For Android users, the command ‘Ok Google’ is pretty familiar. The Google Assistant that was limited to phones is now available with Google Home. Powered by Google Assistant, Google Home and Google Home Mini are Google’s voice-activated speakers that are customised for India. This Google Assistant will take contextual requests from users. You can play songs, playlists, artists, and albums from your favourite music subscription services like Google Play Music (free subscription for six months), Saavn and Gaana. You can also pair Google Home or Home Mini with your favorite Bluetooth speaker and set it to be the default output for all your music.
Looking like an home accessory, the Google Homes’ top surface has LEDs that light up when Google Home recognizes “Ok Google”, so users know when it is listening. Google Home has been designed with two microphones that utilize a technique called neural beam forming to enable accurate far-field voice recognition. Google has simulated hundreds of thousands of noisy environments and applied machine learning to recognize patterns that allow it to filter and separate speech from noise. This allows Google Home to deliver best-in-class voice recognition and minimize error rates — even from across the room.
The smaller version of the Google Home is the Google Home Mini. Google Home Mini is sleek and smooth, with no corners or edges. And it’s small enough to easily place anywhere in your home. It’s almost entirely enclosed in custom fabric. Google has created this material from scratch, right down to the yarn. It’s durable and soft, but also transparent enough to let through both light and sound. The four LED lights underneath the fabric light up to show you when it hears you or when it’s thinking. Mini has far-field mics so it can hear you even when there’s music playing or loud noise in the background. Its circular design can project 360-degree sound, with just one speaker.
One of the highlight of Google Home is that up to six people can connect their account to one Google Home, so if you ask your Assistant to tell you about your day, it can distinguish your voice from other people in your family, and give you personalised answers.
One can even control smart devices at home with the Google Home. Chromecast users can also use voice commands to play Netflix, or YouTube on their TV, and binge watch their favourite show. Enjoy a multi-room experience by grouping Google Home devices together (with Chromecast Audio or Chromecast built-in speakers too) to listen to the same song in every room.
Google Home and Google Home Mini is priced at Rs. 9,999, and Rs. 4,499 respectively and will be available for purchase online exclusively on Flipkart, and in over 750 retail stores across the country including Reliance Digital, Croma, Bajaj Electronics, Vijay Sales, Sangeetha, and Poorvika. Google Home Mini is available in two colours – Chalk and Charcoal – while Google Home will be available in Chalk. Coral will be coming soon.
The launch also comes with exciting new offers: when buying Google Home or Google Home Mini on Flipkart you get a free JioFi router along with special offers on music subscriptions; when buying a Google Home at Reliance Digital or MyJio stores you get a free JioFi router with 100GB of high-speed 4G data (worth Rs 2,499), and at select Philips Hue and Croma outlets you get a Philips Hue + Google Home Mini at a special bundled price. Also ACT Fibernet retail customers subscribing to 12-month advance rental plans of 90MBPS and above, will receive a Google Home Mini. And above all, users get 10 percent cashback when purchasing using HDFC Bank credit cards.
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