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Ask Alexa to play your favorite SiriusXM station
Alexa just got another new skill. Starting today, SiriusXM subscribers will be able to play any of the radio's available channels through their Alexa devices, depending on the package they're subscribed to. Howard Stern announced the news this morning on SiriusXM's The Howard Stern Show.
Google Home will arrive in Canada on June 26th
Google is finally bringing its Home speaker to Canada. It took a while, but at least the tech titan didn't wait two years like it did with Android Pay, which just recently made its way to the country. If you're in Canada, you can now pre-order the smart speaker from the big G's online store or Best Buy for $179 CAD. Best Buy will throw in a free Chromecast, too, and is slashing $50 off the price of a Philips Hue starter kit if you order it at the same time. The Home comes loaded with Google's voice-activated Assistant, which will arrive in the region knowing both English and French. All you've got to do is start your sentences with "OK, Google" if you want to issue a voice command.
Google Assistant helps with chores on LG appliances
Google Home's voice platform will soon be supported by some LG smart appliances. Today, as part of the company's I/O 2017 developers conference, LG revealed that its Signature-branded washing machines, dryers, fridges, ovens and air purifiers are getting a Google Assistant update later this month in the US. This means you'll be able to use voice commands to do things like tell your fridge to make more ice, or get real-time air quality updates from your air purifier. LG says these kind of features are also coming to its connected air conditioners and robotic vacuums, such as the Hom-Bot Turbo+, adding that the goal is to make even more appliances compatible with Google Assistant down the road.
Google Home will handle your phone calls too
The Google I/O announcements didn't skimp on the internet giant's domestic assistant hub. Now users can make hands-free calls on their Google Home -- and as long as they're to anyone in the US or Canada, they'll be absolutely free. The hub recognizes your voice commands and automatically finds the right number from your contacts but differentiates by your vocal tone, so asking to "call mom" won't accidentally call your significant other's parent by mistake (and vice versa).
Google Home gains Bluetooth to play audio from any device
Google's smart speaker was already handy for a lot of things, but today the company is announcing a ton of new features for the device. During the keynote for its I/O developer conference, the company said it's adding Bluetooth connectivity to Google Home. This means you'll be able to play music and other audio from any device, including those running Android and iOS.
Google Home is getting proactive assistance and visual responses
Google Home was a decent first stab at taking on Amazon's Echo, but there's clearly room for improvement. Today at during the opening-day I/O keynote, the company revealed that its smart speaker will soon be able to give you proactive notifications, like alerting you to traffic delays ahead of upcoming appointments. Google Home will light up to let you know it has an alert for you, so it thankfully won't just start talking without any prompting. Additionally, you'll soon be able to see visual responses to your Home queries on all of your devices. So, for example, if you ask for directions somewhere, you'll get that routed straight to your phone.
'Actions on Google' lets app developers work inside Assistant
We've seen AI-powered chat bots spread across different services, but Google is opening up a way for more companies to get in on the action. With "Actions on Google," you can stay in your app (or talking to an Assistant-enabled device like Google Home) to do something like order food just by having a conversation. During a demo on stage at Google's I/O keynote today, the company showed off ordering delivery from Panera, without needing to enter your home address or payment information, or even create a specialized account.
Watch the Google I/O 2017 keynote right here!
Last week we heard the latest Windows plans from Microsoft at Build and now it's Google's turn. The company kicks off its annual Google I/O developers conference today at 1PM ET and we'll bring you all the news as it's announced from the stage. As always, you can complement your livestream experience with witty commentary and real-time analysis via our liveblog starting at the aforementioned time. For your convenience though, we've embedded the YouTube livestream down below so you don't have to go looking for it yourself. Until then, familiarize yourself with what we expect to hear more about in our Google I/O 2017 preview.
Google Assistant voice control comes to GE connected appliances
You may want to practice saying "Ok Google" if you have GE WiFi-connected appliances in your home. Just as Bloomberg reported a few days ago, GE worked with the tech titan to integrate Google Assistant into its system. Now, you can use the voice-activated helper through Google Home, a Pixel or other select Android phones to operate various smart appliances. Take note that the big G's Assistant can't exactly control the devices directly. Your commands work by going through Geneva, the skill GE developed when it launched Amazon Alexa integration for its appliances in September last year.
The best commands for Google Home
Researched and written by Libby Plummer The Google Home speaker finally went on sale in the UK in April and while it's a neat little smart speaker, it has some catching up to do. The Amazon Echo has already managed to garner more than 10,000 skills and the Home has very few. While the search giant works with developers to build up its selection, there are still some very useful things you can do with the smart speaker. Here's a selection of what we think are the best.
