A city covered in trees will fight air pollution in China

It’s easy to find buildings laced with greenery in order to reduce their CO2 footprints. But what about an entire city? That’s on its way. Construction has started on Liuzhou Forest City, a 30,000-person urban development where every building will be covered in pollution-reducing plants (over 1 million of them, in fact). They’ll also rely on geothermal energy for air conditioning and pack solar panels to collect their own energy. Logically, the transportation network will be green as well. It’ll revolve around electric cars and a central rail line that links the experimental space to the city of Liuzhou.

If all goes well, the project will absorb nearly 10,000 tons of CO2 (and 57 tons of other pollutants) on a yearly basis, and pump out 900 tons of oxygen in the process. This isn’t some far-off dream, either, as Boeri’s firm expects to complete the Forest City by 2020.

Just don’t count on these eco-friendly cities becoming ubiquitous. Even if municipalities are fine with retrofitting existing buildings, they’ll still need ideal climates to support all that flora. There’s a good reason why Boeri’s team is setting up in southern China — it’s easy to maintain plant life in an area which rarely deals with freezing temperatures. Nonetheless, this hints at a future where entire population centers fight air pollution and leave a relatively tiny mark on the environment.

Via: Designboom

Source: Stefano Boeri Architetti

Google Home now supports up to six users in the UK

Good news, Google Home owners: your smart speaker is now ready to get to know your family. The search giant has confirmed that UK Homes now support up to six users, allowing members of your household to train Google’s Assistant to recognize their voices. It also means that their music playlists, schedules and appointments can be synced, ensuring everyone gets more use out of the tiny white speaker.

The feature is actually pretty easy to set up. Simply make sure that you have the latest version of the Google Home app on your smartphone (iOS or Android) and then find the card that says “multi-user is available.” If you don’t see it right away, hit the top-right icon to see your connected devices and select “link your account.” This should allow you to start training it.

The app will ask you say phrases like “Hey, Google” and “OK, Google” a couple of times each. The AI will then store those phrases and match them to each user when they speak, allowing it to deliver personalised results each time.

UK users have needed to wait a little while for multi-user support. Google originally launched the feature in the US in April.

Via: TechRadar

Low OLED Panel Yield Could Cap ‘iPhone 8’ Availability at 4 Million Units in 2017

Shipments of Apple’s upcoming “iPhone 8” could be delayed because of low yield rates at assembly plants and a limited supply of OLED display panels, according to a report published on Tuesday.

DigiTimes cited industry sources predicting that the shipments could end up behind schedule because of the issues, despite chipset suppliers delivering parts early and an increased recruitment drive by companies in the assembly line.

iPhone 8 render by @VenyaGeskin1

The latest speculation comes even though chipset suppliers have begun delivering related parts to the iPhone supply in the second quarter, and iPhone assemblers Foxconn Electronics, Pegatron and Wistron have been stepping up efforts to recruit more workers for their assembly lines in China, said the sources.

As covered previously on MacRumors, Samsung is the main supplier of display panels for Apple’s 5.8-inch OLED iPhone, with Apple reportedly having ordered 70 million units from the company this year.

However, although Samsung Display has promised to fully support Apple with regards to the supply of OLED panels, DigiTimes’ sources are now claiming only 3 to 4 million OLED-based iPhones will be ready for shipping before the new smartphones are unveiled at a product event slated for September.

Judging from the current supply of OLED panels, it will be difficult for Apple to ship up to 50-60 million OLED-based new iPhones in 2017, the sources indicated.

There have already been rumors suggesting the OLED iPhone will be in short supply when it launches, with the majority of the stock unavailable until later in the year, so today’s report doesn’t come out of the blue. However, the number of iPhones available at launch quoted by DigiTimes is the lowest we’ve seen so far.

Apple’s so-called “iPhone 8” will be a radical redesign compared to previous handsets, with a glass body and edge-to-edge OLED display that includes an integrated Touch ID fingerprint sensor and a front-facing camera with 3D sensing capabilities, possibly for use with augmented reality software. The new iPhone is expected to be sold alongside upgraded (but standard) 4.7 and 5.5-inch iPhones.

Related Roundup: iPhone 8
Tag: digitimes.com
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Nintendo SNES Classic Mini: Release date, pre-order details, price, games and more

After the incredible success of its miniature, remade NES console, Nintendo has announced a follow-up; this time based on the much-loved Super Nintendo Entertainment System, or SNES for short.

