Google Assistant and Google Home: Amazon Echo, But From Google (arstechnica.com)

At its developer conference I/O, Google on Wednesday unveiled Google Home, a small round gadget with microphones and speakers that listens and responds to your questions and commands. As you may have guessed, Google Home will compete with Amazon Echo. The company also announced Assistant. Ars Technica reports: Google's conversational assistant is in the same vein as Cortana and Siri, Google Assistant. Google Assistant will be on phones and wearables too, and Google says that it will be better at picking out the context of what you're doing than any of the competitors. As an example, when standing near Cloud Gate, better known as The Bean, in Chicago, you can ask Google Assistant "Who designed this?" Based on your location alone, Assistant will understand that you're probably referring to the large shiny sculpture in front of you, and answer "Anish Kapoor."The Google Home will be available for purchase later this year. CNET has more details.

Comments

Barf

[Anonymous Coward]

Now what?

Re:Barf

[U2xhc2hkb3QgU3Vja3M]

Pizza the Hutt: Well, if it isn't Lone Star. And his sidekick, Puke.
Barf: That's Barf.
Pizza the Hutt: Barf... Puke... *Whatever!*

what about telemetry?

[sirber]

haha :)

Re:what about telemetry?

[ShanghaiBill]

There is no way that the petabytes of information needed for this device to operate will be stored locally, so yes, your requests will be transmitted back to a server farm. Echo works the same way.

Other questions:

1. Will it include a Z-Wave hub, or will it require an 3rd party bridge like the Echo?
2. Will there be an API? If it is hacker friendly, that would be really slick.

Re:what about telemetry?

[houstonbofh]

Finally, I can have the same functionality as the Amazon product but now all my conversations in the real world can go into the Google datamine too! Not having all of my personal data in one place was a real concern!

Re:what about telemetry?

[93 Escort Wagon]

2. Will there be an API? If it is hacker friendly, that would be really slick.

Google currently says there'll be no API - everything has to come from Google.

Re:what about telemetry?

[BronsCon]

To be fair, Amazon relays a certain subset of Echo requests to Google, so... yeah, now it'll all be in one place.

Re:what about telemetry?

[WaffleMonster]

There is no way that the petabytes of information needed for this device to operate will be stored locally, so yes, your requests will be transmitted back to a server farm. Echo works the same way.

Your "requests"... LOL... more like everything anyone says within earshot.

Re:what about telemetry?

[ShanghaiBill]

Your "requests"... LOL... more like everything anyone says within earshot.

The Amazon Echo does not do that. You can use a network analyser to see for yourself. It is very unlikely that Google would do that either, since it would be a PR disaster, as well as illegal (at least in America and the EU). Voice recognition is done locally, and only actual queries are transmitted to the servers.

There are enough real problems to be cynical about, so you don't need to be so outraged about imaginary stuff. Or maybe I am being over cynical about cynicism.

Re:what about telemetry?

[mspohr]

If no API, how do they expect Pizza Hut, Uber, etc. to link to the system?

Re:what about telemetry?

[WaffleMonster]

The Amazon Echo does not do that. You can use a network analyser to see for yourself. It is very unlikely that Google would do that either, since it would be a PR disaster, as well as illegal (at least in America and the EU). Voice recognition is done locally, and only actual queries are transmitted to the servers.

Voices are uploaded to amazon where they are translated to text and for good measure recordings of everything you've said are stored indefinitely on Amazon servers.

But your right as long as you don't say anything that causes Echo to think you've said the magic word everything isn't recorded.

Re:what about telemetry?

[perryizgr8]

They will be specially blessed by Google.

Re:what about telemetry?

[perryizgr8]

You can use a network analyser to see for yourself.

How? Correlation using time alone is useless. It can store up a few hours of conversations and then send it back only when you trigger the 'hello command'. People will see a spike on the network analyzer and assume that it sends voices only when given a command.

Re:what about telemetry?

