Just as expected, Google today introduced its competitor to the Amazon Echo, called Google Home.
Google Home is a small Wi-Fi speaker device that’s powered by Google Assistant, Google’s new digital assistant. With Google Home, you can stream music over Wi-Fi or beam music from Android and iOS devices using Google Cast. Also notable is that you can link multiple Google Home devices for multi-room audio playback. You can display content on your TV by connecting Google Home and a Chromecast, too.
Google’s Home can also help you with your personal life, offering support for alarms, timers, to-do lists and shopping lists, and controls for smart home devices like lights and thermostats.
Finally, because Google Home is powered by Google Assistant, you can ask it questions just like you would an Android device. Things like “Hey Google, how do you say ‘apples’ in Spanish?” and “What is Draymond Green’s number?” work just like you’d expect.
Google Home will launch later this year for an undisclosed price. Google says that you’ll be able to customize the base, both when it comes to color and finish. Google says that you’ll have options that include metal and fabric bases.
Amazon has done a lot of work to improve the Echo and give it new features since the device’s debut in late 2014, so Google Home has its work cut out for it if it wants to compete with the Echo. Google has the advantage of knowing a lot about its users and their search history right away, though, and it’s also got existing features like Google Cast to work with. It’s definitely going to be interesting to see how these two devices stack up when they launch later this year.
While we wait for Google Home’s launch, you can check out the device’s website right here.