You’d be forgiven if you didn’t know that Google Home speakers and smart displays double as Bluetooth speakers, but they do. For those who’ve been using that functionality over the years, a strange bug has popped up over the past year or so where Google Home devices disconnect from Bluetooth and, now, Google is finally acknowledging the problem.
Google’s flagship Pixel 3 and Pixel 4 phones both have extra features exclusively used when docked on the official Google Pixel Stand wireless charger. Google is preparing to launch another such feature for the Pixel Stand in version 1.4.0 of the companion app, bringing convenient smart home controls via the Google Home app.
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Google’s collection of smart speakers, formerly Google Home, is usually pretty reliable. However, a faulty software update seems to be killing some Google Home units over the past few days for those enrolled in the Preview Program.
If you ever visit a friend or relative’s house and want to share some tunes, then the Guest Mode for Google Home speakers might be a handy feature. However, it appears that this mode has gone missing.
Hulu has now added full voice control support for the Chromecast and any Google Smart Displays you may have including the Nest Hub and Nest Hub Max.
Smart speakers make a lot of tasks super easy, but Google made shopping lists difficult for a long time. Now, the company is rolling out integration with its Keep Notes app, which allows users to finally manage a shopping list from Google Home. Here’s how to set it up.
October’s visual revamp of the Google Home companion app did nothing to tame the complicated assortment of Assistant device preferences. However, one tweak rolled out this past week tries to clarify how personalization and notification settings — particularly for the Nest Hub — works.
Google today announced its Google Shopping 100, which collates the most trending gifts that have been searched for in the United States — with the Google Home taking the #1 spot in the tech trending list.
Every year at CES, companies unveil their latest smart home products and gadgets, taking common household items and connecting them to the Google Assistant. Ahead of CES 2020, the Google Assistant’s developer pages have been updated to include a wide variety of new smart home devices, furniture, and appliances for the bedroom, kitchen, and beyond.
This time last year Google Assistant smart speakers seemed to be extremely popular with huge sales numbers and explosive growth. However, a year later things aren’t looking so hot. According to a recent report, Google Assistant smart speakers shipments have dropped dramatically by over 40%.
At this month’s hardware event, a revamp of the Google Home app was unveiled alongside the Nest Mini, Wifi, and new Aware subscription. Featuring a consolidated look and more functionality, this redesign is coming to iOS “over the next few days” and already rolling out on Android.
At Made by Google 2019, a revamped Home app was introduced. Rolling out to Android and iOS today, Google Home 2.15 readies Nest Wifi support and migrating Google Wifi units to the new companion client. There are also a handful of strings related to Stadia.
One of the best features of Google’s new Nest Mini speaker is its ability to support stereo pairing for better sound quality. Now, Google is expanding stereo speaker pairing to the original Google Home and Google Home Mini.
Your Google Home speakers and displays get firmware updates fairly often, but they’re installed automatically and you usually don’t notice. However, it seems one of the recent Google Home firmware updates has been bricking some devices and they can’t be fixed.
There are more apps for Google Assistant than you’ll ever use, but apparently it’s also not that difficult to slip malicious apps through the cracks. Apparently, a security research lab managed to develop apps for Google Assistant and Alexa designed for phishing for user’s private information.
Ahead of new Nest devices next week, an updated version of the Home companion client is widely rolling out today. Google Home 2.14.50 confirms ‘Nest Mini’ and interestingly references Stadia.
Google has a whole ecosystem of home Assistant devices from Smart Displays and speakers to Chromecast-connected TVs. With a new “Stream transfer” feature today, all three categories will work better to move playing media from room to room.
Since the launch of the Nest Hub (Google Home Hub at the time), it’s been possible to Duo call your smart display from a phone or call your loved ones from your Nest Hub. Meanwhile, the classic Google Home speakers were left without this handy feature, but not for long. As of now, you can finally place audio calls to your Google Home smart speakers via Google Duo.
We just got some renders for a second gen ‘Google Home 2’ in our tipbox, and they’re almost definitely not the real deal. But they are really well done, and just for fun, we couldn’t not share them. In the gallery below, you’ll see an artist’s concept of a second generation followup to 2016’s Google Home, packing a display up top, Soli radar, and a contactless charging dock…
There are a number of ways to Cast content from your phone to smart devices. The most convenient is when developers integrate the Cast SDK so that controls are built right into the audio or video app. Mirroring your device is another solution, and Google Home 2.14.1 adds shortcuts to make that more apparent.
As of today, Google Home and Nest speakers now have the ability to make external mobile calls using voice activation, starting first with Australia.
A new “Call Home” button is now rolling out to the Google Home app on Android that makes it easier for you to place a video call from your mobile directly to any of your Google Nest Hub devices and Smart Displays.
Google Home 2.13.50 is rolling out this evening with support for and many details about the upcoming Nest Hub Max. This release also returns strings detailing in-app Nest device setup, while providing some collaboration about a new “Nest Mini” later this year.
Google plans to launch a followup to 2017’s Google Home Mini with a second-generation ‘Nest Mini,’ a reliable source tells 9to5Google. It’s a departure from the previous model in name, but also a substantial upgrade in features. This year’s Nest Mini will pack a wall mount, better sound, and more.