A Nintendo Classic Mini: SNES will be available later this year and we’ll be queuing for one, that’s for sure.

• See Nintendo Classic Mini: SNES on Amazon UK 
• See it on GAME for £79.99

Here’s everything we know about the machine and a list of the confirmed games that will come pre-installed. We’ll also update you when pre-orders go live.

SNES Classic Mini: The background

Nintendo released a miniature version of its first household games console in November last year and it sold out almost immediately. The Nintendo Classic Mini: Nintendo Entertainment System (Famicom in Japan) was priced at £50 in the UK and came with 30 Nintendo games pre-installed. An included controller, shaped like the one that came with the 80s original, was included in the box and an optional second could be added for two-player games.

Apart from its size, the NES Classic Mini also included an HDMI port to connect it to a TV and clever picture upscaling technologies to ensure the 8-bit games looked good, even when expanded to fit a 55-inch or more.

Unfortunately, because it was extremely popular, gamers who didn’t manage to pre-order one prior to release were unlikely to get one for the original price. They still fetch anywhere up to £250 each on reseller sites such as eBay – five times the original retail price. Nintendo has also confirmed that it has no plans to manufacture new units in any territory.

That was more than likely because it is concentrating on a sequel instead. Like the NES was followed by the SNES in the early 90s, so too will the Classic Mini version.

The Nintendo Classic Mini: Super Nintendo Entertainment System, or SNES Classic Mini for short, will be a smaller, self-contained version of one of the greatest games consoles of all time. It’ll come with 21 games pre-installed including, for the first time, the previously un-released Star Fox 2.

The European version looks like the EU SNES released in the 80s, while the US and Japanese versions will also ape their regional variants.

All versions come with two wired controllers.

• Can’t buy a NES Classic Mini? How to build your own retro console for just £50

Nintendo

SNES Classic Mini: Release date

Although it was expected that we’d hear about the SNES Classic Mini at E3 2017, Nintendo waited a couple of weeks after the show finished to officially announce the new machine.

The SNES Classic Mini will be available in UK and US from 29 September 2017.

SNES Classic Mini: Pre-order details

Some retailers started taking pre-orders on the evening of the announcement, Monday 25 June. However, with stock levels currently unknown, they soon “sold out”. It’s worth checking though just in case they relist.

• Pre order now at GAME for £79.99
• Pre-order now at Amazon.co.uk

Alternatively, you can wait until Nintendo opens its own doors for pre-orders. And to keep informed as to when that might be, you can currently pre-register your interest on the official Nintendo.co.uk website here. The US Nintendo website states that “retailer info” is “coming soon”.

SNES Classic Mini: Price

We’re still also waiting for the confirmed UK price of the SNES Classic Mini, but it is priced at $79.99 in the States – a little more expensive than the NES Mini last year.

Some retailers who posted their pre-order pages early have listed UK prices, but they are sporadic.

Game listed the SNES Classic Mini at £79.99. Smyths Toys has it listed at £69.99. And ShopTo has it priced at £84.85. We suspect, of those, the most likely correct price is £79.99.

The extra cost (over the NES Classic Mini, which was £49.99 at launch) is due to two controllers being bundled with the system this time around. You had to buy a second separately for the NES Classic Mini.

SNES Classic Mini: Games list

The NES Classic Mini featured 30 games (although you could add more by hacking the machine), all accessible through a smart, easy-to-use scrollable menu system. You could also pause a game, return to the menu and pick it up again later.

The SNES Classic Mini will feature 21 games. As previously stated, Star Fox 2 has never been released before.

Here is a complete list including extra details on some of our favourites:

• Contra III: The Alien Wars
• Donkey Kong Country
• EarthBound
• Final Fantasy III
• F-ZERO
• Kirby Super Star
• Kirby’s Dream Course
• The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
• Mega Man X
• Secret of Mana
• Star Fox
• Star Fox 2
• Street Fighter II Turbo: Hyper Fighting
• Super Castlevania IV
• Super Ghouls ’n Ghosts
• Super Mario Kart
• Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
• Super Mario World
• Super Metroid
• Super Punch-Out!!
• Yoshi’s Island

The games highlights…

Super Mario World

Nintendo

The crown jewel in the Super Nintendo era, Super Mario World was the 2D platformer that set a very high bar few others managed to match. For many, it was the game that convinced them to buy a SNES over the rival Sega Mega Drive.

