Google Home’s list of supported services slowly continues to expand, and following a tease back at Google I/O, we know there’s a lot to look forward too. Part of that tease was the introduction of support for free Spotify accounts, and recently that’s quietly gone live.
First announced at I/O 2017, Google Home is now capable of placing outgoing phone calls. The best part about it is that if you use either Google Voice or Project Fi, you can have Home show your actual number on outgoing calls instead of the default unlisted option. Here’s how to do it…
When Google launched its smart assistant-powered speaker, many were surprised by how great the device’s speaker actually sounds. This made Home perfect for listening to music, but there was no way to connect to it over Bluetooth for those who wanted to play audio stored locally on a device. Thankfully, Google has now added that functionality…
Google Home can already do a lot of things, but one of the most anticipated upcoming features is the ability to make hands-free phone calls with the smart speaker. Google announced this functionality back at I/O in June, and it’s now officially going live for all users.
When someone buys a car from Genesis, they’re given three complimentary years of the company’s “Connected Services.” These services include the ability to remotely lock, unlock, start the vehicle, and much more. Announced today, users will now be able to control their Genesis cars through Google Assistant on smartphones and Google Home…
We told you earlier this month that Google was rolling out a new Preview Program for the Google Home, and now it appears that some users are finally able to access the program. When it’s available for you, you should see a “Preview Program” option in the “Device settings” page of the Home app…
Despite once being limited to the United States and United Kingdom, Google Home has gradually been expanding to more countries. As expected, the smart speaker today has gone up for sale in Germany for €149…
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.