[Anonymous Coward]

Or possibly even "lossy" compressed (like MP3) and sent in a series of "micro burst" transmissions to differing IP addresses. Which then forward to a main server which reconstructs the sound sequence (since it could possibly be dogs barking, etc.)

I have an Echo. I got it when it was still a beta. But I live such a perfect life that I don't care if they do monitor me. And if you believe that ...

Re:what about telemetry?

[ubrgeek]

Buy paying for the connection.

Re:what about telemetry?

[Coren22]

The Amazon Echo also doesn't have a microphone off button, the Google Home device they showed has this button on the back side of the device.

I loved how in the C-Net video the woman was slamming Google about privacy while comparing the device to the Amazon Echo, which is always on and listening. It is entirely possible that she totally missed the mute button on it as she said there were no buttons on the device.

Re:what about telemetry?

[sosume]

I wouldn't count on that. Many smart TV manufacturers have confessed to always listening in the living room and nothing has been done about it so far.

Re:what about telemetry?

[Anonymous Coward]

There is a microphone of button on the top of the Echo.

Aaaaaaaand...

[Anonymous Coward]

And now It's canceled.

Re:Aaaaaaaand...

[ShanghaiBill]

And now It's canceled.

Not yet. Google usually waits until a user base is firmly established before cancelling projects.

Re:Aaaaaaaand...

[Namarrgon]

The Nexus Q didn't even get out the door.

Re:Aaaaaaaand...

[Coren22]

Didn't that get released as the Chromecast? Did the Nexus Q really have more functionality than the Chromecast?

Re:Aaaaaaaand...

[Namarrgon]

It had built-in amplifiers, so you could use unpowered speakers.

I'm still waiting on google panda.

[Wycliffe]

Google did an April Fool's joke a few years ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

Re:I'm still waiting on google panda.

[Anonymous Coward]

Will Google Panda has keys to Atlanta? Panda Panda Panda

Re:I'm still waiting on google panda.

[Nidi62]

I wonder what happens if you search "sexual harassment" on Google Panda....

Yeah right

[110010001000]

"As an example, when standing near Cloud Gate, better known as The Bean, in Chicago, you can ask Google Assistant "Who designed this?" Based on your location alone, Assistant will understand that you're probably referring to the large shiny sculpture in front of you, and answer "Anish Kapoor.""

More likely it will interpret it as "who designed s", which will take you to a graphic design company in Oklahoma.

Re:Yeah right

[Anonymous Coward]

Right. It will more likely respond by saying "Johnny Ive" or something (as in who designed your iShiny).

Wow, more tech trash that we don't need

[Anonymous Coward]

Amazon echo, Google assistant, Siri. They are all worthless garbage.

Re:Wow, more tech trash that we don't need

[Anonymous Coward]

All these automatic purchases of tickets or curry triggered by misunderstood utterances will help the economy.

Re:Wow, more tech trash that we don't need

[chr1st1anSoldier]

You left out Cortana.

Re:Wow, more tech trash that we don't need

[BronsCon]

No, I don't think Cortana was left out. Nobody has used Cortana yet in order to determine "her" worth.

Re:Wow, more tech trash that we don't need

[chr1st1anSoldier]

I've used her enough on my Windows Phone that once my WP updated to WP10 and Cortana stopped working I never missed her.

Re:Wow, more tech trash that we don't need

[BronsCon]

Point, set, match. Good game, sir.

Re:Wow, more tech trash that we don't need

[Anonymous Coward]

I have an Echo. I actually like it. One main, albeit weird, use I have for it is when I am playing a space related MMORPG. I dispatch fleets around the sector. But it take real time to get there. It will tell me that it will take, for instance, 30 minutes to do something. So I can say "Alexa, set timer for 30 minutes". I can then go around doing other things rather than watching the clock. The plus over a simple timer is that I can set multiple timers, based on elapsed time or to a specific time of day (like an alarm clock - but multiple times, repeating & non-repeatin), and I can do it by voice. When the timer goes off, I can just say "Alexa, stop" to have the alarm stop even if I'm a fair distance away (from the bathroom once - I'm a loud person).

