Google Home is here

[kennyc]

"Google to Introduce Its Voice-Activated Home Device
By DAVID STREITFELDMAY 17, 2016

SAN FRANCISCO — Google will introduce its much-anticipated entry into the voice-activated home device market on Wednesday, according to people who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Named Google Home, the device is a virtual agent that answers simple questions and carries out basic tasks. It is to be announced at Google’s annual developers’ conference in Silicon Valley.

Google Home will come to market in the fall — a long time away, given the speed of technology, but Google needed to plant a stake in the ground now. The device will compete with Amazon’s Echo, which was introduced less than two years ago. Amazon has already sold an estimated three million units.
...."


http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/18/te...me-device.html

[fjtorres]

So it's a pre-announcement.
Trying to freeze the market until they get their product out the door.
And it's coming under the Google name instead of the more logical Nest name.

Somehow I don't think the market is going to freeze and wait with bated breath for six months...

[MikeB1972]

Originally Posted by kennyc

Named Google Home, the device is a virtual agent that answers simple questions and carries out basic tasks.

Bloody computers, taking over my job

[kennyc]

Will be interesting to see if it has any special integration into Google Books....

[tubemonkey]

I have the Echo because of content, not home automation. To me, Amazon's ecosystem is more valuable than Google's. Besides adding the more popular music and audio streaming apps, Google would need to integrate Prime Music and Audible to get my attention.

[NickyWithNook]

It would at least have to intigrate iTunes, and that seems as unlikely as it integrating Prime. I don't have any google music. How popular is that? And I'm into Google. I live by Google calendar, gmail, and with an android phone, and I still have very little Google content.

[fjtorres]

Google has this habit of jumping into things impulsively and without any real long term plans (c.f., Google TV, Android TV, etc, and all their cancelled betaware "next great thing" projects). They get some people excited at launch and then lose interest and backburner the effort when it fails to take off immediately. Often leaving other holding the bag.

They seem to do better with things that are self-contained and less so with actual ecosystems, where their main success is Android though it is unclear how much of a net revenue generator that has been once you factor in all the expenses and losses, like buying and selling Motorola.

This proposed Google Home gadget is going to have to draw support from third parties somewhere and a lot of the usual suspects have been burned before so it'll be interesting to see how many show up for this go around.

...and this is an area where even Apple has failed to gain much third party support...

[kennyc]

They ain't done so bad with android now have they. LOL!

Seems someone's got a bee in his bonnet about google.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by kennyc

They ain't done so bad with android now have they. LOL!

The motorola deals cost them over $10B in losses.
Think they've made that much net off Android?

Google isn't the most strategic or disciplined of companies. Thanks to search they have money to waste and they do waste a lot of it. Some of it on worthy efforts (Project Loon) but others...

To their credit they do a lot of good R&D, unlike some other deep pocket companies, but so far they've thrown out too many half baked, half-hearted efforts so their credibility is far from solid.

[kennyc]

They're only the most profitable company on the books at the moment having surpassed Apple again. They are the leaders in real-world AI and many other areas. You seem to miss the point of what taking research risks is about.

Seems there's more sour grapes to your claims than anything.

I'll leave it at that.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by kennyc

They're only the most profitable company on the books at the moment having surpassed Apple again. They are the leaders in real-world AI and many other areas. You seem to miss the point of what taking research risks is about.

Seems there's more sour grapes to your claims than anything.

I'll leave it at that.

All their net money comes from online ads. Everything else is at best breakeven and many outright money losers. That is not healthy for any company, no matter how big. They know it and they've spent billions trying to build a second cash cow.

Is it sour grapes to ponder why after twenty years or so they remain a one-product company? I use some of their products. But I've learned to be leery of commiting to them because they've become too quick to move on.

Maybe Google home will be the greatest thing this side of slice bread. Or maybe it will be forgotten by Google in a year as they pivot to something else. Odds are slightly higher for the latter than the former so they're not getting my money until they show some commitment to the platform.

They've earned my skepticism.

Here:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/gordonke.../#7ad037c71eeb

http://www.zdnet.com/article/google-...ney-come-from/

[tubemonkey]

Google I/O is live now

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Google I/O is live now

[tubemonkey]

Google home is ugly. Echo has it beat for aesthetics, hands down.

[tubemonkey]

Google Home is over. No indication of what the price might be.

This presentation has shown Amazon what they need to add to Alexa to stay ahead of the game.