Tomorrow, Google will announce its competition to Amazon’s Echo device, and it’s possible it will be called Google Home.
Similar to Alexa, Google Home will act as your home’s operating system by answering questions, completing basic tasks and possibly acting as a hub for your home automation devices. Although it will be announced at I/O, it’s possible that the device won’t be released until the fall, to give developers a chance to integrate their third-party services.
Amazon has about a year’s head start on Google, so by waiting until the fall Google Home will have a stronger product launch in order to compete. With the acquisitions of products like Nest and Dropcam, Google Home seems like the culmination of everything Google is trying to achieve in contextual computing.
Julie A. Ask, an analyst at Forrester Research, told the New York Times,
“Amazon, Facebook, Apple and others are all heading towards the virtual agent…Google has seemingly let the competition catch up — level the playing field, even. It’s all the more critical that they do well here, given earlier misses on instant messaging and social media.”
You’ll often hear Google’s leaders say that the company’s ultimate goal is to be the voice-activated computer of Star Trek fame. With their home assistant, Google will be a step closer to achieving their goal.