Super Mario Kart

Nintendo

Changed co-operative racing forever. The original Super Mario Kart still holds its own today as a party game guaranteed to cause a giggle or two.

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past

Nintendo

As top-down RPGs go, A Link to the Past is one of the very best. It might ot have the fancy graphics of the Switch masterpiece of today, but it retains the spirit and scope.

Super Metroid

Nintendo

A sideways-scrolling shooter/platformer of the highest quality. It’s often been included in lists of the greatest games of all-time.

Donkey Kong Country

Nintendo

Rare’s attempt at a 2D platformer feels very different to the Mario games. It uses more chunky, clay-like characters and some clever gameplay tropes to deliver something fresh and fiendishly difficult.

Yoshi’s island

Nintendo

Sometimes called Super Mario World 2 but isn’t really – it’s actually a prequel to the SNES Mario classic. It also features a baby Mario riding on the back of his dinosaur chum Yoshi.

F-Zero

Nintendo

To be honest, we never really liked F-Zero that much but as a forerunner to WipEout and games like it, this needs to be included.

Star Fox

Nintendo

Graphically impressive and complex for its time, this 3D space shooter is still our favourite Star Fox game ever.

Best UK deals of the day: SNES Mini for £79.99

Welcome to Pocket-lint deals of the day were we scour the internet to find you the very best deals that are available in the UK today.

We will be regularly updating this page, so bookmark it and check back regularly to make sure you don’t miss out on some of the best tech deals online.

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Tech and Gadgets

• Toshiba Exceria 128GB Micro SD Memory Card – £37.89 on Amazon.
• Samsung M2070W Mono Multifunction Laser Printer – £62.39 on eBuyer.
• HP Pavilion 14-al118na Laptop, Intel Core i7, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD, NVIDIA 940MX, 14″ Full HD – £599.95 on John Lewis.
• NeeGo Raspberry Pi 3 Kit – reduced from £100 on Amazon today to £39.99.
• Oral-B Smart Series 4000 Electric Rechargeable Toothbrush – £39.99 on Amazon.
• Pebble 14 mm Time Round Smartwatch – Silver/Red – £59.98 on Amazon.
• Logitech MX Anywhere 2 Mouse is reduced on Amazon today from £69.99 to £36.99. 
• Lenovo 65CDGAC1UK ThinkVision X24 OLED FHD Monitor has been reduced from £179.99 to £119.99 on Amazon.
• HP Pavilion x360 15-bk150sa 15.6-inch 2 in 1 – Silver laptop is £499.00, saving you £150 off on Currys.
• Microsoft Universal Foldable Bluetooth Keyboard is £32.99 today reduced from £99.99 on Amazon.

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Phones

• OnePlus 5 128GB available now at O2
• Motorola Moto G5 16GB – £164.99 on Amazon.
• iPhone 7 32GB Black with 2GB data – £120.00 upfront (use code NHS15), £22.99 per month, £671.67 total cost over 2 years at Mobiles
• Google Pixel 32GB Black with 5GB data – £25.00 upfront cost £27.99 per month £696.76 total cost over 2 years at Mobiles
• Diamond X 4G Andorid 6.0 – £75.68 on Amazon.
• Apple iPhone 7 256GB in red – £779.00 on John Lewis.
• Bush Spira D3 – £99.95 on Argos.

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Games

• Super Nintendo Entertainment System Classic Edition – £79.99 on Amazon.
• Rayman Legend Definitive Edition (Nintendo Switch) – £29.99 on Amazon.
• Xbox Live 3 Month Gold Membership and Rocket League for free – £14.99 on Amazon.
• Sony PlayStation VR – £315.84 on Amazon.
• Mortal Kombat XL (PS4) – £12.49 on Base.
• Dead by Daylight (PS4) – £19.99 on Amazon.
• Yakuza Kiwami Steel Book Edition (PS4) – £23.85 on Base.
• 8BITDO NES30 Pro Wireless Bluetooth Controller Dual Classic Joystick YIKESHU For Android Gamepad – £28.45 on Amazon.
• Rime (PS4 & Xbox) – £17.49 on Argos.
• Need for Speed: Most Wanted (PlayStation Vita) – £7.49 on Base.
• Deus Ex: Mankind Divided Day One Edition (Xbox One) – £8.45 on Amazon.
• Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands Inc The Peruvia PS4 – £26.86 on ShopTo.net.
• Prey (PS4) – £22.85 on Base.

