New: Google Home Hub
An always-on, voice activated window into Google
What
An Amazon Echo Show-like smart home display that’ll be always on. Like other Google Home devices, it plugs into your wall and isn’t a tablet that you can move around. It also doesn’t have any camera, so lacks the video-calling functionality of the Echo Show and Echo Spot.
You can search through voice with Google Assistant, like you can with the Home. With the addition of a 7-inch display you can also watch YouTube, check Google Calendar, Google Photos and Google Maps. It isn’t running Android though, so you won’t get the same breadth of apps that you might get from a tablet. There’s Netflix, but as far as I can see no native app for Stan or Prime Video. It does work as a Chromecast though, so presumably you can Chromecast supported video to the Home Hub via your phone or tablet.
Spotify also works natively, but not Apple Music. With full Android this device could be more appealing, but it feels like an unnecessary fork for the sake of simplicity and lacks apps that are already available on Google’s Play Store.
The device has multi-room audio, support for Android, iOS, Mac, Windows and Chromebooks, and Bluetooth 5.
When
October 22 in Australia at the online Google Store and other electronics retailers.
How much
$219.
