Google Home

Google Home is a voice-activated speaker that gives smart home owners the opportunity to perform simple tasks that most smartphones do today. So, if you’re in search of smart device that allows you to control everything in your home with your voice or mobile apps, Google Home is right for you. It’s a well-built voice-activated smart speaker that sounds pretty good and can help you to do many things. It can help you set alarms, play music, call your friends, control lights and other IoT devices. The smart speaker is able to play at volume levels that are sufficient for most situations. All you need is a WiFi connection and an outlet to plug it in the smart speaker. You will also need a smartphone or tablet to download the Google Home app and set up it yourself.

With it, you have the power to do everything that you would do with your Android or iOS phone, without having to use your smartphone. It is powered by the Google Assistant, so you can ask it questions and tell it to do things. Just start with “Ok Google” or “Hey Google” to get answers from Google, play your favorite songs, tackle your day, enjoy your entertainment and control your smart home. If you have a chrome cast you’ll never have to search for videos again because you can just find them with your voice and it integrates flawlessly. The speaker is surprisingly very robust. It is your own personal assistant and always ready to help.

Features/Benefits

They include:

The ability to control your smart home. With simple voice requests, you can control your compatible lights, smart plugs, thermostat, and so on. Google Home works with more than 1,300 smart IoT devices from over 170 popular brands. Just say “Ok Google, Turn lights red (Great for movie lighting, or night lights),.” and Google Home will turn all lights red.

The opportunity to bring your favorite music to life, using only your voice. It’s high-excursion speaker delivers a big, rich sound in a compact size. You can say, “Ok Google, Play Pandora music (Use this if Pandora is default music source).”

It allows you to create fun for the entire family. You can broadcast messages to other family members using the smart devices around the house. It also allows you to share something new or listen to stories with the Google Assistant.

It is a powerful companion to manage your daily activities. You can get help around the house with things such as your schedule, commute, travel information, etc. With it, you can also get answers from Google weather, news, sports as well as make calls to any personal contact or business with the exception of the emergency number like 911. Just say, “Hey Google, call Daddy.”

With it, you can create personalized responses for you and others in your household with voice recognition. By design, it has the capability to distinguish up to six voices. In other words, with your voice, you can keep your information separate from others. “Ok Google, What is my first schedule today?”

The ability to provide hands-free services such that you can play, pause and rewind videos using your voice. Just pair it with a Chromecast to control your favorite movies and shows, using only your voice. “OK Google, Play a funny cat video from YouTube on the Living Room Chromecast. Then Google Home plays it on Chromecast, which triggers your TV in the living room to show the video.

How to Setup Google Home

Below are the steps you can use to set up your device for the first time from Google Home app:

Plug the power cable into your Google Home device and the power adapter into a wall outlet. You need to plug the device to a power source at all times because it has no battery. Download and Install the Google Home app from either Play store for Android users or App Store for iOS (iPhone & iPad). Connect your Google Home device and smartphone or tablet to the same Wi-Fi network. Click on the Google Home app icon from the screen. Tap “Add +” button and then, “Set up device” Select “Set up new devices in your home”. The app will scan for all nearby devices that are plugged in and ready to set up. Tap the Google Home device you want to add and click Next. The app will now connect your new Google Home to your phone so that you can configure it. At this stage, you will see a prompt that says, “Your phone may disconnect from Wi-Fi during setup”. This is normal and you are not required to do anything. To ensure that you set up the right device, Google usually plays a sound on the device, tap “Yes” when you hear the sound. You can choose to opt in or out of Google’s anonymous user data solicitation by selecting “Yes, I’m in” or “No thanks”

From your Google Home app, you can manage other settings such as Room selection, Address, Media services (Music, Default Music & Videos), device name settings, personalization of results with Voice Match and Google Assistant as well.