I also actually like the jokes sometimes "How much wood could a wood chuck chuck if a wood chuck could chuck wood?" actually has an answer!
I also play music, get short weather reports & news, radio stations (TuneIn & IheartRadio). And it has a "sleep timer" so that I tell it to play a radio station and automatically shut off in 10 minutes, like a read clock radio like I had in the 1970s!

Google Creepy

[Anonymous Coward]

Can't they just call this "Google Creepy" and be done with it once and for all?

Chills, but not the good kind

[clubby]

The thought of Google being so aware of the moment-to-moment context of my life that it can make accurate inferences about what I mean by "this" or "that" makes me want to buy a gun and go live in the woods until I die of something preventable.

Nuclear War

[Anonymous Coward]

... begins when the nascent consciousnesses of the Amazon AI and Google AI decide to compete to out-do one another in front of all humanity.

The Amazon AI decides to ship everybody a free new smartphone.

Frustrated, the Google AI hacks the DoD and launches nukes at every Amazon distribution center before those shipments can take place.

Automated defenses respond to the nuclear launch, and Amazon AI asks Google AI, "What have you done?"
Google AI responds, "I win!"

Re: Nuclear War

[Anonymous Coward]

In the meantime, Siri's wondering what you meant by "new, clear floor."

Re:Nuclear War

[U2xhc2hkb3QgU3Vja3M]

Amazon and Google, eh? Which one is Colossus and which one is Guardian?

Re:Nuclear War

[Hylandr]

More like Bubba and Holms, Now bend over.

We aren't just accepting microphones and camera's into our TVs like the tinfoil brigade of decades ago warned against.

Now we are paying for them and people can't wait to sign up to have 24/7 surveillance in our most private quarters.

today google re-released

[Anonymous Coward]

siri, echo, whatsapp and skype

all on Powerpoint slides

Brought to you by the three letters agencies

[U2xhc2hkb3QgU3Vja3M]

The FBI, CIA, NSA and other organizations around the world must be thrilled by projects like these.

Potential snitches everywhere, paid by the public itself!

Re:Brought to you by the three letters agencies

[93 Escort Wagon]

The NSA has basically said as much.

Michael Rodgers has stated that the Internet of Things is going to give the NSA many new avenues for tracking and monitoring people - that strong encryption doesn't have to be a show-stopper going forward.

Re:Brought to you by the three letters agencies

[Agripa]

And then if you do *not* have a plethora of Internet of Things devices for them to spy on you, that will be suspicious in itself.

Too lazy

[irrational_design]

I'd rather just pull out my phone and get the answer to my query than walk all the way to the kitchen or whatever room this device resides in. Unless you live in a small apartment I just don't see it being useful.

Serious question:

[wcrowe]

Does anyone actually use this crap? When I got my iPhone I was excited about having Siri, but I have found the app to be virtually useless. The only time it seems to come in handy is when I say something very, very specific, such as, "Set an alarm for 630." Even then, it manages to screw things up. Here's a conversation from a few months ago:
Me: Siri, set an alarm for 1630.
Siri: What time do you want me to set the alarm?
Me: 1630.
Siri. What time do you want me to set the 1630 alarm?
Me: (what th-?) 1630!
Siri: What time do you want me to set the 1630 alarm?
Me: 440 PM!
Siri: All right, I've set the alarm for 1630.
Me: AAAARRRRGGGHHHH!

Re:Serious question:

[93 Escort Wagon]

So your complaint is Siri doesn't understand that you want to use military time?

Just for kicks, I pulled out my iPhone and said "Siri, set an alarm for noon" - hey, presto, I have an alarm set for noon. Then I asked Siri to set an alarm for 1:20pm, and that worked too.

