Google releases latest round of smartest gadgets yet

Home can also act as an alarm clock to get you out of bed.

The basic feature set is mostly unchanged from I/O, in many respects working the same as the Amazon Echo with far-field mics, audio from a tuned array of a 2-inch driver, and a pair of 2-inch passive radiators that will likely rival Echo’s sonic performance. At the core of the new service is a combination of web search advancements, DeepMind artificial intelligence and natural language processing that Google says will only get better as the algorithms continue to recognize user patterns and behaviors. But if you add “We’re planning on bringing the kids”, Google Assistant will know to serve up showtimes for kid-friendly films. If you have more than one Home, you can group them together wirelessly and have your music play through each one at the same time. “We want to make sure we support as many home devices as possible”, Chandra said.

Still, while Google showed its new Assistant performing a variety of impressive tasks, Moorhead cautioned that similar services such as Siri and Microsoft’s Cortana haven’t fulfilled their early promises to ingrain themselves into people’s lives.

However, with Google and Amazon competing directly via voice-activated speakers, there is vast potential for a push toward these two platforms in coming years. You can ask “When’s my first event tomorrow?’ or ‘List all my events next week” for example. New users will be eligible for a six-month trial of YouTubeRed, which offers ads-free music and video. This router is controlled via an application and can be used to manage the home’s various connected devices and their user profiles, as well as disconnect them if necessary.

But Google Home’s website suggests the vision is no longer one owned by Nest within Alphabet: “Google Home connects seamlessly with smart devices like Chromecast, Nest and Philips Hue, so you can use your voice to set the ideal temperature or turn down the lights”, reads the site.

The AI function also enables users to interrogate it about the latest movies or nearby restaurants whenever they type ‘@google’. It’ll be available in the United States of America from November 2016 priced US$129.

Google Home.will go on sale November 4 for $129.The purchase price also comes with a free six-month trial of YouTube Red, an ad-free version of the video sharing service.

Pichai said the company’s goal is to let customers interact “naturally and seamlessly” with artificial intelligence through devices like the Home device and their smartphone.

I spent a bit of hands-on time with Home following Google’s announcement and it looks as though it could easily give Amazon’s (AMZN) Echo a run for its money. But it has one distinct advantage, writes PC Magazine’s Tom Brant. The Amazon Echo is a device which was essentially created to bring more convenience to users’ lives and that is the reasons why it has been such a hit. Yes, it’s great that the Assistant can do all the things Google demoed on stage. Underneath that swappable shell there is a speaker that can playback songs and allow Google Assistant to talk to you. It will tell you about the weather and sports results, or read the top news headlines. You can ask Google for help with whatever you’re doing. Home’s assistant capabilities are its headline feature but Google has also taken care to ensure it excels as a general-use speaker.

Google Home is coming to the USA only at first, and will be sold in the online Google Play Store.Target, Walmart and Best Buy; Google starts taking preorders Tuesday.

Google Home: Google Home pictured to the left in the photo below is an attractive, vase-shaped personal assistant that doubles as a streamed music sound system.