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iFixit: Google Home is easily repairable, shares a lot of components w/ Chromecast

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The teardown masters at iFixit pulled apart the Google Pixel a couple weeks ago to reveal a little bit of expected HTC branding on the inside, and now they’re back at it again with the Google Home. This time the biggest finding is just how easy this thing is to repair, getting a score of 8 out of 10 — which is notably better than most smartphones these days.


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Google Home is now available at Best Buy, Target, and Walmart for $129

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We told you in our Google Home review yesterday that it’s definitely a worthwhile contender in the world of voice activated speakers. Especially if you already use a lot of Google services, pitching $129 for a device that sits right between the Echo and Echo Dot in size might be a good choice for you. Now, the device is available for purchase from several retailers…


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Google Home Review: A solid start, but not yet as capable as its Echo archenemy [Video]

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I’ve primarily been a reviewer of phones over the last few years, so when a product that isn’t a phone comes across my lap for review, I get excited. And the Google Home is something I’ve been anticipating for what feels like years. When the Amazon Echo first launched, my initial thought was that it would be a great idea to marry similar hardware with the — at the time — far greater intelligence of Google Voice Search. And now that day has come.

In terms of sheer intelligence for things like facts and local information, as well as general accuracy when trying to pick up your voice, I’ve long felt that Google’s voice assistant — even before it was officially called Assistant — had a leg up on the competition. Not that Alexa and Siri are bad (all three are reaching feature parity at this point, really), but Google’s Assistant — for me, at least — has always been a winner because I’m a heavy user of Google’s services, and they tie in directly with what used to be Google Now.

The strengths of Google Assistant shine even brighter with Home, and its potential is even more exciting. Rather than being constrained to your phone, Google Home puts Google Assistant — albeit in slightly different form — within talking distance from pretty much anywhere in your home. I hope you’re ready to get used to talking to your devices, because there’s not really any other way of interacting with this standalone speaker and voice assistant from Google…


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Google Assistant added to IFTTT for Google Home and Pixel devices ─ here are a few things you can do with it

Like any voice assistant, Google Assistant is only as powerful as what it can interact with ─ especially in the case of Google Home. While Assistant on our phones gives us what we need, namely, the power of Google’s search skills, Google Home will need to integrate with physical products in order to be truly useful.


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Google Cast app rebranded as simply ‘Home’ w/ minor visual tweaks, support for new devices

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As expected, Google has today begun rolling out an update to its Google Cast app, appropriately renamed simply “Home”. The update includes a minor visual refresh and reorganization, and quietly adds the backbone for enabling Chromecast Ultra, the actual Google Home hardware, and support for controlling all of these Cast devices via Google Assistant…


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Google hired writers from Pixar and The Onion to make Google Home more friendly

Google Home isn’t smart enough yet to come up with its own responses to questions, which means that pretty much everything that the device says to you was written by a human. A piece this morning from The Wall Street Journal mentioned how Google and other companies working on intelligent voice assistants — like Amazon — are trying their best to make them as relatable and human-friendly as possible, and one tidbit reveals that Google has even gone as far as to hire writers from Pixar and The Onion to make that a reality…


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Opinion: Google Home is extremely compelling for two big reasons, but it’s still losing a major battle with Amazon’s Echo

Along with the Pixel smartphones, Chromecast Ultra, Google WiFi, and more, Google also launched the Google Home, its Amazon Echo competitor. While this new product is insanely compelling, enough to where I’ve already pre-ordered despite owning an Echo, there is one giant obstacle it has to face: compatibility.


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Google Home available for $129 w/ Google Assistant and Chromecast integreation, pre-orders begin today

At today’s 10/4 event, Google finally announced a ship date and pricing for its Amazon Echo competitor first revealed at I/O 2016. Google Home will be available November 4 for $129. As the name suggests, the device provides a simple, hands-free experience for the Google Assistant at home with an additional focus on music, entertainment, and controlling other IoT devices.


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Google Home will be compatible with Samsung’s SmartThings platform at launch

We’re right around the corner from Google’s October 4th event where, among other things, the company is expected to launch the Google Home, its Amazon Echo competitor. We know the price and basic functionality of the Home device already, but the biggest question is compatibility.We now know one major platform that will be compatible at launch.


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Google Home will be followed by a slew of Assistant-powered third party hardware, report says

Remember the Chromecast? Yes, of course you do. Google’s highly successful $35 dongle has been a hit among consumers, but its virtues may expand far beyond that. According to an exclusive Variety report, in fact, it may well have proved to be a proper Trojan horse for Google, who’s now seeking partners’ attention to build yet more appliances around its technology…


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‘Google Home app’ reference appears in most recent Chromecast Preview

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We are less than a week away from Google’s event on October 4 and it looks like the company has already started preparing its current products for things to come. A Reddit user noticed the mentioning of a ‘Google Home app’ while reconnecting their Chromecast to Wi-Fi after updating to the latest firmware available through the Chromecast Preview Program.


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Google Home will apparently sell for $129, 4K ‘Chromecast Ultra’ for $69

Google is set to debut a lot of new hardware at its October 4th event including new smartphones, a recently revealed WiFi router, and two other products we’re looking forward to: Google Home and the refreshed 4K Chromecast. As the event nears, we’re hearing more details on these products, and now we have pricing (via Android Police) for the Google Home and the “Chromecast Ultra”…


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Here’s everything we know about Google’s forthcoming hardware invasion

When thinking of Google, there are essentially two versions of the company that come to mind for most. Some immediately — and solely — link it to its iconic search box put front and center on google.com, while others who are more aware know about the ocean of products and services the Mountain View firm is deeply involved in. One thing that doesn’t often come to the average person’s mind, though, is hardware. Come the next few months, however, that may all but change…


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Report: Google Home is essentially a Chromecast with speakers, possibly cheaper than Echo

Google Home was announced earlier this month by Chromecast head Mario Queiroz. The team responsible for Google’s hit streaming media device headed up development of the Amazon Echo competitor because Home is essentially a “dressed-up version of Chromecast”, according to The Information.


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Google previews its smarter, prettier Amazon Echo killer: Google Home

In a product announcement in which it gave credit to Amazon Alexa, Google today teased Google Home, a device which brings the newly announced Assistant in to the home. Design-wise, it looks very similar to the OnHub, and is customizable and incredibly versatile. “It will let anyone in the family, kids or adults, have a conversation with Google”…


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