Yesterday, I reported that Plex had acquired WatchUp, today, Plex lets you talk to it.
As of today, February 2, 2017, you can access your movies, pictures shows, news, and all other media on your server via voice and the intelligence of Amazon Alexa. If you’re the proud owner of an Amazon Echo, Echo Dot, Amazon Tap, Amazon Fire TV, or Fire tablet, you’ll be able to dive right in.
The Plex Alexa experience begins with a quick setup. First, tell Alexa to enable the Plex skill. Link your account and then ask her to “open Plex” to start using the skill. From there, you can have her ask Plex to play whatever media you like on any of your players. You can ask for suggestions, “ask Plex what’s On Deck,” and more!
Plex has another little treat for you, because it turns out the Plex Alexa skill isn’t the only piece of Plex home automation goodness that they’re rolling out today. They have also added support for something in the media server called Webhooks. What is a Webhook, you might ask? Think of it as a way to have events in Plex affect the outside world. We’ve made it so that any media playback event or media rating event can trigger a webhook. If you’re into home automation, you know how cool and powerful this can be: dim the lights when you start a movie, or send a tweet after you finish an episode of Scandal. Working with other home automation tools, you can even have Plex turn on your A/V receiver or close your smart drapes automatically as you sit down for an evening of Plexing. You can find Webhooks in our latest v1.3.4 server release.
So, if you need me, I’ll be setting up Raspberry Pi RasPlex and buying Alexa…
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