Smart speakers, of all brands, have undoubtedly become a matter of course in my home. I use my voice to turn lights on and off, get the whole house ready for the night, simple things like setting a timer when I’m cooking and to get a quick weather forecast. Will it rain today?
In addition to being smart, they act, I have at least one in every room, as simply speakers. For sound from Spotify, for listening to the radio and podcasts, sometimes for sound from the TV. Actually, music playback is probably their main use anyway, for the smart part I could have just as easily used the mobile phone for that. Androids are constantly listening for Hello Google and iPhones for Hello Siri, so they could have handled that area of use themselves. Both the loudspeaker and the telephone can therefore decide the discussion around the kitchen table with facts that none of us who discussed was completely clear to us.
When the smart speaker from Google arrived around 8 years ago, when Google Assistant was the brain, a bright future was painted. There were radio channels that adapted their content to the smart speakers and manufacturers like LG, JBL and Harman Kardon all made speakers that had Google Assistant built in. Then very little happened for many years. On both the content and hardware side.
Smart speakers, of all brands, have undoubtedly become a matter of course in my home. I use my voice to turn lights on and off, get the whole house ready for the night, simple things like setting a timer when I’m cooking and to get a quick weather forecast. Will it rain today?
In addition to being smart, they act, I have at least one in every room, as simply speakers. For sound from Spotify, for listening to the radio and podcasts, sometimes for sound from the TV. Actually, music playback is probably their main use anyway, for the smart part I could have just as easily used the mobile phone for that. Androids are constantly listening for Hello Google and iPhones for Hello Siri, so they could have handled that area of use themselves. Both the loudspeaker and the telephone can therefore decide the discussion around the kitchen table with facts that none of us who discussed was completely clear to us.
When the smart speaker from Google arrived around 8 years ago, when Google Assistant was the brain, a bright future was painted. There were radio channels that adapted their content to the smart speakers and manufacturers like LG, JBL and Harman Kardon all made speakers that had Google Assistant built in. Then very little happened for many years. On both the content and hardware side.
When Gemini, first in the US, replaced Google Assistant in speakers long after Gemini established itself in phones, I heard horror stories about how buggy and dysfunctional Gemini was in home speakers there. It was therefore with skepticism that I upgraded my smart home to Gemini and with relief that it worked, much like before. A little better. A little more conversation instead of stilted commands. The fact that the old speakers now received Gemini testifies to Google’s commitment, but all the intelligence is in the cloud, so perhaps not much was required.
I still think it feels a bit magical that the lights at home come on when someone in the house comes home in the evening. No need to grope in the dark for the light switch, then, when you come through the door fully loaded with grocery bags. The same thing when the last person leaves the house, everything from lights to speakers and TV goes silent, turns off, turns off. However, this is connected to the smart home and not to the speakers in particular.
However, Apple’s Homepod speakers and Google’s Home speakers can still misunderstand and certainly do happen. Development does not always go straight in a positive direction. For example, the latest update has removed the visual weather forecast I could get in the Google Nest Hub until recently. And Gemini is often quite conversational and sociable. When I recently asked if it’s always faster and better to boil water in a kettle than in a pot on the stove, Gemini on the loudspeaker not only responded with the answer (yes), but bombarded me with four follow-up questions. Do you want to know more about induction cookers? No. Do you want other energy saving tips? No. Do you want to know about something else you can do in the kitchen? No. Is there anything else I can help you with? No!