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Google's Gemini for Home Starts Rolling Out on October 1

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Google has confirmed that Gemini for Home, its generative AI-powered replacement for Google Assistant, will begin rolling out on October 1 through an early access program, marking a major upgrade to its smart home platform and highlighting Apple's slower progress in deploying similar AI technology for Siri.

google-gemini.jpg

At the Made by Google 2025 event, the company announced that Gemini for Home will be available on all existing Nest smart speakers and displays, in addition to powering upcoming devices. The platform uses Google's latest AI models to facilitate more natural conversations, contextual reasoning, and multi-step commands. Google said the update maintains the familiar "Hey Google" activation phrase but eliminates the need for rigid phrasing, allowing users to speak more naturally.

Demonstrations highlighted Gemini for Home's ability to execute chained instructions, such as "Dim the lights and set the temp to 72 degrees," as well as interpret exceptions in commands like "Turn off the lights everywhere except my bedroom."

The platform also expands the remit of voice assistant functionality beyond smart home controls alone to include grocery list planning, recipe suggestions, troubleshooting help, and travel advice. In addition, users can engage in open-ended conversations through Gemini Live, a feature that removes the need to repeat the hotword during back-and-forth discussions.


The announcement of the October 1 rollout puts pressure on Apple, which is preparing to introduce its major but delayed update to Siri in 2026. Siri has not yet gained comparable capabilities such as chained commands, advanced reasoning, or contextual automation. Apple's HomeKit platform remains focused on preconfigured automations and single-action commands, and the company has not announced any AI enhancements for the HomePod or Apple TV.

Gemini for Home will begin replacing Google Assistant across Nest Hubs, Nest Minis, and Nest Audio devices in supported regions starting October 1, with a wider rollout to follow.

Article Link: Google's Gemini for Home Starts Rolling Out on October 1
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2025/09/03/gemini-for-home-rolling-out-october-1/
Apple is notoriously not always first to the table, but generally when they arrive, they set the standard from then on.
However, if Tim Cook's Apple botches AI, it will be a stain on their history greater than the failure of Apple during the John Sculley era.
 
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Unity451 said:
Apple is notoriously not always first to the table, but generally when they arrive, they set the standard from then on.
However, if Tim Cook's Apple botches AI, it will be a stain on their history greater than the failure of Apple during the John Sculley era.
Click to expand...
It's been 14 years since they acquired Siri. How much longer do you think they need?
 
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Rychiar said:
and they worked better 8 years ago 😂
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It's funny you say that. I remember getting the first HomePod all those years ago and putting the volume on full with music and then saying "Hey Siri" in a relatively normal voice and it would work. These days that same HomePod struggles even in complete silence sometimes.
 
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The only thing I use my Home Pods for is music. My Nest's and Google control the house. Why? Cause it works correctly. Getting Gemini on them is just another added layer of awesome and I can't wait!
 
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centauratlas said:
I am probably being WAY too charitable, but remember when the iPod came out vs other mp3 players being out for quite a while....
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Do people have to bring up things like this every time Apple drops the ball? Apple is not playing 4d-chess around everyone else here. They have a CEO that cares about nothing except maximizing profit from what they already have. They were caught with their pants down, years behind in AI.
 
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ryanmp said:
It's funny you say that. I remember getting the first HomePod all those years ago and putting the volume on full with music and then saying "Hey Siri" in a relatively normal voice and it would work. These days that same HomePod struggles even in complete silence sometimes.
Click to expand...

If I say "Hey Siri" with my iPhone and Homepod in the same room, they both wake up, decide the other was listening, and both turn back off. Every single time.
 
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WarmWinterHat said:
If I say "Hey Siri" with my iPhone and Homepod in the same room, they both wake up, decide the other was listening, and both turn back off. Every single time.
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To get over that I turned off "Hey Siri" on my iPhone and Watch. I have to press and hold the buttons on those two devices to activate Siri. It's very inconvenient, but at least now our kitchen Homepod sets the timer for dinner correctly. Our family can only suffer so many burned dinners due to Siri never starting the timer I asked it to start...
 
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Unity451 said:
Apple is notoriously not always first to the table, but generally when they arrive, they set the standard from then on.
However, if Tim Cook's Apple botches AI, it will be a stain on their history greater than the failure of Apple during the John Sculley era.
Click to expand...
because Apple notoriously worked the backbone for technologies correctly behind the scenes. So when the technology eventually correctly matured, the resulting products came out better. For example, capacitive multi touch screens for phones and ARM chips for laptops (which took a decade plus of work to mature in another one of their products, the iPhone).
In this case though, unless they had somehow created their own massive server farms without the rest of the world knowing, to train models better than everyone else, it seems they haven't followed their formula for success this time.
 
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ThatGuyInLa said:
The only thing I use my Home Pods for is music. My Nest's and Google control the house. Why? Cause it works correctly. Getting Gemini on them is just another added layer of awesome and I can't wait!
Click to expand...
We have the exact opposite experience. Siri is awesome with regards to controlling our HomeKit devices, texting, calendars, reminders...etc. Normal things a personal assistant would help with. But for music we struggle with Siri. We also have many Google Nest devices and they are hit and miss with controlling our smart home stuff. We also have some Alexa devices are they are probably the most stable and useful of the 3.
 
All we have to do is waste billions of gallons of cooling water, higher rates for all, suffer increased electricity rates, and the secret corrupt local permitting processes for gigantic data centers. In return we get... This?
 
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Apples stance on privacy has caused them to be not only late to the game but also for Siri to fall so far behind its almost laughable.
 
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Thisismattwade said:
To get over that I turned off "Hey Siri" on my iPhone and Watch. I have to press and hold the buttons on those two devices to activate Siri. It's very inconvenient, but at least now our kitchen Homepod sets the timer for dinner correctly. Our family can only suffer so many burned dinners due to Siri never starting the timer I asked it to start...
Click to expand...
And this is the solution for AI Era…. 🤣
 
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Unity451 said:
Apple is notoriously not always first to the table, but generally when they arrive, they set the standard from then on.
However, if Tim Cook's Apple botches AI, it will be a stain on their history greater than the failure of Apple during the John Sculley era.
Click to expand...
this excuse is beyond dead. i believed it up to the release of their VR offering. the integration of chatgpt basically shows where they stand
 
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