Google Home is Google’s smart speaker that, when configured with the Google Assistant app, responds to voice commands. It can do math, tell jokes, look up the weather forecast, and control our lighting, security system, and thermostat. Welcome to the age of the smart home!

A VERSATILE GADGET

Google Home uses the Google Assistant app (on a tablet, computer, phone, or smart screen) to connect to, communicate with, and control our home automation system.

It can also be used to read out a recipe, find a song, translate a word, order a taxi, find the closest Indian restaurant, look up stock prices, check a store’s opening hours, set the oven timer, look up traffic conditions, wake us up in the morning, and play calming music when going to bed. Simply configure your Google Assistant’s “Routine” mode to play wave, wind, or rain sounds to help us drift off to sleep.

CONTROLLING YOUR MEDIA DEVICES

TVs, radios, and other speakers can be connected to Google Home to make your life easier.

So changing the radio station or playing one of your favourite songs is easy. As for TV, to take advantage of the device’s complete set of features, like streaming, you need Chromecast, a small device that looks like a USB drive and connects to the TV’s HDMI port. Then, once connected to the Internet via Wi-Fi, you can play videos (YouTube, Dailymotion, etc.) on your TV, phone, tablet, and computer.

But that’s not all it can do: simply say the name of the show or movie you want to watch and Chromecast will start playing it on your screen. As for its voice commands, you can ask it to start, pause, or skip an episode, or change the subtitle language.

And if you have an alarm system, Google Home can effortlessly connect to security cameras like the Lyric C2 Wi-Fi model; you can also connect a TV to the Assistant and have it display a live or delayed security-camera feed.

JUST THE RIGHT TEMPERATURE

Controlling your home’s temperature remotely is a snap with wirelessly controlled thermostats, such as the Lyric T5 Wi-Fi model. It can adjust the ambient temperature based on both humidity and the outside temperature. This system will also alert you when it’s time to change the filter of your central heating system.

When connected to your Google Home, it lets you change a room’s temperature with a simple voice command: “OK Google, set the heat to 20.”

CONTROLLING YOUR HOME LIGHTING

If you have wirelessly controlled bulbs that are compatible with Google Home, such as Philips Hue, Jessar, or Bazz, you can ask your assistant to not only turn them on and off, but also activate custom lighting with any combination of colours and brightness settings to better suit your current needs.

Want to know more about everything the Google Home Assistant and Google Mini can do for you? Check out one of the many online videos to learn about all their features. In the meantime, visit our store or browse our website to see the many products that can be connected to your new device.