Pound for pound, you won’t find a better Assistant-enabled smart speaker than Google’s own Nest Audio. At $99, the Google-y speaker offers up ample volume and sound quality while giving you all the tasty home control you know and love from the Google Assistant. Now, that’s not to say that you can’t get a better […]
Continue ReadingGoogle Assistant
Google Assistant has become the central focus for Google ever since their event in October of 2016. With the roll-out in full swing to many devices across multiple categories, Google Assistant is becoming extremely pervasive. The flagship device for Google Assistant, Google Home, is also powered by a varied version of Chrome OS. As we watch Assistant fully integrate into Chrome OS, we realize the Assitant story is just beginning.
Google’s smart home platform and tools are now fittingly named “Google Home”
During Google’s Smart Home Developer Summit yesterday, the company made several big announcements, but none were as important as the newly minted and unified platform renaming. Beginning its journey five years ago with Google Assistant and the Google Home, smart home tech has come an incredibly long way, and now encompasses smart displays, lights, locks, […]
Continue ReadingGoogle Assistant is tired of being cursed out, asks politely to be treated better
If you’re reading this, it’s probably because you understand how ridiculously inaccurate and annoying Google Assistant can be at times. How often does it ask you to unlock your phone to perform a smart home action…even while you’re at home, hear things wrong even when you speak clearly, or try to stop your TV or […]
Continue ReadingGoogle Assistant turns five years old, celebrates its own birthday, eats its own cake
Google Assistant has drastically increased the quality of life for millions of users, at least in the sense that they are able to access the world’s information in an organized way as per Google’s mission statement. In a new blog post today, the company recapped its accomplishments with its AI and machine learning efforts. Assistant […]
Continue ReadingNest Hub and Nest Max now accept commands in and display interfaces in Spanish
For those of us just learning Spanish, those who are trying to brush up on their second language, or for those who speak it as their first, Nest Hub and Nest Hub Max now support Spanish in more significant ways. Previously, you could use Google Translate to convert a phrase, but the entire user interface […]
Continue Reading‘Got it, but first, you’ll have to unlock your phone’ – even though you’re at home
I just took my Pixelbook Go out on the porch to spend a lazy Saturday morning with my family over some Lofi hip hop and coffee, so naturally, I told Assistant to turn off my lights to conserve energy. In addition to doing what I asked via my Nest Mini speaker, my phone jumped to […]
Continue ReadingSay “Hey, Google” and you might get a Home Mini for $10
If you had told me that Google still sold the original Home Mini smart speaker, I would have double-checked to see if you were joking. Ages ago, the Google Home Mini was supplanted by the smarter Nest Mini that features decently improved audio quality. Regardless, it appears that Google must have a stockpile of the […]
Continue ReadingGrab a great deal on Google’s Nest Hub, WiFi, or Audio for Labor Day 2021 before it’s too late
Happy Labor Day! As we celebrate our workplace achievements and overall collaborative success, Google has placed several of its Nest hardware devices on sale for a limited period of time. Over on its own store and even at Best Buy, you can get a hefty discount on several configurations of the new Nest Wifi router […]
Continue ReadingLenovo’s Smart Clock 2 w/Assistant and wireless charging dock is available now
Back in June, Lenovo unveiled the next iteration of one of my favorite smart home devices of all time. The Lenovo Smart Clock w/Google Assistant is a great little bedside smart speaker. It’s discrete, attractive, sounds good, and does just about everything you would want an Assistant-enabled device to when located in a more intimate […]
Continue ReadingAssistant ‘Quick phrases’ will let you skip “Hey Google”, but it could be a slippery slope
Remember Assistant’s ‘Guacamole’ experiment that we discussed a while back? The ability to skip the “Hey Google” hotword in order to perform simple tasks was first discovered by 9to5Google during their APK Insights of the Search app on Android. At that time, Google stated that they had nothing to announce, but now, a new Insights […]
Continue ReadingIf you want to automate all the things, try out Google Assistant’s new ‘Daylong routines’
A new option for creating routines with Google Assistant that lasts throughout the day is beginning to appear for users as spotted first by 9to5Google. These new routines can contain several actions that can be triggered at different times during the day as specified by the user, of course. While visiting Assistant’s settings or the […]
Continue ReadingNest Hub Max can now read web pages out loud using text-to-speech technology
In June, it was found that the Nest Hub and the Nest Hub Max would have a built-in keyboard for browsing the web by hand as opposed to doing so by voice. These devices also gained several new browser tools to make quickly navigating around the web much more accessible. Paired with the recently discovered […]
Continue ReadingNest Hub issue brings home entertainment to a standstill while viewing cameras
Just yesterday, we reported on the fact that Google was rolling out Fuchsia OS to first-generation Nest Hub displays. While this was exciting, we had a feeling it wouldn’t be long before we saw some form of issue. Over on the Google Nest Help forum, users are reporting that all of their Nest speakers, displays, […]
Continue ReadingGoogle brings its Assistant hotel solutions to Nest Hub displays in LEGOLAND
In April, we reported on a company called Volara that was partnering with Google in order to equip hotel rooms with Nest Hub displays for the convenience of occupants. Volara is the leading provider of voice assistant solutions for hotels. Being able to ask Google right from your room about your reservation, order food, and […]
Continue ReadingGoogle Fuchsia is rolling out to first-gen Nest Hubs right now, but that doesn’t mean much yet
Google has been working to develop its not-so-secret operating system, Fuchsia, for many years, and only recently made it publicly visible by inviting developers to contribute to the project. It even opened a Discord server for fans and creators alike to discuss it daily. After having rolled out to a few first-generation Nest Hubs months […]
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