Same price as John Lewis. No 2 year warranty but you can collect today. Chromecast for £19 as well.
All comments (23)
whelan189
23 Aug 17#1
Personally Don't find much use for these yet, 2 years then maybe
:smile: my opinion don't get salty
CampGareth to whelan189
23 Aug 17#3
I've got a phone set up in a corner of the kitchen acting as google home. It's useful for timers, weather, calendar entries. Recently we got a smart light (a yeelight RGB for a tenner as a trial of smart lighting) which google assistant can control and that's pretty useful (dimmable lights but no getting up to hit the lightswitch? Yes please).
I agree that it's not the most useful thing yet but I think it will be.
ollie87 to whelan189
23 Aug 17#5
Don't worry, GCHQ and the NSA find them very useful.
Accacin to ollie87
24 Aug 17#16
I mean you already most likely carry around a device with an always on mic.
Keydogg
23 Aug 17#2
Ordered! Cheers
alltaken123
23 Aug 17#4
If you have a chromecast or two, these are very useful.
sotomonkey
23 Aug 17#6
Personally I just hate having to say 'OK GOOGLE' all the time. Doesn't exactly slip off the tongue.
Wellbetr to sotomonkey
23 Aug 17#8
"Hey Google" works and I don't find it as bad as "OK Google" which is clunky. "Hey Dougal" also works and I quite like it :smile:
Pleased with mine which I got a couple months ago with the double chromecast bundle and just bought another now that they dropped to £99. If you commit and get some smart plugs/lights it's great, and the chromecast functionality is really useful. Changing Spotify play lists lying in bed and then turning the lights off without having to move and disrupt that comfy position is great. Turning the fan on at 3am without having to fumble around in the dark is cool too, excuse the pun.
If you put a bit of effort into using Google's other products it really shines. "Hey Google, show pictures of Kate in Philippines on TV" will search through your google photos account for people you've tagged as Kate that are geo-tagged in the Philippines and cast to your TV. It is actually rather scary as you can ask it to show all pictures of a red car (for example) and it will identify them from your photos.
daskapital
23 Aug 17#7
Same price in Maplin, I assume this is a google deal / price reduction rather than an Argos / Maplin one. I wouldn't be surprised if it's this price everywhere at the moment.
I have both, and I do prefer google actually because I can ask it stuff and it will actually search for an answer. While Alexa is supposed to be able to use bing etc.. more often than not I ask it something only to get "hmm... i don't know that"... well... why not bloody look it up for me then ? like google does !! haha
But, interaction is where Alexa wins IMHO. It has way more "skills" than home does... but home is catching up fast.
And those who say it's a government listening device... well... see that smartphone you have in your pocket? That is too.. Stingray.... stingray.... standby for action !
sam_of_london to daskapital
25 Aug 17#20
Smartphone is not listening all the time . Only when you press microphone button
Funso to sam_of_london
25 Aug 17#21
Depends which smart phone and which operating system.
An Apple phone or iPad from the last 3 years most certainly is always listening, and any android phone that support Hey Google without a button press (most mid-range and higher phones released in the last 2 years). These phones are always listening, because they offer features which allow you to talk to them while being many feet away from them which obviously require that funcionality. Even if you turn the feature off (you can) it doesn not turn the microphone off, it stops apps and the Operating System from engaging with the audio received.
source: me, I develop for both IOS and Android (That said, I very much doubt anyone is listening to you anyway, very few people are interesting enough to listen to, and those that are are probably not looking at threads about Google Home)
daskapital to sam_of_london
25 Aug 17#22
are you quite sure of that ?
how do you know? because you read it online somewhere? or you just guessed.
Regarding who's listening in ... probably nobody... until you say something interesting.
Long before Snowden appeared on the circuit, people who were interested knew about all this stuff long before he "revealed" anything. Big computer systems like ECHELON monitor traffic, then they flag it for a human to analyse. So is someone listening to your phone/amazon echo/other device? Probably not, until you say something that is of interest...then you get flagged for special attention ;D
Of course, when asked, everyone will say they don't listen to your devices , or that if they do then it's discarded until you say the magic words OK GOOGLE / ALEXA etc etc.
Lots of people report seeing adverts for things they have verbally discussed. The bottom line is, unless you are sitting there analysing the traffic coming/going to your phone over the internet, then you have no idea what the hardware is doing you only have the word of the manufacturer.. which may or may not mean anything at all.
kimbyanne
23 Aug 17#9
Anyone know if Google Home works with WeMo Smart bulbs? We have Alexa but that doesn't work with WeMo (does in USA though)
ontwofronts
23 Aug 17#10
My Alexa works with my Wemo smart plug
kimbyanne
23 Aug 17#11
Yeah I think Alexa works with the smart plug but randomly not with the smart bulbs?
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Opening post
All comments (23)
:smile: my opinion don't get salty
I agree that it's not the most useful thing yet but I think it will be.
Pleased with mine which I got a couple months ago with the double chromecast bundle and just bought another now that they dropped to £99. If you commit and get some smart plugs/lights it's great, and the chromecast functionality is really useful. Changing Spotify play lists lying in bed and then turning the lights off without having to move and disrupt that comfy position is great. Turning the fan on at 3am without having to fumble around in the dark is cool too, excuse the pun.
If you put a bit of effort into using Google's other products it really shines. "Hey Google, show pictures of Kate in Philippines on TV" will search through your google photos account for people you've tagged as Kate that are geo-tagged in the Philippines and cast to your TV. It is actually rather scary as you can ask it to show all pictures of a red car (for example) and it will identify them from your photos.
I have both, and I do prefer google actually because I can ask it stuff and it will actually search for an answer. While Alexa is supposed to be able to use bing etc.. more often than not I ask it something only to get "hmm... i don't know that"... well... why not bloody look it up for me then ? like google does !! haha
But, interaction is where Alexa wins IMHO. It has way more "skills" than home does... but home is catching up fast.
And those who say it's a government listening device... well... see that smartphone you have in your pocket? That is too.. Stingray.... stingray.... standby for action !
An Apple phone or iPad from the last 3 years most certainly is always listening, and any android phone that support Hey Google without a button press (most mid-range and higher phones released in the last 2 years). These phones are always listening, because they offer features which allow you to talk to them while being many feet away from them which obviously require that funcionality. Even if you turn the feature off (you can) it doesn not turn the microphone off, it stops apps and the Operating System from engaging with the audio received.
source: me, I develop for both IOS and Android (That said, I very much doubt anyone is listening to you anyway, very few people are interesting enough to listen to, and those that are are probably not looking at threads about Google Home)
how do you know? because you read it online somewhere? or you just guessed.
Regarding who's listening in ... probably nobody... until you say something interesting.
Long before Snowden appeared on the circuit, people who were interested knew about all this stuff long before he "revealed" anything. Big computer systems like ECHELON monitor traffic, then they flag it for a human to analyse. So is someone listening to your phone/amazon echo/other device? Probably not, until you say something that is of interest...then you get flagged for special attention ;D
Of course, when asked, everyone will say they don't listen to your devices , or that if they do then it's discarded until you say the magic words OK GOOGLE / ALEXA etc etc.
Check this out : bbc.com/new…549
Lots of people report seeing adverts for things they have verbally discussed. The bottom line is, unless you are sitting there analysing the traffic coming/going to your phone over the internet, then you have no idea what the hardware is doing you only have the word of the manufacturer.. which may or may not mean anything at all.