Скачать или смотреть Google launches talkative home assistant in the UK

(28 Mar 2017) LEADIN:
Google is set to launch its voice-controlled Home smart speaker in the UK - the first country to get the talkative device after debuting in the US last November.
Experts say Google is playing catch up with Amazon's Echo speaker, but believe the California-based company's wide ecosystem will tempt many users.
STORYLINE:
It looks simple enough, but it's when owners begin talking to their Google Home smart speaker that things get interesting.
Ask about your day, and the Home speaker will give you the time, weather, estimated commute, the news and upcoming calendar appointments.
It will convert miles into feet, and dollars into euros. Want to hear Adele or Coldplay? Home will fetch you some tunes.
Launched in the US last November, now the California-based company is bringing the device to the UK.
"So, today we're announcing Google Home, which is our hands-free, smart speaker with Google Assistant built in," says Suveer Kothari, director of product planning and partnerships at Google.
"Helps you answer questions, get things done in the home, listen to music, and control your devices around the home, all with your voice, in a really easy, simple way.
"So, it's great to use this device when you're at home, you've got your hands full and you just want to get simple things done.
"So, for example, playing that song or setting a timer, or even just asking a question. So, for example; Okay Google, play Uptown Funk."
If this all sounds familiar, it's because Amazon has already been at it for about two years.
Its Echo speaker can do what Home does and more, thanks to Amazon's head start in partnering with third-party services such as Domino's Pizza and Fitbit.
But Home is smarter in a few other ways, as it taps into what it knows about you from Gmail, Maps and other Google services.
It's also slightly cheaper - Google says its Home speaker will be priced at £129 British pounds when it launches in the UK this April.
That's a little less than the Amazon Echo which is priced at £149 British pounds in the UK.
The Home and Echo speaker both work as extensions of your iPhone or Android device.
Sure, you can check the weather on the phone, but why not just ask the speaker? And no need to lift a finger to check the calendar.
With guests over, you can resolve trivia disputes using voice searches and avoid screens.
Both devices work as alarm clocks or timers - great in the kitchen.
Both can control lights, thermostats and other internet-connected appliances, though users need capable devices first.
"I think so far as a first effort it's very, very impressive, obviously Google has been doing this for quite some time now with their Google Assistant on their phones," says Jon Porter, home technology writer at tech website 'TechRadar'.
"Google Home is really the first time they're bringing this into a home environment like Amazon has done with its Echo speaker so Google weirdly is actually playing catch up with Amazon at this point, whereas previously they were kind of leading the way in the voice-controlled market on the phone."
Partnerships will make these speakers more useful.
Users can ask Echo about Fitbit goals or order pizza from Domino's, they can't yet with Home.
Amazon has over a thousand such partnerships, known as skills.
Google's integrations are initially limited to calling for Ubers, changing news or music providers and controlling smart devices from Phillips, SmartThings and Nest (a Google sister company).
"I think the advantage Google has is their existing massive eco-system of different services," says Porter.

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