just in case" in future. I also installed a long screw in the top hinge that re-adjusted the door to the correct level, allowing the deadbolt motor to operate the way it is supposed to.

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