Ecobee4 Thermostat to Come With Built-In Alexa Voice Assistant

Wow, so what does this mean for Apple's homekit, which (from the outside looking in) appears to be floundering?

It's still included here. I think the issue is the fact that you need an Apple device to reach Siri. I don't think Apple is ready yet for Siri on 3rd party devices so if this thermostat wants direct voice control they will have to go with a service like Alexa. Maybe in the future Siri will be more open to working with other brands and Ecobee5 will include it in place of Alexa. Don't know.
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I won't be upgrading to this! First Nest with Google and now Alexa (CIA) will be spying on us. Great. How about they fix their wireless temperature sensors first? They're always disconnecting—even ones that are only 15ft away line of sight! Their software could use a redesign too. It feels very Android-like since it's all custom and doesn't follow iOS design patterns. It's clunky and not organized well. I also feel like HomeKit has become slower to respond, and things like using Control Center to adjust the temperature is really glitchy as you'll change the temp and then it jumps around to another temperature just about every time. So you're kind of forced to use the clunky app to get it just right. I miss the Nest I had at my old house but refuse to buy something that Google makes because their values when it comes to privacy don't line up with mine.

I don't have the issues you're having but I did want to comment on the remote sensors. First, I had 2 that would disconnect but stopped after installing a new battery and going through the reset process. Basically put the battery in upside down for about 30 seconds then install a new one. Second, I would like to see humidity sensing added to the remote sensors along with one that can go outside. I would prefer if the outside temperature came from my back patio instead of a weather service that is close enough. Otherwise I really like my Ecobee's and recommend them to anyone looking for a better thermostat.

I'm not happy about this. Hopefully configureable to be completely disabled. Even then, I don't like my thermostat having a microphone.

The good thing is Ecobee3 is fantastic, will be around a while and is now $50 cheaper than before. I could have saved $150 on my purchase of 3 but I'm not too disappointed.

At this point I don't want Alexa in my house due to privacy concerns.

Apple needs to release a Siri "dot" to compete with these home assistants, however, HomeKit has allowed for voice control of Ecobee for quite a while now.

Having put my home LAN on a VPN I find I can no longer watch Amazon streaming video because they are blocking VPN connections. I wonder if they also block the opportunity to harvest data?

So salty! Content owners have enormous influence over Netflix/Amazon/Hulu/etc. to require them to actively enforce region locking to the best of their ability. Content owners have little to no influence over Alexa.

This is where a view into Apple's strategy would be so fascinating. Does hardware level Alexa integration signal a potential acquisition by Amazon? Where does that leave Apple's user base? Google took Nest out of the equation, Ecobee is getting into bed with Amazon, there go the two 'best' thermostat options. Does Apple develop it's own? Does it look for the next Nest/Ecobee and acquire them? I think Apple's going in view was, "we'll develop a standard protocol that lets everything talk to everything else, but we won't get mired in the design and production of the actual devices", but that's not necessarily working out as well as they had planned.

Yea, I hear ya here. On the Nest, I don't want their thermostat but I have 9 of the Protect 2's here and bought them knowing they would never be HomeKit. I did that because I really believe they are the best on the market at the moment. I can't see a reason to have them on my HomeKit screen anyhow but when it comes to safety I will forego the HomeKit needs.

Wow, complain a little bit more about possibly the best thermostat out.

Hey man, if it's not good enough, then it's not good enough. If we stick with the status quo then no progress will ever be made. If I see room for improvement, then I'll tell them. It just doesn't feel as finished as the Nest. It requires more fiddling to get things just right. I bought it over the Nest for my new house because Google, so I'm irritated that a new version that I may have purchased down the road is going to feature Alexa crap that I don't need. So if they make improvements for the crappy sensor reception then I won't be able to upgrade without buying into crap I don't want in my home. Hopefully they offer a cheaper version without the Alexa nonsense. I'd be surprised if Apple allows Homekit chips to be used alongside something that easily hackable.