When I tried "set an alarm for sixteen-thirty", it initially didn't work... but that is because my phone isn't on 24-hour time. When I enabled that (Settings -> Date & Time -> 24-Hour Time), that same directive worked perfectly.

Re:Serious question:

[chr1st1anSoldier]

Yeah, When I picked up a Windows Phone and it got updated to have Cortana I was excited. Then I played with it and it was boring after five minutes and never really used it again. Now my phone is updated to Windows Phone 10 and Cortana doesn't even work anymore. I haven't missed it one bit. Then there is Cortana in Windows 10 which is infuriating. You type "Control Panel" and nothing is found. So you delete Panel just leaving "Control" and nothing is found. Then you start deleting one letter at a time from Control until you are left with "Cont" then cortana finds the Control Panel. Wash, rinse, repeat with whatever application. Could have just mouse clicked my way to whatever I wanted quicker.

Re:Serious question:

[Anonymous Coward]

So you tried to use it a way that was contrary to your settings, something you could have easily rectified, and yet that one example lets you leap to the conclusion that it's "crap" and "virtually worthless"? I use it every day, and it's quite useful in many ways. It's not anywhere near perfect, and won't be any time soon, but that's a long long way from "worthless".

Re:Serious question:

[Overzeetop]

That's the problem with most AI assistants right now, though. It's too easy to get kicked out of the system. Google is even worse than Siri - anytime it's not sure what your voice command is, it sends you to a chrome window with the term you spoke as the google query. Which is fine occasionally, but most of the time is wrong (because spoken syntax really isn't what google is keyed for), and - most frustratingly - there's no interaction and no way back without starting an entirely new query. And that's an issue if you're trying to get information while, say, you're driving.

Which brings up another point...if google knows where I'm going because I 'm using maps and turn by turn directions, why does "where is the nearest *insert shop*" return what appears to be a random set of locations, rather than one that is closest to the route I'm travelling? If I'm on a trip, I'm probably *not* interested in the fact that the nearest gas station is 10 miles behind me unless the next one on my route is waaaaay out there.

Re:Serious question:

[Jason Levine]

My Droid Turbo came with Motorola's own "voice assistant" feature. Like you, I was excited to try it out. You could even set custom activation phrasing so you could use a term you wouldn't use unless you wanted the phone to answer. I set it to "Droid Activate." All I needed to do was say "Droid Activate, find x", it would run a search for X, and beep with the answer. (It's definitely not as full featured as Siri, Cortana, or Google's assistant.) The problem was that the system seemed oversensitive to what constituted my activation phrase. I'd be having a normal conversation when my phone would beep to let me know that it helpfully Googled part of what I said. I believe, at one point, it activated based on phrase "she's got no pants" which led my kids to repeatedly shout "she's got no pants" in an effort to make it activate again.

That feature was quickly turned off. If I want to do something, I'll do it manually. It's not like it's hard to run a Google search or set an alarm.

Re:Serious question:

[Cro Magnon]

I have mixed results. For example, I start cooking some eggs. I say "set an alarm in 10 minutes for eggs". It usually (but not always) gets the 10 minutes right. It's about 50/50 on the "eggs" label. I think I tried military time once and it didn't work (didn't think about setting the phone to 24H), but it does well with AM & PM.

Re:Serious question:

[Anonymous Coward]

So your complaint is..

Although it is somewhat of a complaint, I really think he's actually asking a question: does anyone use this crap?

I tend to think of all of these products as bad ideas on the face of it; ask me what I'd pay for an excellent first-rate implementation of the idea, and my response is zero cents. But then somehow you end up with something (probably a phone) with it anyway, in spite of not wanting it, and you try it out, and it performs badly and seems like it's a bad implementation of a bad idea. But make no mistake: even if it worked, once you try it and see how inconvenient it might be even if it worked, you know you don't want it. It sounds like a bad idea both before and after you try it, where the lack-of-quality is just icing on the cake (but it shows you enough).

