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4GB? How inefficient are Google products that a simple device requires that much RAM?

RAM is cheap (unless it is from Apple) so its easier to throw more RAM in than the cost of making code efficient
 
Someone help me understand what these things are suppose to be useful for...

It was in the 1st sentence of the post. But since you missed it the first time, here it is again:

"Last month, Google announced plans for its upcoming Amazon Echo rival, Google Home, a Wi-Fi enabled personal assistant that enables people to ask Google search queries, manage everyday tasks, enjoy music and entertainment, and more using hands-free "OK Google" voice commands."
 
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Curious to see Apple's version, whether it be incorporated into an AppleTV or as a stand alone device. As several have already pointed out, a $35 Chromecast has 4 GB of ram? Yeesh! I hope there's some big difference between the kind it has and the kind that iPhone/iPads have.


There is. The one that the iPhones and iPad is in the shape of an apple. Way too premium to put that in products like Chromecast.
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lol...... 'dressed down' more like it. Some users may mistake it for one

Have you seen that new smart air freshener that can order a pizza?
 
"Notably, the Chromecast is also one of Google's most successful hardware products, selling 3 million units in the past three years."

Huh? More like 25 million. http://venturebeat.com/2016/05/18/google-has-sold-25-million-chromecasts-since-2013/

It was why Amazon and Roku both came out with competing products immediately after. And also why Amazon banned it from their online store.

One thing though ... if they manage it right (which is a lot to ask of Google but nevermind!) then they "should" be able to make any Chrome OS connected device a smart home device. Of course, the Chromecast TV and Chromecast Audio devices don't have microphones, but the Chromecast app on your Android (and iOS!) device can be voice-enabled and used to send voice commands to the TV or speaker that the Chromecast is connected to. Android TV has this ability already but hasn't done anything with it.
 
RAM is cheap (unless it is from Apple) so its easier to throw more RAM in than the cost of making code efficient

I'm sure it also has that space to provide storage for music playback so that it can queue up the rest of the song, playlist, etc without fear of running out of space.
 
Looks like an air freshener.

Yup. The Renuzit air fresheners, to be exact.

Renuzit-Adjustable-Air-Freshener.png

Renuzit-Super-Cone.jpg
 
"The upshot of all this is that the device could be extremely inexpensive to produce, given that the Chromecast currently sells at $35."

... because Google's way of profiting from this device is capturing and selling user behavior data.
I hear Beezlebub pays upwards of $50 for the good stuff.
 
Seriously, if this were to be really cheap I'd easily buy 3 of them for my home right away.

Just hoping the UK does not get left out, like it did with Amazon's Echo device.

Actually I'm getting sick of everything Amazon make trying to do it's best to sell you something else Amazon offer.
So I'm very happy to see this device coming from Google. :)
 
RAM is cheap (unless it is from Apple) so its easier to throw more RAM in than the cost of making code efficient

What's the cost of making code efficient? Having really smart software engineers who have the resources of a company like Google?

RAM is cheap, and Google isn't interested in making 40% profit margins off the device, so we get 4GB to cache our music playlist or Netflix HD streams.
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Google's always-on microphone, listening in on what's happening in my home 24/7 ?

Right. Dream on...

Yeah you should skip it. Wait for Apple's version with the brilliant Siri and the eventual privacy-friendly 3rd party APIs.

Next thing you know we'll all be carrying mobile devices which allow large corporations to track us 24/7 with precise GPS, and how the hell would we know if THOSE microphones aren't always listening while the phone is on?


In all seriousness I'm comfortable with this.

I can go in and see what data Google was storing, and elect to turn services off and on, recognizing that the cost of providing low-financial cost end to end cloud solutions means giving up some privacy. And also there's a dashboard-type website where I can see what Google stores including my audio queries. I can at least access the information I know Google is storing about me. And when it shares said data, as many have said on this thread, it's doing so anonymously. And I can nuke said data anytime.
 
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The upshot of all this is that the device could be extremely inexpensive to produce, given that the Chromecast currently sells at $35. That would mean Google being able to significantly undercut the $179 Amazon Echo.

This doesn't really hold up, does it? You get Alexa in an Amazon Fire TV stick that sells for the same $35 price point. One would think the speaker, microphone and other physical components are going to be what drives the final price. Especially if you look how Amazon has priced its tablets relative to the rest of the market, it's unlikely that they'd allow themselves to be undercut here. Like Google, their business isn't these products, the products are a gateway to their business.
 
So Google looks like they'll beat Apple to market with the product. They'll link it into people's Google accounts, so will have a great wealth of personal user data at it's disposal, as well as all of the other data that Google churns through anyway. Google Now is impressive enough of a service now, there's the foundations for something to be very useful, even if for a certain subset of people.

If Apple want to improve a generic voice recognition system, then anonymized data is useful. If you're trying to sell an electronic PA that doesn't have tight integration to your mail, calendar etc. in the way that Google Now already does, then this play has to be about collecting data.

The strength of the product relies on data. Google already has it, and uses it incredibly well in Google Now. Having all the power of Google Now with some added bells and whistles is actually a neat idea.

I don't know what functionality Apple's offering can have unless developers make it work for them. I'll be interested to see what Google's approach to the Apple device will be. Google has the upper hand when it comes to data.
 
Everyone made the 4GB Chromecast vs. 2GB iPad Pro comment already, but holy crap! The iPad Pro looks even more pathetic. Wow. And here I was happy my $199 Apple TV had 2GB of RAM. Embarrassing.
 
Google home is the combination of software and hardware, and chrosmecast is only a software thing, and I believe Google Home will play an important role like AI assistant in the family. and Google Home is independent from the phone from now on.
 
Oh you two and your silliness. At no time does Google SELL your DATA. Advertisers buy an ad and request customer segments that match specific criteria. Or advertisers have a tracking pixel on their website and they retarget you based on information they already have on you (what products you looked at, etc). Google takes their money and then serves you an ad. At no time does an advertiser get any of your data.

FYI, it's the same thing. Anonymous data, anonymous data turned into a target for the same purposes...
 
FYI, it's the same thing. Anonymous data, anonymous data turned into a target for the same purposes...
It's not the same thing at all since the ad buyer doesn't get any information. They last money, select criteria and upload their ad.
 
Wait.....so that $35 streaming stick has 4 GB of RAM inside it, and yet Apple was so cheap that they couldn't be bothered with putting more than 2GB RAM in its iPhones and iPads that cost hundreds more??
And this surprises you? How?

Apple have got to keep the insanely high profit margin, else what would the posters on here have to brag about any more, now that the products are average at best..
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4GB? How inefficient are Google products that a simple device requires that much RAM?
Talk about putting a rediculous spin on it, maybe streaming 4k content needs decent ram..
 
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