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Google Home is a "smart home" device developed by Google, Inc.. Similarly to [[Amazon Echo]], it is a voice-activated [[Intelligent Personal Assistants|intelligent personal assistant]] speaker designated as a standalone device for use in households, unlike other personal assistants, such as [[Microsoft Cortana|Cortana]] or [[Apple Siri|Siri]], which require a smartphone or a computer to work. It is powered by Google's own intelligent personal assistant software, Google Assistant.<ref name="ref3">Google Home. Made by Google [online]. Available online at: https://madeby.google.com/home/ (Retrieved 2017, Jun 14)</ref>
It provides the user with various services, ranging from alarm, calculator, or a weather forecast, through translator, daily news, playing music, or TV streaming, to traffic and travel information, shopping, thermostat and light control, as well as many others.<refname="ref4">Features - Google Home. Made by Google [online]. Available online at: https://madeby.google.com/home/features/ (Retrieved 2017, Jun 14)</ref> It also offers access to a number of partner services, including YouTube, Spotify, Netflix, IFTTT, WeMo, Google Calendar and Google Photos.<refname="ref5">Apps & Partners - Google Home. Made by Google [online]. Available online at: https://madeby.google.com/home/partners/ (Retrieved 2017, Jun 14)</ref>
Google Home was released on 4 November 2016 in the United States of America for $129,<ref name="ref1"/> and on 6 April 2017 it was also made available in the United Kingdom for £129.<refname="ref6">ALLISON, Conor. Google Home smart speaker finally gets a UK launch date. Wareable [online]. 2017, Mar 28. Available online at: https://www.wareable.com/smart-home/google-home-uk-launch-release-date-2017 (Retrieved 2017, Jun 13)</ref> On 2 June 2017 it became available for pre-order in Canada for $179.00 CDN<refname="ref7">ETHERINGTON, Darrell. Google Home now available for pre-order in Canada. TechCrunch [online]. 2017, Jun 2. Available online at: https://techcrunch.com/2017/06/02/google-home-now-available-for-pre-order-in-canada/ (Retrieved 2017, Jun 14)</ref> with a retail date of 26 June 2017.<refname="ref8">MOON, Mariella. Google Home will arrive in Canada on June 26th. Engadget [online]. 2017, Jun 2. Available online at: https://www.engadget.com/2017/06/02/google-home-canada-launch-june-26th/ (Retrieved 2017, Jun 14)</ref> So far, it has not been released in any other countries, but Google aims to expand it soon also to Australia, as well as Germany, France and Japan.<refname="ref9">PRIEST, David. 5 ways Google Home just got better. CNET [online]. 2017, May 17. Available online at: https://www.cnet.com/news/google-home-gets-a-slew-of-new-features/ (Retrieved 2017, Jun 14)</ref> In addition to English, it is also gaining support for multiple languages: French, German, Brazilian Portuguese and Japanese soon with Italian, Spanish and Korean coming later.<ref>PRIEST, David. 5 ways Google Home just got better. CNET [online]. 2017, May 17. Available online at: https://www.cnet.com/news/google-home-gets-a-slew-of-new-features/ (Retrieved 2017, Jun 14)<name="ref9"/ref>
== Main characteristics ==
Google Home is setup by the Home app in Android or iOS. After that it could be controlled by voice, app or remote control. It is supposed to work well even in a noisy environment due to its microphones' far-field voice recognition tech, but according to the review on TechRadar, its performance in this regard is a little weaker than Amazon Echo's, possibly due to its reliance on two microphones rather than its Amazon rival's five, meaning that the user may "end up repeating [himself or herself] or raising [his or her] voice to get its attention more".<ref>PINO, Nick, PORTER, John. Google Home review. TechRadar [online]. 2017, Jun 2. Available online at: http://www.techradar.com/reviews/google-home (Retrieved 2017, Jun 14)</ref> The review on CNET<ref>GEBHART, Andrew. Google Home review. CNET [online]. 2017, May 25. Available online at: https://www.cnet.com/products/google-home/review/ (Retrieved 2017, Jun 15)</ref> including a video demonstration of the two devices' listening and voice-recognition skills speaks otherwise, however, so their comparative performance is probably dependent on various factors and the overall differences are mostly negligible.
