People often ask me, “What’s the point of a smart speaker?” Because as nice as it is to check the weather or set timers using your voice, those tasks can be performed just as easily on a smartphone.
Amazon may have sold millions of Echoes and other devices equipped with its voice-controlled Alexa smart assistant partially in the hopes that it could nudge users into letting an upbeat voice convince them to buy more crap. But it doesn’t appear to be working, according to a report in the Information on Monday.
Google has been steadily improving its smart speaker with updates facilitating more fluid conversations, as well as the addition of routines for chaining together multiple tasks with a single command. Now Google is adding scheduling to the mix, which means your mornings can start just the way you want them, at the…
Despite Amazon having a two-year head start versus Google in the smart speaker wars, earlier this year, sales of Google Home devices surpassed all of Amazon’s Echoes for the first time ever. And while Amazon still holds the overall lead in market share, it’s not hard to see why Google is catching up fast. Compared to…
Going to the effort of setting up a smart home just so you can turn your lights on and off from your phone may not seem like the best use of your time and resources, but with the right gear and apps you can put together some routines that really will impress family, friends, and occasional Airbnb guests. Here are five…
Google Home and Chromecast are both experiencing outages, leaving owners of Google smart speakers unable to order hands-free pizza delivery, play Tic Tac Toe alone, or find out what the weather is like without going outside.
When Amazon launched the Echo back in late 2014, it kicked off one of the biggest trends in tech. Almost overnight, it seemed like every company wanted to get in on that sweet smart speaker action. However, largely because Amazon was first to market, the Echo has consistently been the top-selling smart speaker for the…
Google Assistant is finally going to be easier to use, according to Google. Just a few days after the company announced that the virtual assistant now works with over 5,000 devices, Google says that Assistant will soon not only sound more natural, you’ll be able to have a conversation with it.
Since news of the Cambridge Analytica scandal broke, Facebook has been running damage control: public apologies, a hasty ad campaign, and reportedly delaying the launch of its voice assistant-enabled home speaker. Now we know what that device might have looked like.
Loving your new Google Home Mini? Hating its tinny sound and lack of auxiliary output options? Well Google appears to have heard your lo-fi cries of anguish, and responded by adding a way to control your third-party Bluetooth speakers using your Google Home device. Nice work! It only took a whole year.
Devices like the Google Home are billed as AI-powered assistants that can help make your life easier, but that doesn’t mean Google’s intentions are entirely altruistic. That little speaker sitting in the corner is listening to you, and sending at least some of that data back to Google, which is now using that info to…
Your smart speaker is getting smarter—and part of that involves taking over what’s on the big TV screen sat in the corner of your living room. You can buy Google Homes and Amazon Echos with screens built-in, but here’s how to use them with a separate display, whether you want to watch movies or see the weather…
It seems like every new wireless speaker on the market comes with a voice assistant now. Since 2014, when Amazon announced the Echo, the idea of a smart speaker has taken the gadget world by storm. Apple has finally thrown its hat into the ring with the release of the HomePod, leaving us to wonder which smart speaker…
Google Home and Chromecast devices are reportedly killing peoples’ Wi-Fi. The problem, first reported by Android Police, originally seemed localized to users of the Google Home Max speaker and the cheap, but usually excellent, TP-Link Archer C7 router. However since Android Police first reported the problem, it seems…
The weird thing about picking up the Google Home Max is the weight. It’s only 11 pounds, but it feels heavy, the way speakers used to feel. So I feel like I smirked when I plugged it in, thinking, “This thing’s gonna be loud.” At top volume, the Google Home Max did not blow me away. I could, however, have a…
Thanks in large part to the low-cost Echo Dot, Amazon grabbed an early lead in the smart speaker space. But this fall Google hit back hard with the Home Mini, which has become the best cheap smart speaker to buy for most people. Unfortunately, shortly after its launch, a bug affecting the top touch controls in some…
It seems inevitable that one day your entire home will be wired so that smart assistants can hear your every request, no matter where you are. But if you mostly rely on a smart speaker, its built-in mic can only eavesdrop so far. Companies like Google would certainly love it if you bought a smart speaker for every…
Three years ago, we said the Echo was “the most innovative device Amazon’s made in years.” That’s still true. But you shouldn’t buy one. You shouldn’t buy one for your family. You definitely should not buy one for your friends. In fact, ignore any praise we’ve ever heaped onto smart speakers and voice-controlled…
Despite all the time and energy companies like Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Amazon, and others have spent stressing the importance of AI, actual progress doesn’t always feel that swift. That’s because after about a year on the market, the Google Home has just gotten the ability to do two things at once.
In the gadget-world, it’s cliché to compare something to The Jetsons. But when it comes to a cheap little box that you talk to and that answers your questions and that controls your entire home, the comparison is just too perfect. The $50 Amazon Echo Dot and the $50 Google Home Mini are two such boxes. They’re not…
