Gemini for Home is available in early access today, which means Google actually has to start delivering on its promise.
After nearly 10 years, Google’s smart home ecosystem is starting to look more than a little shabby. Not only has it been five years since Google last released a new smart speaker, but Google Assistant, the voice assistant that powers all of your voice computing, feels less effective than ever. That’s not just conjecture, either. In July, Google was looking at a potential class action lawsuit because of what I would describe as a complete and utter meltdown of the Google Home app, preventing people from turning their lights on and off and accessing their security cameras.
You may, if you are anything like me, have been tempted to write a blog during this smart home calamity, claiming “Google’s Smart Home Ecosystem Is Crumbling” or “Google Home Is So Bad a Lawsuit Could Be On Its Way,” and it would have been justified in doing so. However, what you wouldn’t know, if you wrote those words at that time, is that an alleged fix was already on its way. I’m talking, of course, about Gemini for Home, Google’s next-gen smart home assistant, which is now rolling out in early access.
Gemini for Home, in case you missed the news in September, is a smart home voice assistant that uses Google’s large language model (LLM), Gemini.
