Google Home, an Amazon Echo rival, was announced on 18 May 2016 and we were given a demo in the UK on 4 October 2016. Google Home is a voice-activated speaker which lets you have a conversation with the Google Assistant. It’s only available to buy in the US at the moment. Here’s what you need to know about Google Home price, release date, specs and features.
See also: Android 7 (& how to get 7.1 Nougat now ) | Daydream VR | Android Pay UK | Android Wear 2.0 | Google Wifi
Update 6 February: In an advert during the Super Bowl for Google Home in the US, owners repeatedly say the « OK, Google » wake phrase which triggered real users’ devices in their homes. Unlike the recent Amazon Echo news coverage which caused Alexa to order a doll’s house for quite a few viewers, the worst that could have happened this time was that the lights would be turned on, dimmed or music turned up. You can watch the ad below:
If you live in the US, you can buy a Google Home for $129.
Unfortunately for us on the other side of the pond, Google has « no plans » to launch Home in the UK (or any other country for that matter) but that doesn’t mean we won’t see a UK launch in 2017. We’ve seen several Amazon products launch first in the US and then in the UK later on.
If you’re impatient, don’t be tempted to import a Google Home as many of the services are unlikely to work in the UK and the warranty will be void, too. (Google has made the latter part very clear.)
Given that the Amazon Echo costs £149.99 ( buy now ) we expect Google will rival Amazon’s product if it does decide to sell it over here. Don’t be surprised if Google Home actually costs a lot less, though: as we’ll explain below the specification is very similar to the company’s £30 Chromecast streaming stick with some additions to the design. As soon as we get UK pricing and availability we will be sure to update this article.
Google Home also comes with a free six month trial of YouTube Red, a way of watching ‘YouTube ad-free, save videos offline, and play videos in the background’. This isn’t available in the UK either.
Google Home is a bit like Google Now on an Android phone but operated entirely by voice. It can answer questions and carry out basic tasks such as setting timers, alarms and sending messages. It’s integrated with Google’s services, such as Google Play Music, Google Cast and the new voice assistant, Google Assistant.
In other words, it’s Google’s version of the Amazon Echo. Amazon Echo is a cylindrical home audio speaker that integrates a personal voice assistant called Alexa, which is very much like Siri, Cortana and Google Now on your phone or tablet.
