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Amazon Echo review (2017): Good price, bad sound
Two years after its birth, the device that inspired dozens of copycat smart speakers and spawned thousands of integrations is getting a makeover. Amazon's "all-new" Echo is smaller and cheaper and promises better sound. But with a pile of new competitors and even more in the pipeline, the second-generation Echo needs to prove it's still worth your money.
Google Home can cast HBO Now to your TV of choice
The Google Home platform keeps getting more capable with each passing week. Now the smart speaker can cast HBO Now to the TV of your choice. According to the Google blog post, you don't need to open the app and pick something to watch first, either. Simply say something like "Okay Google, watch The Deuce" and Assistant will start playing the '70s New York period piece on the TV of your choosing.
New Google Assistant skills reinvent family game night
There's no question that kids like talking to smart speakers, and Google knows it. As promised, the search firm is adding over 50 child-oriented activities to Google Assistant to make sure your Home speaker (or really, any Assistant-capable device) can entertain the younger crowd. It can orchestrate trivia games, start a round of musical chairs, tell a story or even help with homework. Not surprisingly, this includes a few branded experiences: you can ask the Assistant "what's my Justice League superhero?" or tell it to "play Mickey Mouse Adventure."
Control YouTube's live TV service with Google Home
You can already use a Google Home speaker to control regular YouTube videos if you have a Chromecast device, but what about YouTube TV? You're set from now on. Google has enabled voice control over its cord-cutting television service from Home speakers, making it possible to change channels without touching your remote. You can ask Google Assistant to play a specific channel or show, and it's smart enough to recognize fuzzier requests. Tell it to "play the MLB game" and it'll switch to baseball without needing a specific channel or team, for instance.
Google Assistant can finally control Chromecast from your phone
Google's Assistant app is capable of lots of things, but before today, controlling a cast session by voice wasn't really possible. Android Police reports that now the mobile app can do so, and you can even specify which Chromecast in your house is the target. Adjusting the volume, skipping or repeating tracks and tasking Assistant to play Urfaust's latest on your Chromecast Audio while you beam a Minecraft video to the kids' room all can be done with a simple voice command now -- and all without a Google Home. On our iPhone with the Assistant app it worked as you'd expect, but Android Police says its devices weren't working just yet; the publication received tips from readers about the functionality prior. Are you having any luck? Let us know in the comments.
Google Home Mini review: Taking aim at the Echo Dot
They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. If that's true, Amazon must be tickled pink right now. The obvious inspiration for last year's Google Home was the Amazon Echo, and it's just as obvious that the new Google Home Mini is taking cues from the Echo Dot. To be fair, it's a logical strategy: By packaging all of Alexa's features into a smaller and cheaper package, Amazon expanded the Echo ecosystem and made it easier to blanket your house with voice-activated assistants. Google is now doing the same, right down to the price. The $49 Home Mini does almost everything the larger Home does, at a price that makes the idea of buying three or four to place around the house a lot more palatable. For that to be worthwhile, though, the Google Assistant and the Home Mini hardware both need to seamlessly integrate themselves into your home and make your life easier.
Google disables Home Mini's top button so it won't record everything
Google hasn't even started shipping the Home Mini yet, but its launch has been marred by an unusual situation where some of the devices would record and upload practically any sound. As a result, Google says it's taking the step of disabling all top touch functionality on the Home Mini. While owners can still control it using their voice and a volume switch on the side -- that's it. A software update for all existing Home Minis should roll out by October 15th, well ahead of the products retail debut on the 19th.
Amazon's Alexa can recognize the voices of multiple users
Echo devices keep getting better, getting multi-room audio, access to Google calendars, and intercom features. Now, though, Amazon just matched one of Google Home's killer features: the ability to recognize multiple voices. In a video on the retailer's help site, you can see how to set up and use Voice Profiles. Alexa can now recognize voices in order to route Messages, Calls, allow access to shopping without a confirmation code, play Flash briefings and access an Amazon Music Unlimited Family plan based on the person speaking.
Google Home can help you find your phone when asked
As teased by Google at its Pixel 2 launch event earlier this week, its Home speakers can now actively ping your phone when you've misplaced it. (It's down the couch cushions, I bet.) For Android devices, the smart speaker will actually call your phone even if silenced. The feature works with iOS too, although it's a more like a typical phone call. Calling out "ring my phone" or "where's my phone" will stir the Home Speaker into action. And if, like some Engadget editors, you have multiple phones to find, Home will call each device before cycling on to the next one. But, like I keep telling you: it's down the side of the couch. Can't you just check there?
Harman's Cortana-powered speaker may go on sale soon for $200
Harman Kardon's Cortana-powered speaker might be hitting stores sometime soon. The Verge reports that a listing for the Invoke with Cortana has shown up in Microsoft's store alongside a $200 price tag.
