Google To Ship Amazon Echo-Killer 'Home' From Next Month

By Sowmya Venkataramani - 05 Oct '16 18:09PM

Google has launched its first voice-powered speaker/assistant Home, issuing a challenge to Amazon's Echo line of speakers.

Leveraging Google's expertise in artificial intelligence, the connected speaker will allow users to find information, play music, and control other internet-connected devices. The device is said to be more enhanced than Echo, having the capability to ask follow-up questions making it more conversational.

Home is powered by Google's AI product Google Assistant which is also part of Google Allo. This is what makes the Home stand out over Echo according to a review in Tom's Guide.

The device includes a feature called My Day in which the Assistant accesses the user's Google account to throw up details of the user's daily schedule including appointments. It can also answer questions using search results from Google as a result of its backed having its powerful search engine, for instance suggesting the wine to pair with an Italian meal.

Home can control a variety of other connected devices in the house - it currently supports Philips, Nest Thermostat, IFTTT, and SmartThings with more soon to follow.

The device can handle other tasks currently found in Echo including calling up songs from YouTube or Spotify, stream music from your phone, and even play TV shoes once Netflix starts its voice support.

Techcrunch reports that the limited testing done at the keynote event showed that Home was able to understand and fulfil most requests "pretty well." Despite having only three speakers as opposed to Echo's seven the device was able to understand queries even from a distance of 10 ft.

Rishi Chandra vice president of product management Google believes that the design of Google Home will also play a key role in setting it apart from rivals. The device spans 3.79 inches in diameter and is just 5.62 inches high, making it a convenient yet unobtrusive addition to rooms. The device comes in an array of colors - mango, marine and violet shades in fabric while metal comes in carbon, copper and snow

Priced at $129, Google announced at its keynote event held on Oct.4 that the device will ship starting Nov. 4. It is currently available for pre-ordering.