PC Companion (Voice Control, E-mail, Weather, Memos + more)

[Tuicemen]

The Manual for PCC was updated to reflect most changes made recently including new screen shots.
the link to the PCC manual is:
http://tuicemen.com/manuals/Companionmanual.zip

As well, on my forum I created a section which goes into a little more detail on some aspects like initial setup.
http://tuicemen.com/forum/index.php?board=66.0

[Tuicemen]

Since installing Windows 10 I was quite happy with the stock Zira voice.
But I figured it was time to add my Kate16 voice .
This cause some issues with PCC on saving the settings.
A restart of PCC seemed to fix that how ever going into settings again and resaving means having to restart PCC.
Not a big deal but I got use to not having to do that.
Checking the Windows TTS settings I discovered Kate wasn't there to be set as the computers default voice
Seems this has been a issue since Windows 7 for some users though this is the first I noticed it  
I went about installing some extra language packs which gave me 4 or 5 more new voices.
Of which only Hazel (from the Great Britain pack) I kept and currently use with the Ultra Face set. (Kate16 is for Operator II)

I did find a hidden voice "Eva mobile" which just requires a registry entry to unlock.
This shows up as a system default voice however PCC doesn't see it
If anyone is interested in testing the Eva Mobile voice I have posted the registry file in my forum (members only section)

[Tuicemen]

Version 4.0.5.9 just released.
The big add is a reworked floorplan mode which can be integrated with Ultra light (webserver)
This will display a updated status of your devices including security devices on the web page.
There were lots of adds and changes in this version which will require users utilizing the floorplan mode to clear and redo it, however it does perform better.
For more info see my forum: http://tuicemen.com/forum/index.php?topic=6.msg5870#msg5870

[Tuicemen]

I'm currently reworking PCC as the weather pulls aren't working.
if you were using CSV files (like me) then you may not have noticed this.
the new build will require a free wundergound API key for weather pulls and triggers.

With all the hype about Amazon Alexa I had to see if I could get PCC to respond to a voice command from her.
Using HA-Bridge and a simple script (I used a batch file) I got it to work.
here is how you do it.
create a batch file which will contain the path to PCC and the command
here is a test one I did to speak the weather:

Code Select Expand

@ echo off
start C:\"PC Companion"\pccompanion ">Weather?<" 0
I saved it  as WeatherFetch.bat and placed it in the HA_Bridge scripts folder

In HA-bridge click manual add
1: Type in a command name
2: In device type select execute script/program
3: In the on url  type the location and name of the batch file eg: scripts/WeatherFetch.bat
4: Click Add Bridge Device


I'll look at having PCC auto create batch files similar to how Alex10 does ( if there is user interest)

[Tuicemen]

I've started to rework PCC to allow better integration with Alexa.
In doing so I find several options in PCC that I feel are obsolete.
I'm interested in what others think.
What should stay and what should I remove?
With the Alexa app and or A few Alexa devices
1: a web interface isn't require
2: the chat option is no longer needed
3: the TAC interface is no longer required
4: linking to other PCs is no longer required so X10relayer becomes obsolete
5: optional Weather reports are no longer require(however that will remain to allow weather event triggering)
6: memos/reminders obsolete
7: Voice Timers to a degree also obsolete


With newer electronics and X10 IR code base so out dated support for the VCR commander is obsolete
Hummm maybe the whole application is on the road to becoming obsolete.

[HA Dave]

I've started to rework PCC to allow better integration with Alexa.......

There are a lot of things Alexa does right. I somehow think it's designers are familiar with past posts on this forum. Right now.... reminders from Alexa also notifies our/my phone. I also get such notices from the MyQ app (about my garage door activity).

An app that would allow some X10 actions to be sent to an phones app... would be great. Particularly.... if the sounds heard from the phone could be selected from a few wav files made using the Kate16 voice.

[Tuicemen]

An app that would allow some X10 actions to be sent to an phones app... would be great. Particularly.... if the sounds heard from the phone could be selected from a few wav files made using the Kate16 voice.

That is certainly possible however the app would need to be always running on the phone or at least when the notifications were sent. Sending SMS is probably the best and can currently be done.
There are several apps that will read text messages as they come in or your phone can announce with different sounds based on who their from.

[HA Dave]

...... the app would need to be always running on the phone or at least when the notifications were sent.

I am not so sure about that anymore.... but maybe. Even just text alerts... I would think... would be better than nothing (if you're thinking about updating your app anyway).

But the phones (can be set to) automatically RE-pair with devices they are previously set to pair with.... like the car. So the phone itself or a more centrally located (and louder) BT speaker setup.... could be very Star Trek like.

But.... I am having a hard time justifying having a HA PC (even though mine is currently a laptop) running 24/7. Giving the PC more duties/tasks/responsibilities would be one way to help rationalize running an old-fashion HA PC. Another option is reducing the size of the PC... to a stick sized or a slightly little larger device (like my homeseer unit).

OR MAYBE.... once the new X10 interface is up and running....... it's app could speak/share data with other apps. Which in effect... would make our phones the HA PC. Let us hope X10 makes and SDK for their new device/app.

[Tuicemen]

PCC has been able to sent emails & text messages for years now. I guess I never gave that option much publicity.

I also have a hard time justifying a HA PC running 24/7 it must perform multitasks. Mini PCs or old thin client PCs can be setup to be used as movie steaming devices and easily handle HA at the same time as other operations. Wireless keyboards and mice are common and can be placed out of sight.

I'm told there will be no SDK for the new Wi-Fi module however Authinx is pushing to get the protocol and release that.
I've asked for the new module to be able to send Push Put web requests in the scenes but that is just one of the options I asked for that I've yet to see. That option would allow interaction with other hubs if the user knew the protocols of the other hubs.

[HA Dave]

I'm told there will be no SDK for the new Wi-Fi module however Authinx is pushing to get the protocol and release that.
I've asked for the new module to be able to send Push Put web requests in the scenes but that is just one of the options I asked for that I've yet to see. That option would allow interaction with other hubs if the user knew the protocols of the other hubs.

Good is NOT the enemy of the perfect. Any interface that keeps X10 functioning in the current [fast moving] marketplace.... is a very good thing. Home automation has always been cutting edge and therefore dynamic at it's very basic nature. HA ain't going static now. Being visionary may be best left to trillion dollar corps like Amazon. But keeping up is going to be a fulltime task for X10 and every other entry in HA.