What you need to know
- Home Assistant is a popular and powerful automation hub designed to tie your ecosystem of smart devices together.
- It's fantastic for DIY-lovers and tinkerers, and gets updated regularly with new features and integrations.
- The latest to join the ranks is Xbox, allowing for remote and automated control of your Xbox consoles from Home Assistant.
- The hands-on video looks very impressive, and shows a surprisingly deep level of integration.
Today is a good day for Xbox fans who like to take their control beyond the standard Xbox controller, with the news that the upcoming Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S still have an IR receiver for remote control, and will work with some of the best Xbox One Media Remotes you can get. There's even a brand-new media remote up for pre-order for the new consoles. Now, we also know that Home Assistant is getting integration with the Xbox platform.
If you aren't familiar with Home Assistant, it's an automation hub similar to solutions from companies like Samsung, but with a focus on DIY-lovers and tinkerers who'd like to go more hands-on. It's a powerful and popular smart home option, and it's about to get even more useful with integration in the Xbox platform. It isn't dissimilar to how you can control your Xbox with your Google Assistant speaker or Amazon Alexa, but it goes a lot farther.
As you can see from the hands-on video above, Home Assistant will allow pretty much full control of your Xbox using Home Assistant, including opening apps, games, captures and screenshots, and controlling your console with a built-in remote. This would also allow for routines and more, if you wanted, all powered through the comprehensive Home Assistant platform. You can also find more information on the Home Assistant website.
It's definitely cool to see, and could be a major boon for people who already use Home Assistant or are looking to begin messing around with the vast world of smart home tech. Do you use Home Assistant, and if you do, are you planning on integrating your Xbox? How would you use it? Let us know in the comments below!
