AI-powered voice-assistant Google Home costs $129

During its hardware-announcing extravaganza Google announced that its voice-powered assistant/Bluetooth speaker Google Home will cost $129 and will ship in November. It’s the stationary piece of Google’s AI plans to make the platform all about you. “The goal is to build a personal Google for each and every user,” CEO Sundar Pichai said.

Like the Amazon Alexa platform, the voice-activated Google Home assistant will control connected home devices. Right now it’ll work with Nest Thermostat, SmartThings, Philips and IFTTT. But it also acts as a Chromecast that can stream and be used to control other Google casting devices with your voice. Users can ask for YouTube videos and music. Netflix will soon support voice control so eventually you’ll be able to say, “Ok, Google. Watch Luke Cage on my TV” and it’ll launch Netflix and the show.

The assistant also supports music streaming from YouTube Music, Google Play Music, Spotify, Pandora, Tunein and IHeart Radio. Because it’s powered by Google’s powerful search engine you can ask for music using odd queries like, “play that Shakira song from Zootopia.”

That search power also makes query answers more robust. It’s like having the Google search bar talking to you in your home.

Plus it also accesses Google Assistant and your Google account for information about your daily schedule with a feature called My Day. It uses to share details about your day with you before you head out the door including weather, schedule and traffic.

If you happen to have more than one Google Home in your house, so you don’t inadvertently wake all of them up at once with “Ok, Google,” the company announced that the devices are context aware and that the device that hears your voice the best, will wake up.

From the smartphone to your house the company has a very clear goal according to “our vision for the Google Assistant is to be universal. To be there when you always need it to be.”

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Source: Google