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Baidu takes second place from Google in the smart speaker market
Google is no longer the world's second-biggest smart speaker maker. According to a new report published by market research firm Canalys, China's Baidu now holds that title. The company surged past Google thanks to a strong second-quarter in which it grew smart speaker shipments by 3,700 percent year over year. The feat is particularly impressive given that Baidu was effectively a non-entity in the space a year ago with shipments of only 0.1 million units.
Google pledges to 'maximize' recycled material in own products
Google has been making consumer hardware under its "Made by Google" brand -- like its Pixel phones and Google Home Minis -- for three years, and dabbled in other hardware for a few years before that. Now, it's ready to make its products more sustainable. Starting in 2022, 100 percent of its Made by Google products will include recycled materials and will maximize recycled content whenever possible. By 2020, 100 percent of all shipments going to or from customers will be carbon neutral.
Google Assistant will quietly obey your light-switching commands
Google knows hearing Assistant's loud and crisp responses when you're trying to sleep could be incredibly annoying. That's why it's switching its responses off when you ask the voice AI to turn off your connected lights via a Google Home or a Nest Hub device.
KitchenAid’s $3,199 SmartOven+ connects to Google Home and Alexa
KitchenAid's water- and sauce-resistant Smart Display got most of the attention at CES 2019, but the company also announced a smart oven, which it promised would come with powered grilling, steaming and baking stone attachments. Now, the SmartOven+ is ready. You can purchase the single configuration for $3,199 or the double for $4,799; a combo set-up will arrive later this year. As for the attachments, the powered grill add-on ships with the oven, but you'll have to order the others separately.
Google hints its smart speakers will be renamed 'Nest Home' (updated)
Google made clear that it would apply the Nest name to all its smart home products, but just how would it rename classic products? You now have a better idea. As of this writing, a visit to the Connected Home Accessories section of the Google Store's Special Offers page shows the Google Home's replaceable base as "Nest Home Base." The product page still refers to the speaker by its original name, but you'll find this change in the terms and conditions as well.
Google's how-to videos explain Assistant's accessibility features
As part of Global Accessibility Awareness Day, Google revealed a series of video tutorials meant to help people with disabilities set up and use their Assistant-enabled smart devices. The videos are available in a YouTube playlist, and so far they cover topics like how to control your smart home with Google Assistant and how to set up a Google Home using a screen reader. You'll also find videos on understanding Google Home's audio accessibility features and more.
Google Assistant's bedtime stories come to iOS and Android
Once upon a time (well, in 2017), Google Assistant learned a new trick on Google Home devices: how to tell stories to kids. Ahead of National Tell a Story Day taking place on Saturday, youngsters now have more ways to hear a bedtime tale. As of today, the feature will be available on iOS and Android phones in English in the US, UK, Canada, Australia and India.
YouTube Music is free on Google Home, if you don't mind ads
Starting today, YouTube Music is offering a free, ad-supported experience on Google Home speakers and other Google Assistant-powered speakers. Just navigate to account settings, tap services and select music, then set YouTube Music as the default music service. Then it's just a case of saying "Hey Google, play [whatever]" and you're away. However, the ad-supported YouTube Music experience won't let you request specific songs, albums or playlist. Instead, you can tell it a genre or style or mood of music you're looking for and your Google Home will play a station based on that request.
Google Home can gently wake you up using Philips Hue lights
Smart lights still tend to offer a rude awakening if you tie them to your alarm, but Google wants to fix that. It's delivering a promised Gentle Sleep & Wake feature for Home speakers that gradually dims or brightens your Philips Hue lights to provide a more natural rest. Say the right command (such as "turn on Gentle Wake Up," "wake up my lights" or "sleep my lights") and the lights will change over the course of half an hour. You can set specific times if you intend to use it as part of your daily routine.
Walmart to offer online grocery shopping with Google Assistant
Walmart customers once again will be able to voice-order their groceries with Google Assistant, another bid by the brick-and-mortar store to compete with Amazon. The retailer announced the partnership on Tuesday, and said it would gradually roll out the feature in the next few weeks. The development comes after Walmart unceremoniously left Google Express, Google's online shopping tool, back in January, reportedly to develop its own Google Assistant shopping feature.
IKEA delays its smart blinds until later this year
IKEA is delaying the launch of its smart blinds until later in 2019 in order to work on a firmware update. The Verge reports that the Swedish furniture maker pushed back the release date for the smart blinds, which were expected in Europe last month and in the US in April, because it found an opportunity for "improved functionality". What kind of functionality, exactly? Mainly, the smart part.
Smart speakers are being used to help measure inflation in the UK
Smart speakers are so popular the UK is using them to help calculate inflation. Every year, the UK's Office for National Statistics (ONS) adds top consumer products to its "basket of goods," a collection of goods and services that indicates how people are spending their money. Annually, popular items are added, and passé products tossed. So while smart speakers made the cut, hi-fi speaker systems got the axe.
Android TV bug gave users access to strangers' Google Photos
On a good day, Android TV, Google's Android OS for TVs, allows users to display photos from their Google Photos albums as screensavers. That's a nice perk -- when it doesn't potentially share your private photos with strangers. Over the weekend, a disturbed Android TV owner took to Twitter when he realized, through the Google Home app, he could access a massive list of random accounts, as well as photos they'd added to their Google Photos albums.
It looks like Apple Music is coming to Google Home
Over two months since Apple Music landed on Amazon Echo, it's now set for another smart speaker that isn't the HomePod. A listing for the music streaming service has been spotted inside the Google Home app for iOS by a Mac Rumors reader. Though it's currently not live, the update (Apple Music was previously slotted in the app's "limited availability" section) indicates that it could be imminent.
Google's Pixel 2: By the numbers
Google really turned on the new product firehose during its Pixel 2 event in San Francisco on Wednesday. We saw two new phones in two new sizes and five new colors, an updated Google Home, a pincushion-shaped "Home Mini", a Home home stereo (suck on that, Sonos), a 4-in-1 laptoblet called the Pixelbook, smart wireless headphones, an updated Daydream, and an automated clip-on camera accessory that decides what memories will matter most to you. Numbers, because how else will you know how badly you're about to blow your budget?
