While the Google Home Speaker was nowhere to be seen at I/O, the company did announce it’s getting back into the third-party smart speaker game. A new Speaker Reference Design will let manufacturers build Gemini-powered smart speakers, and rumors point to a Walmart Onn speaker being the first. Google also announced it’s letting companies bundle Google Home Premium subscriptions and integrate more Gemini for Home features into their apps. [Image: The as-yet-unreleased Google Home Speaker could be getting some friends. https://platform.theverge.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/IMG_0189.jpeg?quality=90&strip=all]

While the Google Home Speaker was nowhere to be seen at I/O, the company did announce it’s getting back into the third-party smart speaker game. A new Speaker Reference Design…

On the back of a ton of Gemini announcements at I/O 2026, Google is today announcing “Gemini built in” as...