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Audiovisual

• • HISENSE H49M3000 49″ Smart 4K Ultra HD HDR LED TV – £369.00 on Currys.
  • LG 43UH603V 43 inch Ultra HD 4K Smart TV – £379.00 on Amazon.
  • Philips 55PUS6401 55 Inch SMART 4K – £499.00 on Amazon.
  • Hisense 55M7000 4K TV – £599.00 on John Lewis.

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Entertainment

• • Heroes complete box set in Blu-ray is £17.99 using code BINGE10 on Zavvi.
  • John Wick 2 – £19.99 on Zavvi.
  • Rogue One: A Star Wars Story Blu Ray – £15.00 on Amazon.

Zombie shooter ‘Arizona Sunshine’ invades PSVR

When zombie apocalypse VR game Arizona Sunshine came out for SteamVR and the Oculus Rift last year, it quickly became the game everyone name-checked when talking about good VR. The game went on to sell more than more than $1.4 million in first month after release. It also won the VR Game of the Year award from Upload VR. Now, the immersive shooter is headed to Sony’s popular PlayStation VR headset on Tuesday, June 27th.

Developed by Jaywalker Interactive and published by Vertigo Games, Arizona Sunshine aims to put you directly into the action with both free-movement and teleportation navigation systems. You’ll explore the post-apocalyptic southwest, searching for clues about other survivors and battling the monstrous undead along the way. You can also join up with a friend in co-op multiplayer or pull in three of your buddies to take on the endless Horde mode. The developers promise “next-level zombie mutilation,” which isn’t a phrase you hear every day, and a ton of realistic physics and particle effect systems.

The Arizona Sunshine Launch Edition will be 10 percent off through July 4th and will come with a free PS4 theme. It also can take advantage of the PS 4 Pro’s extra power and can be used with Sony’s aim controller, which is designed for precision shooting in PSVR games.

Source: Arizona Sunshine

Alexa update offers in-home intercom support between Echo devices

Why it matters to you

You can easily create a whole-home, wireless intercom system with inexpensive Echo Dots.

Rolling out to all Echo devices this week, Amazon’s new update to the Alexa software will include the ability to make intercom-style calls between rooms that have an Echo, Echo Dot or an Echo Show. Useful for large families, users will be able to specify a room in the home they want to call. For instance, if a parent has just finished preparing dinner, they can use the Echo to call their kids to the table without having to shout across the home.

To activate this functionality, users will first need to download the Alexa app to their Android or iOS mobile device. Using the app, each Echo device within the home will have to be assigned a specific name. In addition, users will have to enable the drop in feature to activate the intercom. The intercom function isn’t tied to a home’s Wi-Fi network, but rather the household groups created within the app.

To place a call, the user will have to say something like “Alexa, drop in on the kitchen” in order to call the kitchen’s Echo device. Be aware that the drop-in feature lets users immediately start chatting with you or video conferencing if you have an Echo Show. This could be problematic for anyone in the family that prefers privacy over intrusion, such as the vast majority of teenagers.

Interestingly, users will also be able to activate the intercom system outside of the house using the smartphone or tablet app. For instance, a parent using the app could remotely call in order to make sure a latchkey kid got home safely from school. If video is enabled from a smartphone to an Echo Show, pet owners could use the device to check up on their dog or cat and speak over the intercom device.

This new feature is likely strategic by design for Amazon; basically increasing the number of Echo devices customers own and install within homes. Ultimately, this will increase the accessibility of Alexa’s features within a home, ideal for a retail company that’s aggressively promoting voice ordering and other services like Amazon Music Unlimited.

Expect additional promotions related to voice ordering and sales on the Echo family of devices within the next two weeks. Amazon’s next Prime Day is currently scheduled for the second week of July 2017. It’s likely the Echo and Alexa will play a significant role in the event.

Google Home now supports multiple users in the UK

Multi-user feature is rolling out to Brits starting today.