Home Max hands-on: Google takes on Apple's HomePod and Sonos
Sonos and Apple have some unexpected competition in the voice-activated speaker market this holiday season. Google's somewhat unexpected Home Max is built with high quality music playback in mind, first and foremost. At $399 ($50 more than the HomePod and $100 less than the Sonos Play:5), it's priced accordingly — but at first listen, it has the chops to match up with those other speakers. And Google says that its machine learning capabilities will give the company a leg up other players in the market.
New York Times offers new subscribers a free Google Home (updated)
The New York Times has been upping its tech game recently in hopes to keep subscription numbers up in an age of free internet news. It made digital access free during the 2016 election, bundled free Spotify accounts this past February and bought a VR agency to help the Times create immersive news content. Now you can get a "free" Google Home smart speaker with a $17 per month All Access or $18 per month Home Delivery subscription.
Google Home Mini hands-on: Smaller, cheaper, subtler
Google's most adorable product launch today is definitely its puck-size Home Mini. No more imposing cylinders with AI voices, it's much, much, smaller and just less "tech." At $49, it'll square up against Amazon's Dot, but like the Dot, it will act as a gateway smart speaker for those not willing to throw down bigger sums of money. I took a look at the Home Mini at Google's satellite London event, and if other speakers left you cold, this unassuming AI speaker might win you over.
UK pricing for Google's Pixel 2, Home Mini and Pixelbook
Even though many of the devices from today's Google's Pixel 2 event had leaked beforehand, there was still plenty left to surprise. Leading the way were the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL, but we also got our first look at the Google Home Max and Mini, the 2-in-1 Pixelbook and the new wireless Pixel Buds. Some will be available in the UK soon, others will take their time to make their way across the Atlantic. Here's how much some of that new gear is going to cost you.
Google Assistant will tell your kids a bedtime story
Kids don't quite have the diction that adults do, which can make it hard even for us humans to understand them. Google knows this and has tweaked Assistant and Home to better pick up what your munchkins are laying down. The search juggernaut has also partnered with a number of providers for kid-specific things like stories from Disney and Sports Illustrated for Kids among others as well as simple games (like musical chairs). The just-announced Family Link will let you set up Google accounts for your youngsters under 13 too. The updates will be rolling out later this month.
Google's $399 Home Max smart speaker focuses on audio quality
At today's Made by Google event, the company has introduced a buffed up version of its Home assistant device called the Google Home Max. This version of the speaker uses premium materials and improved speakers (dual 4.5-inch high-excursion woofers, two custom tweeters), putting it in position to compete with products like those from Sonos (like the upcoming Sonos One that also has Assistant built-in) or Apple's upcoming HomePod.
You can now assign Google Home speakers to specific rooms
Now that Google is poised to have multiple Home speakers in its lineup, you're going to need a better way to manage those speakers -- and thankfully, it's already here. Google has revamped the Home app with not only a fresh look, but support for assigning speakers to specific rooms. The tweak should make it easier to control specific speakers and even whole environments. If you want to stop music playback in the bedroom at the same time as you shut off the lights, you can issue a single command to do it all.
Live from Google's Pixel 2 event!
It's already been a year since Google officially announced its pair of Pixel smartphones, the Google Home speaker and a host of other hardware products. Naturally, that means it's time to do it all over again. At an event in San Francisco, Google is expected to reveal the new Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL phones, updates to the Google Home line, a convertible Chromebook and more. We'll be there live bringing you the news as it develops with our up-to-the-minute liveblog, and we'll have hands-on and first impressions from the event afterwards. Keep an eye on this page for everything as it's announced -- Google's event kicks off on October 4th at 12PM ET / 9AM PT.
Google Assistant's latest feature is a male voice
Ahead of its Pixel 2 event, Google has quietly added a new voice to Google Assistant. The AI, which can be found on Google Home and the company's handsets, no longer skews female. As spotted by Android Police, Assistant now also boasts a male option. Fittingly, Google has bestowed the impersonal, robotic voice with the nondescript title: "Voice II." To switch to the new intonation (probably in US English only), select settings on your phone Assistant or the Google Home app. The voice options can then be found in preferences, under "assistant voice."
Google's mini Home speaker may ship on October 19th
If there was any doubt that Google's October 4th event will include a miniature Home speaker, Walmart just erased it. The big-box retailer briefly posted a listing for the Google Home Mini that not only shows off the puck-like Assistant device, but gives an idea of what to expect when it launches. The Mini will reportedly ship around October 19th for $49, and you might not even have to pay that much. You see, Walmart has an tie-in with Google Express that cuts $25 off the price of orders until January 15th. That means you could be paying as little as $24 -- not bad for a brand new alternative to the Echo Dot.
