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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 ;)

If you have to block functionality then what's the point of it? I do have my phone secured - and it's easy to do so - and only I can activate it because it recognizes only my voice. the point i'm trying to make is there is absolutely no way to secure these devices - you can only limit functionality. my iphone can be secured and i don't have to limit functionality - (btw: a window doesn't have to be open for one of these things to hear you - most windows aren't sound proof )
 
Why not just say "Hey Siri" or "Ok Google" on your phone? We are talking about this product like our phones assistants aren't already hands free. You can say you don't have your phone at all times, but most people do and the home isn't always with you either unless you buy multiple for each room. With me saying Hey Siri in the morning to do things I don't see the reasoning of having this also.

I guess if you just don't want kids and stuff messing with your phone.
 
What in the world brought you to that conclusion? The "You're Pro-trump if you say something bad about Clinton" narrative is getting old.

I didn't say anything about the candidates. I merely responded to your post regarding a corporation using its resources to influence results. This has been going on forever but typically from the other side.
 
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.
I use opentable quite a bit. Although it doesn't really work with McDonald's or Wendy's :p
 
I didn't say anything about the candidates. I merely responded to your post regarding a corporation using its resources to influence results. This has been going on forever but typically from the other side.

I have no idea about the other side, so I'm not qualified to speak about energy or citizens united. Plus they don't make product I use. Mostly just the tech sector.
 
Honestly Tim said it himself that Apple doesn't just release a product just because it can. It only goes into markets with longevity or where it can make a big impact. Honestly these products are niche since a phone can already do everything this does. It won't make a impact until our homes are built smart in such a way that this stuff is baked into it. Using these little speakers that have to be purchased for each room are just a stepping stone for whats coming and I feel Tim Co are trying to look at the big picture with Ihome being baked into the phone already.
 
Google has a track record of dipping their toe in new things and then deciding not to stick with it. But based on what I've read and seen lately, I think they legitimately believe AI is going to become a huge part of who they are and what they do. And I think they're serious about sticking with consumer hardware now too, including both the Google Home and the Pixel phone.

So while I don't doubt that, right now, Google Home isn't any better overall than the Amazon Echo (and may even be not quite as good), I imagine Google Home will be clearly superior for most people a year from now, after it has racked up a competitive amount of third party support (both in services like restaurant reservations as well as in home automation hardware). The AI powering Google Assistant will only get smarter over time too, as more people use it and also as it learns about individual users.

Ultimately, Amazon Echo will only be superior when it comes to shopping from Amazon or accessing Amazon Video & Music services on their Fire hardware. For everything else, Google Home will be better.
 
If you have to block functionality then what's the point of it? I do have my phone secured - and it's easy to do so - and only I can activate it because it recognizes only my voice. the point i'm trying to make is there is absolutely no way to secure these devices - you can only limit functionality. my iphone can be secured and i don't have to limit functionality - (btw: a window doesn't have to be open for one of these things to hear you - most windows aren't sound proof )

Clearly you've never used the Echo if you think you can shout through a window and activate it.
 
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I've had an Echo since they were available as a beta launch. I can't say I'm all that impressed and tend to agree more with the person you responded to. When I first got it I played around with it, but then didn't really use it much. I bet it's been over a month since I've said anything to mine....and I'll bet my last inquiry was the weather forecast.

I also really don't use Siri all that much other than to set a timer or alarm. If I want to search for detailed info, I guess I prefer to search on a screen so I can see the listed results and be able to make some intelligent decisions as to what is and isn't applicable. Maybe it's generational and maybe I'm getting old, but don't really find it all that useful to talk to these things.

Why not just say "Hey Siri" or "Ok Google" on your phone? We are talking about this product like our phones assistants aren't already hands free. You can say you don't have your phone at all times, but most people do and the home isn't always with you either unless you buy multiple for each room. With me saying Hey Siri in the morning to do things I don't see the reasoning of having this also.

I guess if you just don't want kids and stuff messing with your phone.

Could you elaborate about what makes it useful.

Set up home automation.
 