The UK is the second country to get multiple user support in Google Home, following the feature’s rollout in the United States back in April. The update begins rolling out today, allowing Home devices in the country to distinguish between up to six different voices, giving each member of the household access to their own personal data on a Google Home.

To activate multiple user support, simply look for “multi-user is available” in the Google Home smartphone app, and Home will begin the process of learning the ins and outs of each individual’s voice — simple.

From there, each person can trigger Google Home with the “OK Google” wake phrase, and get access to their own playlists, appointments, commutes and other information.

There’s no word on which countries will be getting multi-user support next; Google Home arrived recently in Canada, so that’s a good possibility. Home will be launching in Australia, Germany, France and Japan later in the summer.

Google Home

• Google Home review
• These services work with Google Home
• Google Home vs. Amazon Echo
• Join our Google Home forums!

Google Store Best Buy Target

Google Home review: A better voice assistant than Amazon Echo?

If there’s one thing Google is good at, it’s search. Its 20 years of experience has helped it to become the number one site we all go to when we want to look up anything. Heck, most people just say “Google it”.

Beyond search we use Google brands for a range of tasks, including getting directions, sending email, and watching videos. In early 2016 Google came up with Google Assistant: a voice-based, conversational way for us to interact with Google’s products and services.

These have all been stepping stones to Google Home: the company’s £129/$129 connected speaker. A home hub device that, for the first time in Google’s history, allows you to leverage all of what Google offers without having to tap or click on a screen.

• See it on Currys – See it on Amazon US

Which all sounds very exciting. But then there’s Amazon’s competitor, Echo, which has been in the market since 2014 and is further down the line in third-party app integration. Do two decades of search experience give Home the edge it needs over Echo?

Google Home review: Flexible design

• 96.4mm (D), 142.8mm (H); 477g
• White finish, interchangeable bases
• Touchpanel and voice control

Home is a minimalist’s dream. It’s a short device – about half the size of Echo – that complements anything from Ikea. It’s only available in white, but you can still match it to your decor by swapping out the bases (Google is selling £18/$20 optional bases that come in a variety of fabric or metal finishes and colours).

We have to mention it though: most of our friends say Home looks like an air freshener. We don’t mind as that just means we can place it anywhere, from kitchen to bedroom. It doesn’t smell like potpourri, thankfully.

The top of Home slopes at an angle and hides a touch-sensitive panel that you can swipe gestures upon to change volume, play and pause music, and activate Assistant’s listening mode. You’ll see colourful, very Googley lights glow in the panel when Home hears its wake words “OK Google” or “Hey Google” or it responds to a command.

Amazon Echo, on the other hand, has a blue ring of light at the top with a physical rotation ring. Echo also has physical buttons to press to mute the listening mode and whatnot, which just doesn’t look or feel as futuristic as Home’s setup.

Google Home review: Voice control

• Voice-control using “OK Google” or “Hey Google” wake words
• Far-field voice recognition for hands-free use

The only other things you’ll notice about the top-half of Home are these two divots for the far-field microphones, which theoretically allow Home to pick-up your voice commands from across a room. That’s key for a largely voice-controlled product.

Pocket-lint

However, we found that pickup wasn’t very accurate when the device’s speaker component is blaring out tunes at full blast. At least with higher pitched voices: i.e. women and children. With louder, typically deeper male voices it seemed to hear almost every time, even with music playing through multiple speakers within the same space.  

With quieter or no music playing, however, Home has no problem hearing us. Google has tweaked the device for regional accents, so the UK version comes with a distinctly more British accent than its American cousin. It can do translations in various accents too (but, as yet, isn’t available in all countries and languages as an assistant).

Similar to Amazon Echo, Home can listen and respond to your voice commands. You can’t change the OK Google/Hey Google wake words, and you must say them every single time you want to interact with Home. This can be a bit of a barrier for Assistant’s potential conversational capabilities and, just like with Echo, we’d like a more natural to-and-fro conversation.

Some people don’t like the idea of Google always listening to you and your household while relaying information to the cloud for processing. So, in an effort to alleviate any privacy concerns, Google has promised it’s not constantly recording you, and it even includes a mute button that completely turns off the listening feature.

Pocket-lint

Google also allows you to peek at all the data Home sends back and forth (go to myactivity.google.com). When we looked at our activity, it was obvious that we mostly use Home as a connected music speaker, or to play music throughout our home with Chromecast Audio’s multi-room feature.

