Ahead of Google's phone event early next month, a leak has surfaced showing the Bose QuietComfort 35 II headphones with Google Assistant baked in. The original leak has been rounded out with a later one that includes photos of a retail box supposedly belonging to the headphones -- the box confirms the Google Assistant inclusion.
Voice-controlled smart assistants are all the rage these days. Just look back at IFA 2017 to see how many devices were proud to announce support for Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, or Apple Siri (via HomeKit). They are admittedly pretty convenient and powerful, but those same strengths might actually be their Achilles’ heel as well. Chinese researchers have demonstrated that Alexa, Siri, Cortana, and Google Assistant can be easily told to do things without the knowledge, much less permission, of their owners. All by saying commands that no human can actually hear.
Sometimes the very simplest features are those you come to appreciate most of all. Sony clearly got that memo, anyway, hence the one basic piece of tech on its new LF-S50G smart speaker which, though not as clever as the Google Assistant, still elevates the gadget above its increasingly numerous rivals. That advantage? A clock.
Google may not have a portable version of its Home smart speaker, but that leaves the door open for third-party alternatives. One such example launched at IFA 2017 this week, the Mobvoi TicHome Mini. A circular Bluetooth speaker that also happens to hook up to your WiFi connection and deliver the Google Assistant.
Officially speaking, Google Home is the only smart speaker that houses Google Assistant. Other speakers and devices usually only get Google’s smart assistant after the fact or as an added feature. Google Home is, of course, far from perfect and it could do with a second iteration, which is probably unlikely to happen. Fortunately there is now the Sony LF-S50G which was made and designed specifically for Google Assistant, built with the lessons learned from Google Home and other smart speakers now filling the market.
Say what you want about LG, but one thing you can’t say is that it’s not willing to play nice with its competitors. While it has its own platforms, like webOS and SmartThinQ, it isn’t beyond opening its doors to rivals. At least if that’s where the market is headed. And since the market does seem to be headed towards the likes of Amazon Echo and Google Home, LG has announced that its 2017 line of smart home devices and connected appliances will be able to connect with Alexa and Google Assistant, offering users hands-free access to its products.
On the same day that we learn about a Cortana and Alexa team up, Google has also announced big things for Google Assistant. The number of devices that support Google Assistant will soon be expanding, giving you more options for interacting with it. The list of new devices includes both speakers and appliances, and it sounds like what's being announced today is just the tip of the iceberg.
Amazon’s purchase of Whole Foods not only shook up the supermarket market, pardon the redundancy, it was also a wake up call to its rivals, showing what the retail giant is capable of or willing to do to get an edge. Google and Walmart are definitely not taking things sitting down but rather than hit Amazon separately, they’ve decided to join forces to deliver a more powerful punch. Starting next month Walmart becomes the third but also the biggest store accessible from Google Express, combining Walmart’s supplies and Google’s machine learning to try and outdo Amazon.
It isn't all that often we get excited about an update to Android's standard Google app, but on this day of extraterrestrial happenings, we're shaking things up a bit. A beta version of the Google app - version 7.10 to be precise - has landed, and a teardown of the APK reveals something very interesting. As it turns out, Google may be plotting a pair of headphones that run Google Assistant.
Google Home's vast collection of device and service connections expands today with Spotify Free. This is the version of Spotify users can take advantage of (for free) with commercials and slightly lower-quality audio than a paid account. This update should be made today to add to the ever-growing list of voice-controlled services and devices shown below.
Barking out instructions to your smart thermostat when you're too hot to get off the couch just got a little easier, with Honeywell announcing its connected temperature controllers now play nice with Google Home. The new integration allows for complete control over one or more HVAC zones via Google's smart speaker, and builds on Honeywell's existing support for the Google Assistant on iOS and Android devices. In fact, the company says, this makes it the only thermostat brand to support all of the major smart hubs.
The folks at ECOXGEAR have created a lantern that's extremely bright, charges smartphones, and has a bottle opener at its base. This device is the ECOXGEAR EcoLantern, and it's also able to connect to your smartphone and speak to you using the iPhone's Siri or Androids' OK Google (Google Assistant). Speakers and waterproofing and lighting and etcetera in tow, this lantern is aimed directly at the "I need one device to do ALL of this stuff whenever I need it" market.
