The ‘Internet of Things’ is still in its infancy, but it’s received a major boost with the announcement of Google Home – a new connected-home hub from the Mountain View giant that promises to streamline your home life.
With everything from Wi-Fi kettles to colour-changing, smartphone-controlled light bulbs hitting the market, the Internet of Things is going from strength to strength. But for seamless, voice-activated control over your smart home technology, you’ll need a ‘hub’ – and the recently announced Google Home looks set to be a fantastic choice.
First announced at the Google I/O 2016 conference in May, Google Home is a voice-activated device that lets you take control of all your smart devices – as well as giving you access to Google’s vast repository of information without having to lift to a finger.
We reckon this could be a real game-changer for the fledgling Internet of Things – so what’s it all about?
Google in your living room
On the outside, Home is a fairly unassuming device: no bigger than a table lamp, it sits unobtrusively on your desk, waiting for your command.
But Google Home is always listening. And even though it offers control over a wide range of smart home technology, it’s also a remarkably useful gadget in its own right. Ask it a question, and it’ll do its best to give you a thorough answer – and because its knowledge engine is driven by the powerful Google Assistant technology, recently refined for Android Nougat, its answers are remarkably good.
If you’ve ever wondered “where is Nicole Kidman from?”, just speak your question – and Home will tell you. And the improved AI is also capable of answering follow-up questions – so if you then ask “and when was she born?”, it’ll know who you mean. You’ll also be able to set alarms, timers and and reminders, all of which can also sync to your Android phone.
Other home hubs, like Amazon’s Echo, offer similar functionality – but the big selling point here is the Home’s close integration with Google services.
If you’re a Gmail and Google Calendar user, Home will remind you about upcoming flights, restaurant reservations and other events. And if you use Google Play Music, all you have to do is request a certain artist or song, and Home will start playing it through its built-in speaker automatically.
Clearly, the Home is aimed squarely at people who are already seriously committed to Google’s ecosystem – and if that describes you, there’s a lot of really useful stuff here. But Google’s own services are only half the story…
Taking control of the smart home
As with any smart home hub, one of Home’s key features is its ability to interface with other connected technology.
Right now, Google have been rather vague about the supported devices, but we expect Google to open up the platform to third-party manufacturers. Mario Quieroz, from the Google team behind the Home, says that the device “will support the most popular home networking systems so you can easily control your lights, thermostats, light switches and more, including our own Nest devices”.
With that in mind, we can certainly expect the Home to control popular products like Philips' Hue lighting systems – and it's inevitable that Google will open up the platform to other third parties with an interest in developed smart home kit.
By combining this functionality with Google’s powerful calendars and scheduling, commands like “switch on the lights and turn up the heating at 7pm every Tuesday” aren’t outside the realm of possibility. Add “and put the kettle on”, and Home could help you come home to a very warm welcome after a long day at work.
When can you get one?
At this point, Google haven’t announced a release date for Home – but we do have a few ideas about when we might see it.
The device is closely integrated with the next version of Android, Nougat, so we expect the release to follow closely behind the new OS, due to land in August.
Certainly, the pre-release models Google’s shown off seem to be ready for prime time. Although we haven’t had our hands on one yet, the device has an elegant and low-profile appearance. For the most part, it’s just a white cylinder – although it also features interchangeable bases in a number of colours and materials to match your home decor.
As for the price, we currently don’t any idea. The Home’s nearest competitor, the Amazon Echo, costs $180, or about £140. Based on that, we expect the Home to land somewhere below the £150 mark – but it must be said, this is pure speculation at this point.
Assuming the price is right, though, Home looks like it could be the best smart home hub yet. Its tight integration with Google services gives it some awesome potential – and we can’t wait to see whether it lives up to our expectations.
Are you excited about the Internet of Things, or is it all a flash in the pan? Let us know what you reckon in the comments below – and for more great articles from our Agents, direct to your inbox each month, get your name down below for the Geek Squad newsletter!