Google revealed the Next Home Hub today, and with it, they re-shuffled their branding for smart home products. Now we've got a bigger Nest Hub Max (with 10-inch screen) and the smaller Nest Hub. This larger device is akin to a device released before, by Google, albeit without the camera.
Google Home owners can now use the smart speaker to stream audio from YouTube Music for free. This provides those customers with music streaming on Google Home straight out of the box, but there is a catch: the free service is subsidized by the presence of advertisements. Google Home users will need to setup the speaker to use YouTube Music before they can use the new perk, however.
Google has announced some new features and abilities available to Google Home device owners, including the option to have Assistant gently wake you up using light from a connected Philips Hue smart light. The new feature mimics the sunrise, replacing the sudden, jarring audible alarm that most people use. The new alarm feature joins the ability to retrieve meditations from Headspace and more.
The Google Assistant is addressing one of its most frustrating blindspots, with G Suite accounts finally gaining integration with the smart speaker-powering AI. While the Assistant has been able to pull up calendar appointments and more from Google user's accounts when asked on a Google Home, Google Home Hub, or similar, that's only been the case for personal accounts.
Last year, Google started teasing a number of celebrity cameos it was working on for Google Assistant. One of the celebrities lending their voice to the project was John Legend, and even though Google at the time said his voice would be available at some point in 2018, it seems that particular roll out was delayed. Google is fixing that today, by sending Legend's cameo live for all Google Assistant users in the US.
Walmart has announced that its customers will soon be able to shop for groceries using voice commands and Google Assistant. The ability will be available on any device that supports Google Assistant, such as Google Home devices and smartphones. With the new support, Walmart customers will simply have to use the command, "Hey Google, talk to Walmart."
Google One, the company's cloud subscription service, has quietly added a new deal for customers who have the 2TB or greater plan: a free Home Mini device. The new perk has appeared on the Google One page for eligible customers, and some subscribers report having received an email from Google alerting them to the new offer. One customers have until April to claim their device.
Things have been relatively silent on the Android TV front lately, but today, the platform is forcing itself back into the spotlight. Unfortunately, it's not good news we're hearing, but rather reports of a serious-sounding bug that's potentially exposing the private photos of Android TV users. At the very least, the bug is causing Android TV and Google Home to show lists of Android users where they shouldn't be, which is bad enough.
Google Home owners and Apple Music subscribers may have gotten all worked up for nothing. Just two days ago and seemingly out of the blue, evidence popped up suggesting that Google Home smart speakers would finally be able to stream Apple Music, just like their Amazon Echo rivals. Apparently not the case as Google just confirmed that the sighting, though legit, wasn't exactly a feature but a bug instead.
Google has quietly enabled Interpreter Mode for smart speakers and smart displays like the Google Home and Google Home Hub. Announced back at CES 2019, the new feature brings Google Translate functionality to the smart home devices, with real-time translations between a number of different languages.
The latest data from CIRP suggests that Amazon's Echo device active installed user base towers over that of the competition. It's never really been a contest, since the group started recording data, back in December of 2017. Amazon's Echo devices with Alexa started with more than double the smart speaker installed base of their closest competitor in Google with Google Home. Each successive quarter showed a similar pattern, with Amazon in the very, very clear lead and Google Home sitting at around 1/3 the base Amazon commands.
With the rise of always-listening smart home speakers like Amazon Echo and Google Home comes a greater worry about the privacy of their users. While Google and Amazon have maintained that their smart home speakers are only ever listening for their wake words, the fact that you're putting a mic that's live 24/7 in your house is unsettling for some people. Enter Project Alias, which is a new accessory that attempts to keep the mics on those smart home speakers in check.