Back at Google’s developer conference, it was announced that the company would update the Home to allow for phone calls to be made through the smart speaker. Thanks to a teardown of the most recent Google app, we know that we are now one day closer to that functionality becoming available.
Do you plan to use your Google Home to make phone calls?
Google Home’s list of compatible features and services has been steadily growing ever since its release, and the latest addition to Google’s smart speaker is Deezer – the fifth music streaming option – which joins Google Play Music, YouTube Music, Pandora, and Spotify.
The latest beta of the Google app rolled out last night and brings along with it a number of new strings. Announced at I/O, there are more references to making calls through Google Home. There are also mentions to the proactive notifications that are coming to the device later this year.
Last year, Google introduced a Preview Program for the Chromecast that provided devices with the latest features ahead of time. The company is now expanding the program to include Google Home devices.
Although Nest may be the first name that comes to mind when thinking about smart thermostats, Honeywell is another popular brand that’s known for its Lyric and Lyric Round offerings. Today, Honeywell has announced that its entire Lyric lineup of thermostats is now fully compatible with Google Home.
Last year, Facebook poached Regina Dugan, the head of Google’s Advanced Technology and Projects, to lead a new hardware group. Building 8’s first products are now coming into light as a new report notes the development of a Google Home smart speaker competitor and a video chat device.
Google Home has received fairly regular updates since its launch last fall, with one of its latest additions allowing users to play songs that they had either purchased from (or uploaded to) Google Play Music. This allowed Home owners to still listen to tracks on Play Music even if they didn’t have a subscription to the streaming side of the service. Unfortunately for some people, this update has been pretty bumpy since its launch.
The exodus of talent at Essential continues as it was revealed today that the head of UX for the Andy Rubin startup has joined Google. Liron Damir retains a similar design position as he held at Essential with his new role as head of user experience for Google Home.
Google Home is capable of a multitude of things, and for a lot of users, one function of Home that’s the most helpful is using it to control smart home devices. Philips Hue light bulbs are the most popular connected lights on the market, and according to numerous reports on the Google Home Help Forum, they simply aren’t working for a lot of people.
AI-powered speakers like the Google Home and Amazon Echo have become some of the most popular smarthome products, offering the ability to play music, control other devices, handle search queries, and more. In China, however, these devices and their corresponding services aren’t widely available.
Xiaomi may have the perfect solution with its newly announced Mi AI speaker.
Google Assistant debuted last year in an ever-competitive market. With Amazon’s Alexa dominating the game, it had a ton of ground to make up for. In yesterday’s Alphabet earnings call, Google CEO (and recently appointed Alphabet board member) Sundar Pichai made mention of how many Assistant devices are now available, and it’s a pretty incredible statistic.
For its first move into the world of AI smart speakers, Google did a commendable job with Google Home. The feature-set for Home was fairly packed at launch, and since then, helpful new features have either been added or been promised to debut at some point in the future. Google Home also looks rather sleek and modern from a hardware point of view, but if you’re someone who’s a fan of retro designs, there wasn’t a lot to like there.
Thankfully, with a bit of technical know-how and patience, it’s possible to get a Google Home-like product in as retro of a getup as they come — a 1986 Radio Shack intercom.
Following a Canadian release last month, Google Home is continuing its international expansion with upcoming launches in Germany and Australia. Availability in the latter country is being coupled with Google Wifi and taking place this week, while Germany will have to wait until early August.
Smart plugs are one of my favorite types of smart home accessories, but there are dozens of great options out there and quite a lot of them aren’t supported by Google Assistant yet. Today, though, one of the more popular brands offering smart plugs is getting Assistant support — D-Link.
At I/O 2017, a spate of new features and media integrations were announced for Google Home. The latest allows the smart Google Assistant speaker to stream uploaded and purchased songs from Play Music.
Since launching late last year on the Google Home and Pixel handsets, the Google Assistant has gotten smarter and has gained more functionality. Unfortunately, there have been some bugs along the way. The latest issue that is currently plaguing the virtual assistant is the ability to accurately tell the time in Arizona, in which Assistant believes the state to be on the East Coast…
Announced at I/O 2017, Google Home is beginning to rollout support for Bluetooth streaming. This allows the Home to act as another Bluetooth device that can stream music from an Android or iOS device.
Multiple user support is one of Google Home’s key differentiators from competing speaker assistant devices. After launching in the US earlier this year, it is now expanding internationally, starting with the UK.
Google announced it at the beginning of this month, and now it’s happening. More than 6 months after its United States launch, Google Home is available from Canadian retailers as of today, June 26th. Google announced that the device would be coming to six new countries over the course of the summer, and Canada is the first…
Amazon’s Echo is a powerful home assistant, especially thanks to its integration of hundreds of different skills. However, many were patiently waiting for Google to enter that field solely for the power that the company wields in search. Google Home has been available now for a while, but in general use, it can seem about the same as the Echo. Now, the two have been put to the test, and things went pretty much how you would have expected them to.
While Cannes is more well-known for its film festival, there is also a subsequent event focused on advertising and communications. At the 2017 Cannes Lions, the invasive and quickly shut down Burger King clip that hijacked “Ok, Google” won a top ad award, while Tilt Brush and Google Earth VR also grabbed honors.
Home automation is an idea straight out of an 80’s sci-fi TV show. Now, with Google Assistant, we can simply ask our phones or Google Home to turn on the lights or turn off a fan. The biggest issue with smarthome products, though, has long been their upfront cost. Thanks to the intelliPlug, a product currently being funded on Indiegogo, this might not be as much of a problem going forward…
Two of the most popular trends in the technology industry today are AI and machine learning. With that, some of the larger tech companies have created voice assistants such as Google Assistant, Alexa, Siri, and now Bixby. So that they can actually be useful, companies are attempting to add the assistants to everything, including speakers.
If Samsung were to one day create a smart speaker powered by Bixby, would you buy it over one from the company’s competitors?
The Google Home, if used and paired with other items correctly, can turn your ordinary home into a smart house. While many with a Home already know that, Google wants to make sure everyone knows just how useful and powerful it can be with a pair of new ads…
