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Google Home Reviews: Handsome Design Not Enough to Outweigh 'Rough Around the Edges' Feel

shk718 said:
Many people here have been saying google's AI is eons ahead of SIRI - I beg to differ - Ai is, as Google's own CEO said, in the very early stages. It's crude, inconsistent and inaccurate. Currently no company has a lead on AI. I'm finding SIRI to be noticeably better. "Her" voice recognition has vastly improved - I can now talk in a "normal" tone with her. These home appliances remind me of the Wii - it was fun for a game or two but quickly became boring. How often can you ask it who the president is? And what happens when it's not with you (or in every room)? My phone is always with me and with the new stereo speakers on iPhone 7 I can hear SIRI very well.
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kdarling said:
Your better experience might only last until you change iOS devices.

Apple's privacy policy prevents its computers from associating its knowledge of our particular voice with more than one device. That per-device policy alone makes it more difficult to use Siri across multiple devices.

Moreover, when we buy or have to get a replacement, or we turn Siri off/on, the association between that device and whatever Apple's computers have learned about our voice, is lost.

And then Apple's computers have to relearn our voice again.

This is where having central per-USER voice learning like Google does, far superior. And it shows in real life usage, in my experience.
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I find (so far) Google's assistant (and hopefully home) more advanced when it comes to contextual conversations and information. YMMV
 
samcraig said:
Agree - but I think having a device as "home base"makes sense. Especially if it can hand off easily.

IE

"Ok google - where is xxx restaurant?" - and then it gives location. You make a reservation via the home and then get in your car. Whether it's your cell device or car entertainment center - it automatically maps out the most direct route. Maybe it even alerts the restaurant if you're running late to hold the table.

All very doable. And just one use case.
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This is a great use case. The point is that why purchase redundant systems in that use case. I am in my house and I ask X (google/apple/whatever) assistant on my phone where is a restaurant. It gives you the information and you tell it to make a reservation as you walk out of the house and into the car. the assistant connects to your car and brings up directions (in the future maybe it put in the coordinates into the self driving system).

My point is that the approach where the phones is the "brain" (backed up by a bunch of servers somewhere) and then interfaced to a screen at home, in your car, in your office, seems better to me than having a brain in the house that then needs to hand off to a brain in the phone which then hands off to a brain in the car. Both approaches work to be sure, but the one I propose would ultimately be cleaner and cheaper, I would argue.
 
ChrisCW11 said:
But if it had an Apple logo it, I am sure so many would just pre-order it before they even knew what it could or couldn't do.
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I hear this argument over and over again on forums. Do you have any proof that people are actually that stupid or are you just angry that Google made an rather ugly product?
 
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macduke said:
I feel like this accurately sums up most technology nowadays. We're on a roller coaster of emotion, oscillating between elation and disappointment. Amazed at how far we've come, and yet restrained by what we can actually do with it.
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You can blame the companies that make the devices. Its all about the instant gratification or one cool feature to try to make people buy your device and then dispose of it 2 years later for a new one that has one more cool feature.
 
kdarling said:
Your better experience might only last until you change iOS devices.

Apple's privacy policy prevents its computers from associating its knowledge of our particular voice with more than one device. That per-device policy alone makes it more difficult to use Siri across multiple devices.

Moreover, when we buy or have to get a replacement, or we turn Siri off/on, the association between that device and whatever Apple's computers have learned about our voice, is lost.

And then Apple's computers have to relearn our voice again.

This is where having central per-USER voice learning like Google does, far superior. And it shows in real life usage, in my experience.
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I just got a new device - the iPhone 7+ and the voice recognition is spot on.

What I think Apple should do, and i'm sure they're working on it, is move the learned info on us to a secure location in iCloud so that everything has access to it. My new phone is now learning my travel habits, something the old phone had figured out already. Once they feel confident they have iCloud secured I'm sure they will.
 
Cuban Missles said:
This is a great use case. The point is that why purchase redundant systems in that use case. I am in my house and I ask X (google/apple/whatever) assistant on my phone where is a restaurant. It gives you the information and you tell it to make a reservation as you walk out of the house and into the car. the assistant connects to your car and brings up directions (in the future maybe it put in the coordinates into the self driving system).

My point is that the approach where the phones is the "brain" (backed up by a bunch of servers somewhere) and then interfaced to a screen at home, in your car, in your office, seems better to me than having a brain in the house that then needs to hand off to a brain in the phone which then hands off to a brain in the car. Both approaches work to be sure, but the one I propose would ultimately be cleaner and cheaper, I would argue.
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Doesn't have to pass over to the phone - can go right to the car.

Also - truly hands free controls inside the home. I don't always have my phone on me inside my apartment. But my Amazon Echo (now) can answer things/play music without me having to lift a finger. Earlier I wrote that I like to cook. If my hands are "in the thick of it" I can still set multiple timers with my voice.

I also don't need to give my device to someone to play music. My daughter - who is too young to have her own phone/tablet can get information and play the music she wants to.

I'm not saying this tech is evolved or even a necessity. But it does come in hand as a home device vs simply on my mobile.
 
samcraig said:
Doesn't have to pass over to the phone - can go right to the car.

Also - truly hands free controls inside the home. I don't always have my phone on me inside my apartment. But my Amazon Echo (now) can answer things/play music without me having to lift a finger. Earlier I wrote that I like to cook. If my hands are "in the thick of it" I can still set multiple timers with my voice.

