Google's new Home Speaker with Gemini fails to prove AI chatbots make smart speakers more useful
By
Tim Biggs
Summary
Google's new $200 Home Speaker, a decade after the original Google Home, attempts to revive the smart speaker category by integrating its Gemini AI chatbot. However, the device fails to demonstrate that adding more AI makes the product more useful. Smart speakers have become pedestrian appliances that most people have either forgotten about or stuck with their existing ones. The article argues that while Google thinks AI chatbots are a good fit for the category's "second act," this particular device isn't a convincing example of that vision.
Source
bskyGoogle's new Home Speaker with Gemini fails to prove AI chatbots make smart speakers more usefultheage.com.auKey quotes
· 3 pulledWhen smart speakers powered by voice assistants debuted a decade ago, everything about the technology was new and exciting.
The category has been searching for a compelling second act, and while Google thinks AI chatbots are a good fit, its new Home Speaker isn't a convincing example.
This $200 device is ball-shaped but with a flattened top, roughly the size of a large apple.
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