Google Home

[tubemonkey]

Google Home --> updated 17 Oct 2017

Google Home speakers enable users to speak voice commands to interact with services through their intelligent personal assistant called Google Assistant. A large number of services, both in-house and third-party, are integrated, allowing users to listen to music, look at videos or photos, or receive news updates entirely by voice. Google Home devices also have integrated support for home automation features, letting users speak commands to the devices to control smart home appliances.

Help ----> Assistant | Updates | User Guide

Social --> Blog | Facebook | Twitter --- Press | Wikipedia

Offers --> Home Store --- Deals Forum | Black Friday


Home Prices

• Spoiler:

  • Home Max ---- $399 --> avail Dec 2017
    
  • Goo Home ---- $129
    
  • Home Mini ---- $49
    
    
  • Chr Audio ----- $35
    
  • Home Base --- $20 (fabric) | $40 (metal)

Home Specs

• Spoiler:

  • Released --> 04 Nov 2016
  • Generation --> 1st Gen
  • Pricing --> $129 -- lowest $109 (Oct 2017)
    
    
  • Help | Video | Teardown
    
    
  • CPU -->
  • Speed -->
  • RAM -->
  • ROM -->
  • WiFi --> 802.11 ac -- dual band 2.4GHz/ 5GHz
  • Bluetooth -->
    
    
  • Display --> n/a
  • Webcam --> n/a
  • Microphones -->
  • Speakers --> 1 x 2.0" driver -- 2 x 2.0" passive radiators
  • Controls -->
  • Ports --> power in
    
    
  • Dimensions --> 5.62" x 3.79" x 3.79" x 16.8 oz
  • Power --> 16.5V -- 2A
  • Warranty -->
  • In-the-Box -->
  • Notes -->

Home Services

• Spoiler:

  • Music
  • YouTube Music
  • Spotify
  • Pandora
  • Google Play Music
  • TuneIn Radio
    
    
  • Smart Home
  • Google Chromecast
  • Nest
  • Philips Hue
  • SmartThings
  • IFTTT
    
    
  • Video (Chromecast required)
  • YouTube
    
    
  • Tasks
  • Google Calendar
  • Google Keep

Home Features

• Spoiler:

  • Media --> Games -- Music -- Podcasts -- Radio
    
  • News --> News -- Sports -- Traffic -- Weather
    
  • Office --> Calendar -- Dictionary -- Translation
    
  • Tools --> Alarm -- Calculator -- Timer
    
  • other --> Shopping List

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[Rumpelteazer]

I've had my eye first on the Amazon Echo and later on Google Home. The Echo isn't available in the Netherlands and I had hoped that Home would be. Especially when I got an email from Google last night inviting me to pre-order the Google Home. But I couldn't. From what I've read it won't be available until it supports Dutch language. Understandable, but nonetheless annoying for us Dutchies that speak English well enough (or think we do) and want to get our hands on it.

At least the Dutch Google Store has a page for the Google Home, which is slightly encouraging.

[tubemonkey]

Top 5 Reasons to Buy a Google Home (and 3 not to) Video

Google wants to live in your home with its aptly named product and it could be a smart bet.

[wodin]

I'm heavily invested in Alexa with 2 Echos, 1 Dot and three other Alexa enabled devices, but I have to admit, I just might be a bit premature. Google now has always been the go to place for answers; often when Alexa doesn't know the answer, Google Now gets it spot on.

Oh well, I guess I just keep using Alexa for music, home automation, shopping lists and timers/alarms; and my phone for answers.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by wodin

I'm heavily invested in Alexa with 2 Echos, 1 Dot and three other Alexa enabled devices, but I have to admit, I just might be a bit premature. Google now has always been the go to place for answers; often when Alexa doesn't know the answer, Google Now gets it spot on.

Oh well, I guess I just keep using Alexa for music, home automation, shopping lists and timers/alarms; and my phone for answers.

I rarely ask Alexa or OK Google (they really need to come up with a better name than that) questions, so that's a feature that means very little to me.

If the Echo did nothing more than stream music and audio, I'd still consider it money well spent and I'd still get several Dots.

Edit: The Echo plays Amazon Music and Audible, and the Home will never have those services. That's a deal breaker for me, especially since Amazon is about to release a paid streaming music service exclusively for Echo device owners.
.

[tubemonkey]

8 things Alexa can do that Google's Assistant can't

Google Home may have crashed the smart-speaker party, but it still has some tricks to learn from Alexa.

It was only a matter of time before Amazon Echo got some competition. Google Home was announced last week and while we haven't yet tested it, it looks like it'll be a worthy competitor to Amazon Echo.

But even though Google Home can do a lot that the Echo can't -- like contextual conversations or throwing images and videos to your televisions -- it has plenty of catching-up to do with Alexa.

Here are eight things Amazon's assistant can do that Google's can't.

[tubemonkey]

Welcoming Mini and Max to the Google Home family

Today, we’re welcoming two new products to the Google Home family: Google Home Mini is small and mighty for hands-free help in every room. And Google Home Max is our biggest and best-sounding Google Home ever. They’re both radically helpful, and packed with the power of the Google Assistant, including some brand new features.