I also don't need to give my device to someone to play music. My daughter - who is too young to have her own phone/tablet can get information and play the music she wants to.

I'm not saying this tech is evolved or even a necessity. But it does come in hand as a home device vs simply on my mobile.
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The example you present of your daughter shows the inherent, and huge, weakness of google home and the echo. Anyone within earshot of it has access to any private information you have this thing hooked up to - calendar, contacts, notes ... This is a HUGE mistake that Apple would never make. What if you have it hooked up to your home security system? someone could walk up to your window and tell it to unlock the house or open the garage door.
 
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samcraig said:
I find (so far) Google's assistant (and hopefully home) more advanced when it comes to contextual conversations and information. YMMV
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No question about it. Google assistant blows away Siri.

But, the fact that Google Home is still viewed as being really elementary even though Google has such a massive wealth of data to pull from tells us that the issue is one of immature technology. That's why all of these assistants are still sort of useless at the moment and any superiority of one over another is just a matter of degree.
 
shk718 said:
The example you present of your daughter shows the inherent, and huge, weakness of google home and the echo. Anyone within earshot of it has access to any private information you have this thing hooked up to - calendar, contacts, notes ... This is a HUGE mistake that Apple would never make. What if you have it hooked up to your home security system? someone could walk up to your window and tell it to unlock the house or open the garage door.
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You can block whatever you want. If you don't have your phone secured, anyone could access your private information. A lot less is available vs the echo and home than on a phone.

btw - if your window is open in that someone can command the device inside your house, they don't need to come in through the garage or front door ;)
 
all of these articles also fail to mention that there's an even cheaper alternative to the original echo and google home - the 2nd gen echo dot. at only 50 dollars, its much cheaper than the original echo/google home and since most people who are looking into these devices probably already have a bluetooth speaker, works even better. the built in speaker isn't too bad either but allowing it to connect to any preexisting bluetooth speaker you already own is a big bonus.
 
littleasian36 said:
all of these articles also fail to mention that there's an even cheaper alternative to the original echo and google home - the 2nd gen echo dot. at only 50 dollars, its much cheaper than the original echo/google home and since most people who are looking into these devices probably already have a bluetooth speaker, works even better. the built in speaker isn't too bad either but allowing it to connect to any preexisting bluetooth speaker you already own is a big bonus.
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I have the Echo. My issues with my Echo wouldn't be solved by a cheaper device. And if I were in the market now and knew what I know now, I would pay $129 for the Google Home vs $50 for the Dot.
 
Apple needs to jump on this honestly. Just bought the dot to try out, and the Hue Light integration is half baked. You cant even have the echo change the colors of your lights/scenes native from the app(Praying they update it). Id love a Siri hub for homekit.
 
npmacuser5 said:
Have you tried a device such as this? If not, might suggest giving it a try. I have for almost two years, Amazon Echo, find it to be one of my most useful devices. I will agree, not all technology is for everyone, each has to decide for themselves.
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Could you elaborate about what makes it useful.
 
Amacfa said:
I prefer a company that mines your data to be somewhat bi-partisan. Not use their services, infrastructure, and databases to help a specific candidate. That to me is not okay.

Although I agree that google has better voice assistant, by a good margin, but not huge.
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But you're okay with Citizens United? It's okay if the energy industry does the same thing?
 
H2SO4 said:
Maybe but the point is that is meshes with home decor more than the Echo and most likely more than any undoubtedly aluminium offering that Apple are likely to come up with which will only look right on the bridge of the enterprise.
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Apple is pretty good about blending in when the situation calls for it. Apple TV is almost invisible. Just a small, nondescript black box with only a tiny LED on the front
 
skinned66 said:
Handsome design? Sure, if you like the aesthetics of Renuzit I guess.
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I love the deep thinking going on around here. Wait. NOT :D

The reason air fresheners look the way they do, is so they're like little vases that blend in and are less likely noticed as something jarringly out of place in a home.

Ditto for this thing, whose bottom can be changed to various innocuous colors and fabric choices.
google_home.png

Still, yes, I've always said that I wished they had made it look and act like the various stones from The Fifth Element :cool:

fifth-element-stones.jpg
 
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Cuban Missles said:
This is a great use case. The point is that why purchase redundant systems in that use case. I am in my house and I ask X (google/apple/whatever) assistant on my phone where is a restaurant. It gives you the information and you tell it to make a reservation as you walk out of the house and into the car. the assistant connects to your car and brings up directions (in the future maybe it put in the coordinates into the self driving system).

My point is that the approach where the phones is the "brain" (backed up by a bunch of servers somewhere) and then interfaced to a screen at home, in your car, in your office, seems better to me than having a brain in the house that then needs to hand off to a brain in the phone which then hands off to a brain in the car. Both approaches work to be sure, but the one I propose would ultimately be cleaner and cheaper, I would argue.
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Is everyone else making restaurant reservations all the time? I always see that as a demo for things like this, but I don't think I've ever made a restaurant reservation ever.
 
Jakexb said:
Is everyone else making restaurant reservations all the time? I always see that as a demo for things like this, but I don't think I've ever made a restaurant reservation ever.
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I live in NYC. You often have to :)
 
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