Aiming to elevate the lowly light switch, connected home accessory company iDevices has announced their Instinct line—smart wall switches with onboard voice activation capabilities. Designed with the Amazon Alexa digital assistant built in, homeowners can issue voice commands by talking directly to an Instinct wall switch to manage lighting functions for connected fixtures, as well as process other general Alexa commands and receive audio responses through its onboard speaker without the need for other Amazon Echo speakers in the home.
In addition to the standalone Alexa digital assistant and an associated Amazon Echo-like LED ring to visually indicate processing of commands, Instinct will include an ambient light sensor and motion detector. As these wall switches are typically used to control lamps or a series of overhead lights, homeowners can program them to deliver various types of automated lighting scenes. And like some other iDevices products—such as the iDevices Switch—Instinct will also track energy usage.
Instinct also includes premium audio from Soen Audio, and will be able to deliver music as well as other audio-format services—including cooking recipes, news, weather, and more through its speaker.
iDevices says the lighting functions of the Instinct switch will also work with the iDevices Connected app, the Apple Siri assistant, and the Google Assistant. And as iDevices got its start as one of the first Apple HomeKit accessory makers, you can also expect full Apple HomeKit and Apple Home app compatibility with Instinct.
The Instinct wall switch will be released later in 2018 and will be compatible with Apple iOS and Android mobile devices. Pricing has not been announced.