Google Home review: Speaker quality

• 2-inch speaker driver
• Two 2-inch passive radiators
• No Bluetooth connectivity

As for the audio quality, Home has two passive radiators for bass and the output is adequate enough to fill a room. We think it’s plenty loud, with fair sound quality for its £129 asking price. If you’re just looking for an average speaker to sit on your kitchen counter or bedroom nightstand and casually play some tunes, rest assured that it’ll get the job done just fine.

We’ve streamed tunes from built-in sources like Google Play Music, YouTube Music, Spotify, and Pandora. We’ve even used it to wirelessly cast audio from our phone and laptop.

Pocket-lint

Unfortunately, Google Home doesn’t have Bluetooth connectivity like Echo, so you’ll need to use apps and services with it that support Google Cast – but that’s basically everything.

Home can also send audio to a Chromecast Audio-connected speakers. Just say “Hey Google, play this on Chromecast Audio”. For multi-room playback, just say “Play my easy listening playlist on [whatever the group name is]” and it’ll play music from your chosen music provider through speakers connected to that Chromecast Audio group. In our testing, we used Spotify and grouped the Home unit together with two Chromecast Audio units to create a three-room group. It worked very well. 

Finally, you can group multiple Home speakers together and stream through all them at the same time. Echo can group Echo units together, too, plus it supports casting to Fire TV devices.

As for video streaming, if you plug a Chromecast into, let’s say, a bedroom TV, you can say “OK Google, play Pocket-lint videos on my bedroom TV”, or “watch Iron Fist”, and it’ll play those immediately (it only does this with YouTube and Netflix at present, but there’s scope for that to expand – probably never with Amazon, though, given the competition between the two devices).

Pocket-lint

Interestingly, we found that Home needed to know the exact name of a song if we asked it to cue something specific, and it wouldn’t understand us when we accidentally left out a word from the song title, whereas Echo never seems to have this problem.

Google Home review: Google Assistant

• Supports Android 4.2 / iOS 8.0 and higher

Home is all about Assistant, really, which is the gateway to question-and-answer information. Assistant doesn’t have a real-person name, like Alexa or Siri, but it does have a (sort-of robotic) female voice; a voice that you can’t change.

• What is Google Assistant?

And she’s always waiting for you to talk or ask it something. Currently, you can call on those everyday, mundane tasks like managing cooking timers, setting morning alarms, and remembering shopping lists. You can also ask Assistant to fetch weather and traffic information, look up flights, check your calendar, get local business information, and order an Uber for you.

Assistant even does jokes and trivia: Just say “OK Google, entertain me”, and see what happens next.

Pocket-lint

However, Assistant is a fairly basic assistant right now – especially for Google and when considering the bigger picture. We’d love it if Home could check our Gmail for new messages or track our packages, but it can’t do that. We’d also like it to text or call our friends for us, even through our wirelessly connected Android device, but it can’t do that either. We’d even love the ability to add appointments to our Google Calendar or set reminders, but again, it can’t do any of that… yet(?).

At least it’s got some of the typical stuff down; it quickly became our daily alarm clock and the easiest way to check the score of the most recent Miami Hurricanes game.

Google Home review: Searching for answers

Where Home has a notable upper hand over Amazon Echo is in search capability.

Pocket-lint

First, understand that Assistant can follow your use of pronouns and remember context for follow-up questions, whereas Alexa cannot. That means you can ask “OK Google, who is the President of the US?” and then ask “OK Google, how old is he?”, and Assistant will know you’re asking about the President’s age.

Second, Assistant pulls from most of Google’s online services as well as its deep well of search knowledge. You can ask what you should have for dinner, and Google Assistant will locate local places to eat and serve up suggestions. There are endless things you can ask, and nine times out of 10 it will have an answer for you. Alexa, on the other hand, really seems to love the phrase “I don’t understand the question.” If you do happen to stump Assistant, it simply apologises and says it can’t do that “yet”, which is a subtle way for Google to remind people that more features are coming.

Assistant is supposed to smartly hand-off commands too. We use a Google Pixel XL, which also has Google Assistant built-in and is meant to be clever enough to understand when you’re talking to Home rather than the phone. Sadly, that’s not the case: more often than not we wouldn’t get a response from Assistant on Home, but rather on our phone.

