Video courtesy of CNET
This week, Google announced at its I/O developer conference, a long-awaited competitor for the Amazon Echo – Google Home.
It’s a digital voice assistant, activated by saying “OK Google” (but the plan is to incorporate “Hey Google” as an option as well). The speaker does need to be plugged in to work, but the benefit to this is it enabled Google to add in a powerful speaker – which will be great for listening to music. It’ll also be able to connect to smart home devices (specifically Nest, as Google now owns it) to do things like turn on lights and change the thermostat.
An interesting feature is that the Home will be able to connect to other speakers located in different rooms, allowing you to talk to whichever one is closest and tell it to play music in another room (for example). And of course, you’ll be able to “Google” questions just by talking to the speaker.
Price and launch date haven’t been announced yet, but we’re hoping to hear about them soon. While the Home may not be useful in a dorm room, if you’re living in a house, it could ease your mind with automating things around the house, and be a great party-pleaser speaker for your Friday night get-togethers.
Sign up for announcements on Google Home here.
The Details:
- Price: No announcement yet
- Base shell: Comes in different colours so you can match your decor
- Not portable – must be plugged in
- Compatible with Chromecast, Nest