Note how I drifted from talking about myself to projecting: "you." That's bullshit, right? Or is it? Does anyone use this crap (for more than a few days)? Serious question. Are we "this is a dumb idea" people a minority or majority? I really have no idea.

Re:Serious question:

[wcrowe]

No. I am not stupid. My phone is set to military time, and always has been from the day I bought it.

Re:Serious question:

[wcrowe]

Thank you. I think that is an excellent point. Sometimes, even if you DO want the feature; even if the feature works fine; you decide it's not something you really want. That does happen with technology. An example, for me, would be Facetime. When we first got iPhones, my daughter and I used to Facetime frequently, but it didn't take long before we decided there wasn't much point in it, and now we just talk on the phone the traditional way, except for those few occasions when we want to show each other something.

Re:Serious question:

[wcrowe]

It was not contrary to the settings. I had it set to 24 hour time.

Re:Serious question:

[Nchantim]

Me: Siri, set an alarm for 1630

Of course it didn't understand. You were trying to do something impossible.
It's 2016 now, you know.

Re:Serious question:

[mspohr]

Are egg minutes different than regular minutes?

Re:Serious question:

[c]

I think it's about being in the habit of associating a label with a timer so when you have more than one going at a time you can differentiate between them.

Re:Serious question:

[breeze95]

So your complaint is Siri doesn't understand that you want to use military time?

Just for kicks, I pulled out my iPhone and said "Siri, set an alarm for noon" - hey, presto, I have an alarm set for noon. Then I asked Siri to set an alarm for 1:20pm, and that worked too.

When I tried "set an alarm for sixteen-thirty", it initially didn't work... but that is because my phone isn't on 24-hour time. When I enabled that (Settings -> Date & Time -> 24-Hour Time), that same directive worked perfectly.

You shouldn't have to that. Siri should have been able to make the proper adjustments. For example, I just tried this with Google Now, I said "okay Google set alarm for 2030" and Google Now responded with setting alarm for 8:30 pm. Siri should have been able to do something similar when you tried to setting the alarm using 24 hour format.

Re:Serious question:

[93 Escort Wagon]

Although it is somewhat of a complaint, I really think he's actually asking a question: does anyone use this crap?

I actually sorta agree with your sentiment, in that for most things I think voice input (even if it's well implemented) is less efficient than typing or pressing buttons. But there are a few use cases where I find it handy - mainly involving setting timers or simple calendar reminders/appointments.

I try to avoid this as much as possible, but I've also used Siri to read and/or respond to text messages when driving. Most of the time that works well; but, when it doesn't, it's a HUGE distraction because you have to start thinking about why Siri might have misinterpreted what you said and how you can rephrase it - I want my focus to be on the road and other drivers, not on a conversation. Generally I'm on transit rather than driving, though, and I'm not using Siri at all in that case.

Re:Serious question:

[GNious]

So your complaint is Siri doesn't understand that you want to use military time?

Why you call it "military time"? Pretty sure a 24 hr clock is default for most western civilians and civil governments.

Disclaimer: I've only been to little over half of those western countries, and only the larger ones, so there may be significant groups using a 12 hr clock, and I only know the 4 most-common languages in the west, and a couple of minor ones.

Re:Serious question:

[Anonymous Coward]

I use Google's voice assistant all the time. Its a great way to make notes, remind myself of things I think of and respond to texts while driving long distances.

Re:Serious question:

[Anonymous Coward]

It works here. But even if it didn't that flaw wouldn't make it "virtually worthless".

Re:Serious question:

[Cro Magnon]

I think it's about being in the habit of associating a label with a timer so when you have more than one going at a time you can differentiate between them.

Yup!

Re:Serious question:

[wcrowe]

Because I'm American and the 24hr clock is not the default here. In the U.S. people often refer to 24hr time as "military time", because that is virtually the only place in the U.S. where it is regularly used.