Similarly to [[Amazon Echo]], Google Home can also be used to control other compatible household appliances such as the smart lightbulbs from Philips or Belkin, or the smart WeMo coffee maker, in addition to its personal assistant functions.<ref>Apps & Partners - Google Home. Made by Google [online]. Available online at: https:name="ref5"//madeby.google.com/home/partners/ (Retrieved 2017, Jun 14)</ref>
Since its release on 4 November 2016, the device has received several new features, such as the multi-user support mentioned above, and further upgrades are currently under development. These include hands-free calling, proactive assistance (e.g. warning the user of bad traffic before a commute), visual responses (via the user's smartphone or television), shortcuts (triggering multiple app commands and devices at once with a single command), and various entertainment upgrades.<ref>PRIEST, David. 5 ways Google Home just got better. CNET [online]. 2017, May 17. Available online at: https:name="ref9"//www.cnet.com/news/google-home-gets-a-slew-of-new-features/ (Retrieved 2017, Jun 15)</ref>
=== Purpose ===
4 November 2016 - the release date of Google Home for the United States of America<ref name="ref1"/>
6 April 2017 - the release date of Google Home for the United Kingdom<ref>ALLISON, Conor. Google Home smart speaker finally gets a UK launch date. Wareable [online]. 2017, Mar 28. Available online at: https:name="ref6"//www.wareable.com/smart-home/google-home-uk-launch-release-date-2017 (Retrieved 2017, Jun 13)</ref>
26 June 2017 - the release date of Google Home for Canada<ref>MOON, Mariella. Google Home will arrive in Canada on June 26th. Engadget [online]. 2017, Jun 2. Available online at: https:name="ref8"//www.engadget.com/2017/06/02/google-home-canada-launch-june-26th/ (Retrieved 2017, Jun 14)</ref>
== Enhancement/Therapy/Treatment ==
One feature of the enhancement provided by Google Home is the control of smart devices. While a considerably large amount of these is already available for households, such as "smart" lightbulbs, thermostats, coffee machines, or various switches, Google Home provides a solution to control them all at once via a single device. Since the development of "smart home" devices is still in its beginnings, one can expect that the variety of these will grow even further in the future. Similarly to [[Amazon Echo]], Google Home also supports the IFTTT (if-this-then-that) app. This app allows the user to create even more complex commands than those available in the original list,<ref>MARTIN, Taylor, PRIEST, David. The complete list of Google Home commands so far. CNET [online]. 2017, Jan 18. Available online at: https://www.cnet.com/how-to/google-home-complete-list-of-commands/ (Retrieved Jun 15, 2017)</ref> such as "open the garage when my car enters a drive way" or "read the news headlines every day at 8 a.m.".<ref>IFTTT. IFTTT [online]. Available online at: https://www.ifttt.com/ (Retrieved Jun 15, 2017)</ref>
Another enhancing feature of Google Home is that it can provide various kind of information just after the voice command. It includes the weather forecast, the density of a traffic on the supposed way, the recipe, which its user requires for cooking and more. It could read headlines from the news and it could answers user's questions. Moreover, if asked to do so, it can also link the original online sources of the provided information (e.g. the recipe in question) on smartphone or computer. It is also capable, among other things, of converting currency, tuning musical instruments, booking flights, or translating between various languages.<ref>Features - Google Home. Made by Google [online]. Available online at: https:name="ref4"//madeby.google.com/home/features/ (Retrieved Jun 15, 2017)</ref>
Even though Google Home does not have an equivalent of [[Amazon Echo]]'s "Skills", it supports a number of third party services, such as Uber or Domino's, thus enabling the user to order a taxi or purchase pizza by a single voice command. Other documented third party services supported by Google Home include 21 Blackjack, Best Dad Jokes, Product Hunt, Tender, or Todoist.<ref>MARTIN, Taylor, PRIEST, David. The complete list of Google Home commands so far. CNET [online]. 2017, Jan 18. Available online at: https://www.cnet.com/how-to/google-home-complete-list-of-commands/ (Retrieved Jun 15, 2017)</ref>
But as smart as the Home and Google Assistant is, none of the things it does are proactive — at least, not yet. They all require me to ask it to do something. A true assistant would know when I need to wake up in the morning based on my schedule, or know when I need to leave for my next meeting. It would know that I typically go grocery shopping on Sundays and would have a list of usual things I buy ready to go in the morning and ask me if there’s anything I’d like to add. Even better, it’d place an order for those groceries for me, so they’d be delivered to my door automatically.<ref>SEIFERT, Dan. Google Home review: Home is where the smart is. The Verge [online]. 2016, Nov 3. Available online at: https://www.theverge.com/2016/11/3/13504658/google-home-review-speaker-assistant-amazon-echo-competitor (Retrieved 2017, Jun 16)</ref></blockquote>
Many of the features that have been missed, such as the proactive assistance mentioned above by Seifert, are currently under development, however, and even more are likely to come in the future.<ref>PRIEST, David. 5 ways Google Home just got better. CNET [online]. 2017, May 17. Available online at: https:name="ref9"//www.cnet.com/news/google-home-gets-a-slew-of-new-features/ (Retrieved 2017, Jun 14)</ref>
== Public Policy ==
