Google Home will compete with the Amazon Echo as a spiffy new smart speaker
Google announced its new voice-responsive home device on Wednesday, marking the company's entry into a market currently ruled by Amazon's Echo. Like the Echo, Google Home will be able to answer questions and carry out basic tasks, like calling an Uber or ordering a pizza.
"We want to have an ongoing, two-way conversation with our users," Google CEO Sundar Pichai said at the Google I/O conference.
According to Greg Kumparak of Techcrunch, what makes Google Home stand out is that the company is working to make the voice engine "more conversational." "You can say things like 'What's playing tonight?' get a list of movies, but then clarify with 'We want to bring the kids tonight' — and it’ll know how to contextually refine its answers," Kumparak wrote in his live blog of the conference.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Kumparak added that, "You can book a car, order dinner, send flowers to mom — but you can also ask Google anything that you’d expect Google to know about: weather, movie times, and stuff from Wikipedia." Questions can even get pretty complicated, like "what was the U.S. population when NASA was established?" This is, after all, Google.
The Verge also notes that unlike the Echo, owning multiple Homes is seamless, allowing for consumers to put them in several rooms throughout a house. The Google Home will come out later this year, and for a yet-unspecified price.
But wait, there's more: Google also announced a new messaging app, Allo — keep up with all the news on Techcrunch's live blog, here.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.
-
What is a bubble? Understanding the financial term.the explainer An AI bubble burst could be looming
-
France makes first arrests in Louvre jewels heistSpeed Read Two suspects were arrested in connection with the daytime theft of royal jewels from the museum
-
Argentina’s Milei buoyed by regional election winsSpeed Read Argentine President Javier Milei is an ally of President Trump, receiving billions of dollars in backing from his administration
-
Argentina’s Milei buoyed by regional election winsSpeed Read Argentine President Javier Milei is an ally of President Trump, receiving billions of dollars in backing from his administration
-
Proposed Trump-Putin talks in Budapest on holdSpeed Read Trump apparently has no concrete plans to meet with Putin for Ukraine peace talks
-
Bolivia elects centrist over far-right presidential rivalSpeed Read Relative political unknown Rodrigo Paz, a centrist senator, was elected president
-
Madagascar president in hiding, refuses to resignSpeed Read Andry Rajoelina fled the country amid Gen Z protests and unrest
-
Sanae Takaichi: Japan’s Iron Lady set to be the country’s first woman prime ministerIn the Spotlight Takaichi is a member of Japan’s conservative, nationalist Liberal Democratic Party
-
Israel, Hamas agree to first step of Trump peace planSpeed Read Israel’s military pulls back in Gaza amid prisoner exchange
-
Israel intercepts 2nd Gaza aid flotilla in a weekSpeed Read The Israeli military intercepted a flotilla of nine boats with 145 activists aboard along with medical and food aid
-
Japan poised to get first woman prime ministerSpeed Read The ruling Liberal Democratic Party elected former Economic Security Minister Sanae Takaichi
