Tech tools: Google Home

Latest ‘home assistant’ effectively turns your home into one big voice-controlled entity

Mario Queiroz, vice-president of product management at Google, with the new  Google Home device. Photograph: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg
Mario Queiroz, vice-president of product management at Google, with the new Google Home device. Photograph: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg

Watch out, Amazon, Google is out to get you with its very own home assistant. Google Home is the competitor to Amazon's Echo device, offering you a helping hand around the house in the form of a very smart Bluetooth-enabled speaker.

It effectively turns your home into one big voice-controlled entity. It links in with Google’s existing home products, from Nest to Cast, so you can turn the heat up or down or play a song simply by issuing a voice command.

It is also able to answer simple questions through web searches.

Google Home: voice-activated home product that will allow users to get answers from Google, stream music, and manage everyday tasks.
Google Home: voice-activated home product that will allow users to get answers from Google, stream music, and manage everyday tasks.

As more third-party firms sign up, you will soon be able to order a taxi through Uber, for example, or place a takeaway order without ever having to pick up your phone.

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It’s the ultimate couch potato’s dream.

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