Rumors of a Google competitor to the Amazon Echo have been rumbling throughout 2016, and according to a new report, we’ll get to meet the new device tomorrow.
Sources speaking to The New York Times say that Google will show its Amazon Echo competitor at I/O tomorrow, May 18. The device is said to be named Google Home — a previous report pegged the codename as “Google Chirp” — and it’s said that Google Home will actually launch this fall.
Google Home will reportedly act as a virtual assistant that can answer “simple questions” and perform “basic tasks”.
The Amazon Echo seemed like a strange device when it was announced in November 2014, but since the, it’s built up quite a fan base as Amazon continues to improve it with new features. Given the Echo’s popularity and Google’s strengths when it comes to voice-based controls, it makes sense for Google to try its hand at making an Echo-style device. The disappointing bit of today’s report is that while we may get to meet the Google Home tomorrow, we’ll have to wait until the fall to buy it. Here’s to hoping that it’s early in the fall.
Would you buy a Google version of the Amazon Echo?