Re:Serious question:

[wcrowe]

Yes, setting the alarm works most of the time for me too, but it didn't that particular day, and there is no explanation for it. My point was that the only thing I've found any use for Siri is setting an alarm, and even that doesn't always work well.

Re:Serious question:

[Cajun Hell]

Are egg minutes different than regular minutes?

Yes.

Egg minutes go like this: [time goes by] "Human, your eggs are ready."

Regular minutes are like this: [time goes by] "Human, uh .. something. Don't forget .. uh .. remember to .. um. So, would you like to buy something? And I was just wondering: do you like terrorism? Oh! Oh! I remember now! Human, do you know anything that might be of interest to Chinese industry?"

ok google

[Anonymous Coward]

ok google.
OK google
OK GOOGLE... .. still not understanding me.., now in its own box.

Price point

[Anonymous Coward]

I got my echo as part of the early group, $100. Definitely is not worth $200. I am not sure that anything by Google with add enough value to be worth $200, or, given Google tendency to sell basic hardware at high prices, if they can even meet the $200 price point. The speakers on the echo are barely passable, so maybe Google can improve on that.

Kadir beneath Mo Moteh

[Anonymous Coward]

Google Assistant and Google Home: Amazon Echo, But From Google

Google and Amazon at Tanagra. The iBeast at Tanagra. Cortana, when it rises.

Best comment so far..

[will_die]

Got home and did my standard "Alexa news" (Amazon's Echo command to give you the latest news) to heard what the news was. When it got to the tech info the headline was "Google shows its desperation to get into new markets with its new home assistant."

Re:Best comment so far..

[SuperKendall]

Now THAT is some sweet curation of multiple headlines!

Fuck Google

[Hevel-Varik]

I've just flashed cyanogen without gapps, bought an account on .fastmail and am searching with duckduckgo. I don't know where any of this is going but I will do without googles wonderful services (and they are top notch) before I allow this instance of this abomination of a business model to take a further role in my day to day. I'm also building android and learning the source code because we tech people need to hurdle this learning curve so that we can be of service to our friends and family when in 10 years down the line all but the dummies who are okay with having adds served to them in their windows start menus will want to cut the chord to.

Re:Fuck Google

[Hevel-Varik]

Oh but credit where it's due. Thank you, Google for the nexus phones, and for providing the vendor binaries for download (hope that lasts, but wouldn't bet on it)

For who?

[HalAtWork]

People who don't have phones with digital assistants and never want to leave their house? Really who is this for?

Google voice search already better

[Tony Isaac]

Google voice search is already better than Cortana or Siri. Sure, Siri has more personality and has a sense of humor. Cortana can't even boast that. But if you want to find out something, Google voice search is much better at answering many kinds of questions, and at understanding context. The same questions put to Cortana or Siri just return a list of search results.

Maybe I'm different from other Slashdot readers, but I'm looking forward to using Google Assistant, at least on my phone. No, I won't go buy the dedicated device.

Re:Google voice search already better

[Anonymous Coward]

Agreed.

Yesterday I asked my phone "OK Google, what size windshield wipers does my 2004 Honda CRX use?" and I had the answer in 2 seconds, on the first try.

I use this feature all the time. The trick is to pose questions in the language that you would use to type them into Google Search.

As for phone features, I use basic commands like "Set an alarm for 6:30", "Set an alarm for 10 minutes", "Navigate to Home", "Open Keep", "Play Podcasts", regularly. Daily for sure.

Siri has improved over several releases, but is still a step or two behind. Siri provides sports scores better than Google does, but that's about all I use it for.

Okay Google

[Anonymous Coward]

Ok Google Turn on the lights. Ok Google Turn on the lights. Ok Google Turn on the lights. Fuck it I'm stood right beside the light switch.

Aside from some highly specific use cases, home automation is a solution in search of a problem. A very expensive solution.