At Made by Google 2025, Google detailed “Gemini for Home” and briefly showed what appears to be a new first-party smart speaker.
Compared to Google Assistant, “Gemini for Home” is said to be “more powerful and easier to use” thanks to “advanced reasoning, inference and search capabilities of our most capable models.” The “Hey Google” hotword is unchanged, but Google emphasizes how “rigid commands” are being replaced by “more nuanced or complex requests.”
For example, a single smart home command can include multiple requests: “Dim the lights, and set the temp to 72 degrees.” More notable is how Gemini can “reason through complex commands,” like “turn off the lights everywhere except my bedroom.”
There is “improved natural language support for calendar creation, list creation and timers” that allows for commands like:
- “add the ingredients to make an authentic Italian lasagna to my shopping list”
- “set a timer for perfectly blanched broccoli”
A more straightforward new capability is telling Gemini to “play the song of the year winner from 1990” or “play that song from this year’s summer blockbuster about race cars.”
Finally, you can tap into Gemini’s conversational search capabilities for commands like:
- “how can I keep raccoons out of my backyard at night?”
- “given weather, crowds and hotel prices, what’s the best time of year to visit the Greek islands?”
Meanwhile, “Hey Google, let’s chat” launches Gemini Live for natural back-and-forth discussion without repeating the hotword.” Example conversations include:
- “I have spinach, eggs, cream cheese and smoked salmon in the fridge. Help me make a delicious meal.”
- “I’m thinking about buying a new car…”
- “Help me come up with a nutrition plan for the week leading up to my first marathon.”
- “My dishwasher isn’t draining. Can you walk me through some simple troubleshooting steps to see if I can fix it on my own?”
- “Let’s create a bedtime story for my 6 year old daughter.”
- “the main character is a scientist, who is also a princess, and loves corn!”
- “our protagonist needs a furry side-kick. Give me some options.”
Gemini for Home will replace Google Assistant on Nest Hubs, Audio, and Mini “over time,” with early access coming in October. Notably, there will be “free and paid versions.”
During a video with Giannis Antetokounmpo and Lando Norris, the latter is shown talking to a new speaker. It is a squished-down sphere — which evokes the Nest Wifi — with a circular blue, purple, white Gemini glow at the base.
Updating…
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
Source link