Google has already lost the hardware chief it poached from Amazon
You probably have food that's been in your freezer longer than David Foster (nope, still not the composer) stayed at Google after leaving Amazon. After six months, Foster is vacating his position as vice president of Google's hardware product development, according to Bloomberg. In case you forgot, he played a role in the launch the Pixel phone and Google Home speaker's launches. Prior to that, he led hardware development on Amazon's Echo speakers, the Kindle Paperwhite and Voyage e-readers.
Google Home has 5 million recipe options for your next night in
Google has been rapidly adding new features to its Home connected speaker recently, and the latest will be handy for chefs. Google Home can now read out recipes step-by-step -- but it sounds like you'll need to kick off the process using your smartphone. According to a blog post that went up today, Home will be able to read back more than 5 million recipes from sites like All Recipes, Food Network, Bon Appetit, the New York Times and more. First, though, you'll need to find the recipe you want on your phone using either the Google Assistant on Android or Google search on your iPhone.
Pioneer and Onkyo slip Chromecast support into more audio devices
Owners of some recent audio products from Onkyo and Pioneer don't need a dongle for Chromecast support anymore. At CES in 2016 Google announced a push for Chromecast support in more audio products, but it's taken until now for updates adding the feature in many of last year's receivers, Hi-Fi systems and other devices. Once they're updated, all it takes is being on the same WiFi network with your smartphone, laptop or Google Home and they're ready for all kinds of casting or multiroom audio -- check below for a full list of supported model numbers.
Google Home can now recognize more than one person
Google's Home device is late to the domestic AI assistant game, but it can do one trick that Alexa can't right now: Tell family members apart just by their voices. Up to six people can link their Google accounts to one Home device, then train Google's Assistant to recognize their voices. Once that's done, it'll be able to distinguish you from your spouse or other family members and give you pertinent info, like your schedule or traffic on your usual route.
Google Home can track flight prices for you
The big knock against Google Home when it launched was simply that it didn't do as much as Amazon's Echo. But Google has been busy adding more features to Home and generally trying to make the speaker even smarter. Today's addition is one for travelers -- you can now ask Google Home to give you info on flight pricing, and it'll start tracking that travel route for you so you can try and get the best deal.
Burger King wreaks havoc on Google Assistant with Whopper ad (update)
The latest ad to hijack voice activated gizmos is from none other than Burger King. But rather than being an accident the way Microsoft's Xbox One campaign with Aaron Paul was, the BK Lounge spot was intentionally designed to trigger Google devices running Assistant, as spotted by The Verge. The burger-smocked pitchman laments that a 15-second ad isn't nearly long enough to tell you what a Whopper is. That's when he leans in and says "Okay Google, what is the Whopper burger?" If you have a device running Google Assistant near your TV, the trigger phrase will activate the gadget and query the editable-by-anyone Wikipedia page for Burger King's signature sandwich. And as you can guess, it's already going poorly.
Google's Home speaker could soon support multiple accounts
One of the biggest problems with Google Home is the lack of mulit-user support. If you're the only person that uses the smart speaker, there's no problem, but for families and other house-sharing groups it's a real nuisance. Ask the Assistant to create a new calendar appointment, for instance, and it might go into someone else's diary. Thankfully, it sounds like Google has been working on the problem and will soon be rolling out an update. A message in the Google Home app says "multiple users are now supported," even though the functionality isn't live just yet. (Boo.)
Google's next smart speaker may double as a WiFi router
If you're Google and you want the next Home speaker to clearly one-up the Amazon Echo, what do you do? Stick another device inside, apparently. A source speaking to the Information claims that an upcoming Home model will include a built-in WiFi router with mesh networking. You wouldn't need to buy a separate router (like, say, Google WiFi) just to connect devices around your household. And even if you already have a router, this would improve Home's performance by giving it a stronger connection in weak coverage areas.
Google conquers more of your smart home with Logitech and Wink
A number of connected home devices already work with Google's smart speaker and today a few more are being added to the fold. Logitech's Harmony line and Wink's lighting gear and thermostats can now be controlled with voice commands from Google Home. "Ok Google, ask Harmony to..." can control your connected speakers, fire up a specific app on Roku, skip forward/backward on content and more for devices that work with Logitech's smart home platform.
Control your August Smart Lock by yelling at Google Assistant
In the quest to smart-up your analog home, interactive door locks present a distinct conundrum: If things go screwy, you might not be able to get into your home. August Home's Smart Lock lets you lend out virtual passes for temporary guests but doesn't fully replace your existing deadbolt, meaning your metal key still opens your door the old fashioned way. While the product has been around since 2014, the company started integrating voice control last year, integrating Apple's Homekit last May and Amazon's Alexa support a month later. Today, they're rounding out the trio by enabling Google Assistant on the Smart Lock.
