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.
-
Japan poised to get first woman prime ministerSpeed Read The ruling Liberal Democratic Party elected former Economic Security Minister Sanae Takaichi
-
Israel and Hamas meet on hostages, Trump’s planSpeed Read Hamas accepted the general terms of Trump’s 20-point plan, including the release of all remaining hostages
-
US tipped to help Kyiv strike Russian energy sitesSpeed Read Trump has approved providing Ukraine with intelligence for missile strikes on Russian energy infrastructure
-
Netanyahu agrees to Trump’s new Gaza peace planSpeed Read At President Trump's meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, they agreed upon a plan to end Israel’s war in Gaza
-
Russia is ‘helping China’ prepare for an invasion of TaiwanIn the Spotlight Russia is reportedly allowing China access to military training
-
Moldova gives decisive win to pro-EU partySpeed Read The country is now on track to join the European Union within five years
-
Interpol arrests hundreds in Africa-wide sextortion crackdownIN THE SPOTLIGHT A series of stings disrupts major cybercrime operations as law enforcement estimates millions in losses from schemes designed to prey on lonely users
-
UK, 3 Western allies recognize Palestinian stateSpeed Read Britain, Canada, Australia and Portugal formally recognized the state of Palestine
