Currently, only residents from certain countries and US states can opt out of certain Tracking Technologies through our Consent Management Platform. Additional options regarding these technologies may be available on your device, browser, or through industry options like AdChoices. Please see our Privacy Policy for more information.
GOOGLE HAS SPENT much of this year porting its Gemini chatbot to other platforms outside of Android. It arrived on Wear OS smartwatches this summer; it's coming to Android Auto this fall; but now it's Google Home's turn. Say goodbye to Google Assistant, which has powered many of Google's smart home products since its 2016 debut. The command word remains, “Hey Google,” but now it'll activate Gemini.
Nearly 10 years ago, Google Assistant was the company's answer to Amazon's Alexa. It kick-started a voice assistant war, but after a period of stagnation, these chatbots have been revived with the advent of large language models. You can talk to them more conversationally without being restricted by rigid commands, which marks a step-change in how we interact with voice assistants in the home. Creating a routine—a task the average person might find a tad too complicated—is now as simple as asking Gemini to “Turn on the lights and close the shades, and turn on the sound machine every night at 9 pm."
