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System Integration for the Connected Home

Google Takes on Home Devices

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The Made by Google event involved more than Pixel-branded phones-- the search company is set to take on the connected home with the the Home smart speaker, the simply named Wi-Fi router and the 4K-capable Chromecast Ultra.

Made by GoogleFirst seen back in May at the I/O conference, Home is the company's Alexa-style smart speaker. Similar in shape to an oversized salt shaker, the speaker runs on Assistant (the Google voice-controlled AI platform), and can play music from YouTube or Spotify, queue media on Netflix or Hulu, and answer spoken questions.

Google is also ready to take on home networking through Wi-Fi, a followup to the OnHub router similar to the Eero. The system uses multiple, puck-like access points to blanket the home with wireless access, with Network Assist software automatically optimising the network. A companion app allows users to manually manage users.

The final Google device announced at the event confirms a recent rumour-- the Chromecast Ultra, a 4K-capable version of the media streaming dongle. It supports videos with both HDR10 and Dolby Vision HDR, includes an ethernet port for more reliable networking and comes with of the addition of 4K content on Google Play Movies.

The Home speaker and Chromecast Ultra ship on November, while the Wi-Fi router shipments follows on December.

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