Good Xmas present idea. May be the turning point away from the Apple Eco system. The pixel unlimited photo/video concept baked into the o/s is hugely tempting.
 
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google-home-reviews-1-800x600.jpg

Images via Engadget

Really? This is good-looking? For a napkin dispenser, maybe.
 
As long as this thing is not powered by Siri, I'm good.

Asked Siri directions to supermarket Carrefour this afternoon, and sent me to Haiti.
From Europe. Good times ;-)
 
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.

I think, generally, people are getting more sophisticated. It takes a lot more to impress. Remember when the first iPod came out? It was impressive, but now it's ancient, and that was just 15 years ago. Barely a blip on the timeline. I also think that people, in general, are getting more ... desensitized and succumbing to the need for instant gratification. This puts pressure on companies to keep delivering new, more, better... but there's only so much that can be done in a relatively short timeframe. Even a year between product updates is a short time with the amount of effort required for design, engineering, production, testing, refinement, more testing, and then mass production for the sales cycle. Then they start all over again with a new version.
 
And if Apple DID release crap like this, you'd STILL criticize them by saying 'Why did they spend time on THIS and not the Mac Mini?'

This is the whole grading on on a curve thing in action. Google gets a pass for just trying, whereas Apple has to present perfection, to get the same praise. That doesn't make any criticism of Apple invalid but we have to try and judge by the same criteria.
 
Set up home automation.

I'm sure that's a cool feature, but at least from reading about it, it feels like we're still a few years away on that technology and it's still too expensive. I'm not going to spend $50-$200 extra for every lamp, thermostat, door lock, etc that I'd like to control. Eventually I'm sure automation will become a lot more mainstream and it will be built in by default in these items. I always considered myself pretty super geek early adopter, but I'm also cheap.
 
As long as this thing is not powered by Siri, I'm good.

Asked Siri directions to supermarket Carrefour this afternoon, and sent me to Haiti.
From Europe. Good times ;-)

I noticed you switched the words "supermarket Carrefour" from what would normally be said in English as "Carrefour supermarket". Does Siri handle swapping words like this with the same accuracy? Also, could accents and pronunciation be a factor in Siri understanding?

When I did a Google search for "supermarket Carrefour" (exactly like that), web results came up, but nothing comes up in Google Maps, but when I do another Google Maps search for "Carrefour supermarket" (in that order), I get the following match:
  • 79 Rue de Seine, 75006 Paris, France
So could Siri be entirely to blame for not understanding your query?
 
Honestly Tim said it himself that Apple doesn't just release a product just because it can. It only goes into markets with longevity or where it can make a big impact. Honestly these products are niche since a phone can already do everything this does. It won't make a impact until our homes are built smart in such a way that this stuff is baked into it. Using these little speakers that have to be purchased for each room are just a stepping stone for whats coming and I feel Tim Co are trying to look at the big picture with Ihome being baked into the phone already.

Agreed. And Google's I/O talk earlier this year was a BIG step in the direction of smart homes... by working directly with developers to integrate technology, or at least the foundation of support tech devices, during construction, rather than it be an add-on later. Imagine every doorway and window having sensors built-in, every electrical circuit being monitored by a "Smart Electrical Panel", temperature sensors in every room, microphones and speakers built in the walls and ceilings.... that's where we're going.
 
I can really see the case for having a fixed microphone/speaker device like this controlling your house (which is also a fixed object). It's awkward for someone to visit and not be able to turn on lights, etc, because their phone isn't hooked in to your network. It's awkward for you to not be able to control something because you left your phone in the other room.

Your house doesn't move, so why not have a mic/speaker control that likewise doesn't move. It's the modern equivalent of a light switch.
 
"looks a lot better than the Echo,"

I'm sorry, but it looks like a cheap dollar store air freshener

You mean it looks like something many people would select to already have in their home already.
To me that's an instant win..... No ?
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Like I'm going to have an open microphone in my house and hooked up to google 24/7. That's rich! Dream on...

How would you feel about being in a room with commander Data from Star Trek?
Would you sit there, motionless, silent, even perhaps go hide?
He's listening AND looking at you.

:)
 
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