Where Google has failed in product designs of the past, Google Home gives the impression of a chic futuristic device that we’d much rather have in our home, as opposed to the utilitarian looking Echo.
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Home will synch with Chromecast devices that allow remote control of televisions or stereo systems, and with “smart” devices made by Google-owned Nest and other companies, according to Mr Queiroz.
The device has a striking similarity function-wise to Amazon’s Echo, which launched a year ago – something even Google CEO Sundar Pichai referenced when announcing the device.
It’s been in the works for a while now, but Google has officially revealed its effort to take on the surprising success of the Amazon Echo home assistant, simply calling it Google Home. The company’s Google Now personal assistant uses data it collects on users and other contextual clues, such as their location and the time of day, to deliver information such as weather or traffic conditions before users ask for it. Another new Google service emails to suggest replies it has written for users. At this point, most of the discussion is mere speculation because it will be months before Google’s now nameless assistant will be in a ready-to-ship form later this year.
Allo and Home will be available later this year, with hopefully more information to come leading up to the official release.
Amazon launched its own dialogue-based smart home device in 2014, which is powered by the firm’s proprietary virtual assistant Alexa. Imagine telling Google to book you an Uber ride. This is what gives the upgraded Google Assistant the ability to be more conversational. It will be able to play music, complete a range of tasks and answer questions that one would ask of Google search.
Allo isn’t Google’s only new app. It’s also introducing Google Duo for mobile video calls, similar to FaceTime.
He said the Google Home personal assistant connected to wi-fi and could control other connected appliances: “Computing is poised to evolve beyond just phones”. Alexa can answer “How old is Alex Rodriguez”, but she can’t keep going after the initial query whereas Google Home will. They peak the Google Assistant in very specific way.
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Google Home, just stepping back quickly, is just like Echo in its physical form. The lack of details about privacy is ironic considering Google, of all cloud companies, routinely raises privacy flags the most. For example, you can ask Assistant about movies that are playing, then narrow it down, ask about reviews, and Assistant might ask you if you’d like to buy tickets.