Pocket-lint

At launch, our biggest gripe with Home was that it only worked with one Google account at a time. That was fixed for the US, followed by the UK from 27 June 2017, with the ability to register up to six accounts. Better still, Assistant is clever enough to distinguish between voices, so you don’t need to instruct the system to switch accounts. Very family-friendly – and the sooner this feature arrives in the UK, the better.

• Google Home: How to add multiple users

What apps does Google Home support?

Home is designed to sit in your house and not only be your assistant but also your primary means of controlling smart home gadgets – with just your voice. And, yes, Echo does this too. With either speaker, you can turn your smart lights on or off, control your smart thermostat, and more. You can also program IFTTT commands. They’re true control centres for the home.

• IFTTT: What is it and how does it work?

However, because Echo has been around for two years longer, it has a big leg up in terms of integrations. Right now, Home supports Google Nest, Philips Hue, Samsung SmartThings, Belkin Wemo, and Honeywell smart devices. That list has increased since its US launch, and will continue to grow, but it’s not quite as wide-ranging as the Echo’s extensive list.

It’s a game of catch-up, though, and we get the strong feeling that Google integration will be accelerating fast.

Verdict

Does two decades of search experience give Home the upper hand over Amazon Echo? In terms of search results, yes. But is it the better product? Not always. Home might be better looking, but it’s not as well-rounded… yet.

That’s largely because Home is in its early days and can’t hold a candle to Echo when it comes to controlling the home. Amazon’s Alexa assistant has thousands of skills: it can send texts and read recipes from Allrecipes.com; it’s got tonnes of app integrations available from the likes of Expedia, Thrive, Capital One and beyond. So if you want the full-blown voice-activated connected speaker experience right out of the gate, you’re silly to consider anything other than Echo.

But here’s our prediction: in time, Google Home will probably have just as many integrations and partnerships available as Echo, perhaps even more. Home is already better at conversational points and search. Plus it’s £30 cheaper than Echo and doesn’t want you to add an annual Amazon Prime subscription into the mix to get the most out of it either.

So, in many ways, we prefer Home. If you don’t mind waiting for it to mature, then it’s the speaker to get. It’s better looking, better sounding and, we suspect, has the potential to be the best voice-assistant speaker going.

The alternative to consider…

Pocket-lint

Amazon Echo

£149

With its Alexa voice-control assistant, Echo is the premier home product: it can play music, interact with third-party apps (including home controls, such as Nest heating adjustment and Hue lighting controls) and plug-into all the great and the good of an Amazon Prime subscription too. It’s perhaps not as smart or conversational as Home for everything, but it’s the must-have voice-assistant home speaker to buy right now.

These amazing Galaxy Note 8 renders reveal Samsung’s next phablet

Samsung will release the Galaxy Note 8 later this year, possibly on the 26 August if a recent rumour is to be believed. It will be under close inspection when it does launch, following the quick demise of the Note 7.

• Samsung Galaxy Note 8: What’s the story so far?

While we’ve heard about what specs and features it will come with, we haven’t had a clear idea of what it will look like, until now. Usually reliable tipster @OnLeaks has teamed up with 91Mobiles to produce a series of renders for the Galaxy Note 8, based on rumours that have circulated over the last few months.

They show the Galaxy Note 8 with a near bezel-less display, similar to its Galaxy S8 and S8+ cousins, but the phone takes on a more square-like design, with less curved edges than the S8 family.

The Note 8 is also quite thick, at least in modern smartphone terms, at 9.5mm, and this is so the phone is thick enough to house the S Pen stylus.

OnLeaks x 91Mobiles

On the back is where you’ll find the dual lens camera, LED flash, heart rate monitor and fingerprint scanner. All the sensors and cameras are laid out next to each other and have one piece of protruding glass over them. It’s not quite the same design as seen on the Galaxy S8, so we’re not sure if Samsung will stick with this design.

• Galaxy Note 8 to be the first Samsung phone with a dual camera
• Samsung Galaxy Note 8 said to have 6.3-inch 18.5:9 screen

Regardless of the protruding glass on the back, the Note 8 looks set to be a glorious looking device, and Samsung will need to make sure it gives out an overly premium finish since it could cost over $1,000 when it does launch.