Google Home

The latest version of the Google Home app for Android is rolling out this morning and it reveals two new codenames. Google Home 2.10 describes “Zion” — a “border router” with “built-in smart plug” — in-depth and “Speaker V,” as well as a “ultrasound proximity detection” feature.

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At CES 2019, Philips Hue announced Google Assistant integration for its sleep and wake up feature. In time for spring, ‘Gentle Sleep & Wake’ for Google Home and Hue smart lighting is launching today.

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I’m a big Google Home user. I have one in pretty much every room in the house, and in some rooms, I have two. This works out fine for the most part, but something that’s unique about having so many Homes is that there’s a more-than-average number of them constantly battling to figure out which one you’re talking to. Sometimes that goes well, and other times, it’s very broken.

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Google’s platform for the big screen, Android TV, was recently subject to a potentially scary bug. To help ease concerns, Google temporarily disabled some of the related functionality, but nearly a month later, casting content from Google Assistant to Android TV is still totally broken, and the company has gone silent.

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Google Home users last month got a brief preview of the John Legend voice announced at I/O 2018. Starting today, it is officially available as Assistant’s first-ever celebrity cameo across Google devices. However, it is only available for a limited time.

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The latest version of the Google Home app is rolling out this evening with several new features in development. Google Home 2.9.65 reveals that Nest device setup might soon be available through the app, while there is an explicit reference to “FaceMatch.”

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Google is giving all basketball fans the ability to tune into March Madness for free simply by asking your Smart Display, Home Hub, Google Home, or simply the Google Assistant to play the game.

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Google Duo, the video and audio calling app that seems to be the central focus of Google’s communication efforts as of late, made its debut on Assistant-powered devices alongside the Google Home Hub last fall — despite that device not having a camera. Now it appears these non-video Duo calls are coming to other Home devices.

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Google Assistant makes it really easy to interact with smart home devices, but Google is still working to bring that functionality to everything on the market. Recently, Google Assistant quietly added support for heaters, air fresheners, and even connected fireplaces.

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The latest version of the Google Home client is rolling out this evening to Android with support for changing the color of smart lights right from the app. This feature was previously limited to Smart Displays, with this update also preparing support for Smart Clocks.

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In addition to dedicated hardware buttons and Messages integration, Google is improving Assistant’s international capabilities at MWC 2019. This includes additional multilingual pairings and many new features on KaiOS feature phones.

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The Google Home ecosystem grows and grows, as does the usefulness of the Google Assistant itself. The announcement at CES means that you can tap into the power of Google Translate and use it for live conversations with those speaking another language.
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At CES 2019, Google announced interpreter mode for Google Home speakers and Smart Displays. The Assistant feature began rolling out earlier this month, and is now fully available for consumers as Google talks up the benefits for concierge and hotels.

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According to a report this morning out of Japanese newspaper Nikkei, the Made by Google hardware lineup for 2019 is pretty much what we expected: There’s a budget Pixel right around the corner, a premium Google Pixel 4 in the works, a new Google Home, a first-party smartwatch, and a new Nest Cam.

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