Google Home Mini -- $49

Spoiler:

Mini makes the Google Assistant more accessible than ever at home. We designed it to fit naturally in any room. It’s sleek and smooth, with no corners or edges, and about the size of a donut. Its fabric enclosure is durable, yet transparent enough to let through both light and sound. The LEDs under the fabric light up to show you when your Assistant hears you. And it projects 360-degree sound so you’ll never miss a beat. With far-field microphones, Mini can hear you even when there’s music playing or there’s other noise in the background. Mini comes in three colors—Chalk, Charcoal and Coral. At $49, Google Home Mini works on its own or you can have a few around the house, giving you the power of Google anywhere in your home.

Google Home Max -- $399

Spoiler:

Max redefines audio, in a way that only Google can—with AI. Its high-fidelity sound is built on a foundation of premium hardware. With dual 4.5-inch high-excursion woofers, you’ll get deep, balanced bass. And Max can play loud, really loud…so you can fill even the largest room in your home with your favorite music. In fact, it’s 20 times more powerful than the original Google Home.

Max is our first speaker with Smart Sound, a new audio experience powered by Google’s artificial intelligence. It’s what allows Max to adapt to you—your environment, your context, and your preferences. Smart Sound automatically adjusts for where you place Max in a room, so if you decide to move your speaker a few feet, it will dynamically tune itself within seconds.

Max works with a wide range of music services and supports Bluetooth and auxiliary port . And Max was made to fit your space and style; it can be placed vertically or horizontally and comes in two colors—Chalk and Charcoal.

[wodin]

But Google still doesn't have a cutesy feminine name like Alexa. I still wish I could name her something else though, I think "Sarah" would be nice. I can also see a use case for a masculine voice and name, like "Hal 9000"

[tubemonkey]

Target is joining forces with Google to take on Amazon

Target is jumping into voice-activated shopping as it deepens its relationship with Google, offering thousands of items found in the store except for perishables like fruit and milk.

The move is happening as Google says shopping will be available later this year through Google Assistant on iPhone and Android phones, joining its Google Home device and Android TV. So shoppers can shout out orders to their phone while they're running around doing errands or just walking.

Target Corp. joins Walmart and Home Depot among others in partnering with Google on voice shopping as they seek to compete against Amazon's dominance with its Echo devices. Amazon started offering Echo voice assistants in late 2014, while Google made its debut with Google Home earlier this year.

[tubemonkey]

Google Home Mini VS Amazon Echo Dot - Who gets your 50 dollars?

[Purple Lady]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Target is joining forces with Google to take on Amazon

You can't connect Bluetooth speakers? That's kinda ridiculous.

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Google Home Mini VS Amazon Echo Dot - Who gets your 50 dollars?

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by Purple Lady

You can't connect Bluetooth speakers? That's kinda ridiculous.

It is. A workaround is to buy a $35 Chromecast Audio and hook it up to the speaker you wish to use. How easy is that

An audio out jack is also missing, so you can't use wired speakers either.


Google Home Mini Review: The First Great Echo Dot Rival

Audio Performance

Neither the Home Mini nor the Echo Dot should be used as a primary music source, but if you want to do this, the Home Mini can suffice in a pinch. In a head-to-head audio test, the Home Mini simply blew the Echo Dot out of the water.

Bruce Springsteen's vocals on "I'm on Fire" sounded tinny, hollow and distant on the Echo Dot. It was like listening to a bad AM radio. On the Home Mini, his voice was much fuller, the bass line was much more present, and you could hear more of the nuances in the track. Same thing when I played Billy Joel's "Piano Man"; the song sounded full and strong.

I also liked that I could stream audio directly from a number of sources — such as the Pandora app on my phone and the Chrome browser on my laptop — directly to the Home Mini. That's one thing you can't do with Alexa.

However, the Echo Dot has both a 3.5mm audio jack and Bluetooth, so you can pair it with another speaker very easily. The Home Mini only has Bluetooth, and can only be used to stream audio to the Mini from, say, your smartphone, and not to an external speaker. The only way to do that is if another speaker is connected to a Chromecast device.

Google and Amazon are fairly evenly matched in streaming-audio services, as both support Spotify, Pandora, iHeartRadio and TuneIn. Not surprisingly, Amazon has Amazon Music, while Google has Google Play Music and YouTube Music. However, only Amazon lists support for Sirius XM.

[Purple Lady]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

It is. A workaround is to buy a $35 Chromecast Audio and hook it up to the speaker you wish to use. How easy is that

An audio out jack is also missing, so you can't use wired speakers either.


Google Home Mini Review: The First Great Echo Dot Rival

I'm not buying a chromecast audio. I guess they want to sell more of them. I was going to try one until I saw this.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by Purple Lady

I'm not buying a chromecast audio. I guess they want to sell more of them. I was going to try one until I saw this.

That's definitely a turnoff.

I'm too invested in Amazon to even consider any of the Google Home devices.

[wodin]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

That's definitely a turnoff.

I'm too invested in Amazon to even consider any of the Google Home devices.

Yup, Google is a day late and a dollar short in this arena, and that's in spite of their advantages of the largest knowledge base on the planet, and threaded conversations.

They would need real magic to overcome the several hundred dollars that I have already invested in Alexa.

I've heard rumblings of a few devices that have both Alexa and Assistant, that's the only way I'd even consider Google.

Me: "Alexa; How high is up?"
Alexa: "I'm sorry, I don't know that."
Me: "OK Google; How high is up?"
Google: "Twice the distance of half way; take THAT Alexa!"