Alpha Progress
We're now on test round 11 with Alpha v0.2.0.3. The purpose of the Alpha stage is to expand the available commands to the final set and test as we go. So far, the following commands have been added;
Built for Alexa
All the power of Alexa, all the flexibility of Squeezebox! A custom skill facilitates voice control for transport, content selection…
Built for SqueezBox
Squeezebox is an amazingly flexible and resilient platform. Our custom plugin links to Alexa to add voice control.
Built for Simplicity
An LMS plugin linked to an Alexa skill. Simple. Easy. Effective.
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Saturday, July 20, 2019
Alexa for Squeezebox
These days, it seems that voice assistants are everywhere. In stand-alone devices, in a/v equipment, in household appliances, cars and more. Beyond a gimmick, voice applications are evolving to a point where they are approaching usefulness.
But what about legacy technology? Squeezebox was a great platform. There's still plenty about and there's a healthy second-hand market. The LMS is still viable and supported by a great community.
The Hab-Tunes project seeks to breath new life into older technology by integrating voice control. The first such endeavor is Alexa for Squeezebox - an Alexa skill and LMS plugin that allows you control your Squeezebox by voice.
It's All About the Music
Simplicity and Flexibility.
All the hallmarks of Squeezebox - Now with added voice control.
Volunteer Testers
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Extensive Alpha phase is ending, with Squeezebox users from around the world contribuiting time and ideas.
Ready for the World
With German localisation well advanced, Alexa for Squeezebox can be ported to any supported Alexa language.
Recent Blog Posts
Moving to alpha
v0.1.6 is currently in pre-testing and, all going well, will be released to all testers over the weekend.
v0.1.4 now in testing
It's taken a lot longer than anticipated but v0.1.4.1 is now available for testing.
It's exactly a month since v 0.1.3 went to test and I didn't expect this one to take so long but there were a few reasons;
- Decision to migrate to EC2 hosting for skill logic and implementation of account-linking
- Issues around account linking not working in Node-Red requiring re-implementation in PHP
- Fitting development around work & family
However, there's a lot done in this release and the skill is inching ever closer to being on a firm footing in terms of having a robust, secure, flexible platform on which to build out expanded functionality. Here's the main changes since the previous version;
v0.1.4 Test Report and v0.1.5 Planning
While v 0.1.4 didn't see much change in terms of new functionality, it was a major shift towards a final skill infrastructure in that it saw migration to an amazon EC2 instance for the main skill logic. The update went very smoothly. Despite a little hiccup caused by bad planning for the transition on my part, there were hardly any issues arising from the 13 testers who adopted this version.
As part of the rollout, the current limited command set was optimised, particularly the play/pause commands which benefitted from fewer interactions between the skill and the LMS plugin resulting in an approximate 33% improvement in overall skill response times for these commands.
v0.1.4, here we come...
Version 0.1.3 has been out since late last week.
Since then, 17 testers logged in to the teamwork portal of whom 13 installed the test version. Based on database entries, 12 appear to have got it up and running and issued some voice commands. 11 of these users have been active in teamwork, reporting issues, bugs, ideas etc. 6 have taken the time to complete a version compatibility report, of which 5 indicate success. The test round so far has generated ~450 commands, the majority of which have been successful
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Get Involved
Right now, site membership at Hab-Tunes.com is open. However, membership does not accrue any benefits. Participants in the ongoing closed alpha need to be members, and those who will participate in the forthcoming Beta cycle will also require membership.
Details on how to get involved can be found here