The nation’s largest home builder is betting voice-activated digital assistants and smart devices will become as expected in a new home as garages now are.
Lennar announced Wednesday that standard features in its new homes will include built-in Wi-Fi, smart locks, doorbells, thermostats and lights — all controlled by Alexa, Amazon’s voice-activated digital assistant.
Not sure how Alexa could make your life easier? Amazon just opened a new way for people to see how its digital assistant Alexa can change a living space. Working with Lennar, a homebuilder based in Miami, Fla., Amazon is creating Alexa-enabled environments, hooking up televisions, lights, thermostats, shades and other smart devices — including ways to order refills on your laundry detergent.
Last week, we reported on how Amazon was leveraging a new relationship with home builder Lennar to expand its smart home business, specifically in the sale of home security services. Today, Amazon is taking the next step forward in that strategy: it’s launching a new chain of showrooms it’s calling the Amazon Experience Centers across Lennar model homes to demo and help sell its smart home devices, Amazon Dash Buttons, and other consumer electronics services such as streaming Prime Content with Fire TV.
“We want them to be able to walk into one of these model homes and see how it all works in a real house, so they can see how much it would simplify their lives,” said Nish Lathia, general manager for Amazon Services, who helped give a tour of one such model home in Vallejo, Calif., about an hour north of San Francisco. “It’s super addictive.”
The 3,600-square-foot model home in Vallejo was set up with an Echo Show, an Alexa-enabled smart speaker with screen, an Amazon Echo Dot (a small, audio-only speaker) and a large, wall-mounted television linked to Amazon’s Fire TV digital media player.
Alexa was linked to the home’s many smart devices. Ordering “Alexa, turn the temperature to 72,” reset the Honeywell thermostat. When the doorbell rang, saying “Alexa, who’s at the door?” turned on the Ring video doorbell and showed a view of the front porch on the TV.
Lennar is already building new, connected homes with Amazon, which comes with Wi-Fi already in the home, along with smart locks, doorbells, thermostats and locks — all of which work with Alexa.
People who buy these Alexa- enabled houses actually launch their devices on Amazon’s web site, or can book an appointment to get someone to teach them how to run the products. The Ring Video Doorbell Pro, Rachio Sprinkler Controller and Philips Hue lights are just some of the devices Amazon is highlighting on its site to work with in the new Lennar-built smart homes.
The model homes to showcase the technology are called Amazon Experience Centers, with the first spaces now open in eight major cities including Dallas, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C. and Orlando, with other sites expected soon.
The Experience Centers, and the other work that Amazon is doing to provide a more in-person angle to its smart home strategy specifically is particularly important to the company’s smart home and consumer electronics strategy. If people are buying products to put into their homes, and many of those products represent the next generation of consumer electronics, it’s important for Amazon to provide more real-world touchpoints both to better sell and explain the services, and to help make consumers — the majority of whom will not be early adopters — more comfortable with the purchases.
“We wanted customers to experience a real home environment that showcases the convenience of the Alexa smart home experience, great entertainment available with Prime, and Home Services,” said Bhavnish Lathia, general manager, Amazon Services, in a statement. “We are excited to extend our relationship with Lennar with the launch of Amazon Experience Centers. As one of the nation’s largest homebuilders, Lennar offers the potential to enable this experience within easy driving distance of millions of customers.”
