
The Google Home Mini Is Google’s $49 Answer to the Echo Dot - artsandsci
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2017/10/the-google-home-mini-is-googles-answer-to-amazons-echo-dot/
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StringyBob
Does it have a headphone socket? All I want from my google home devices is
better control over the audio, and it seems the only way I can do that is plug
it into my own amp.

Edit. Nope. However the latest software lets you change default audio device
for media playback to a chromecast audio. That's halfway there - what I'd like
is to redirect the entire audio stream (so spoken answers too!)

Alternatively, can we get a software update to add EQ on the google home? At
moderate volumes my neighbours can hear the bass through the walls for a home
:(

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deskamess
Google Home Max : "it also has an auxiliary port so you can connect it to a
turntable or other speaker".

~~~
NocturnalWaffle
No, that's only for audio in to play with the Max's speakers. What he wants is
audio out to play google's responses on something else (Which is a feature of
the Echo Dot, so you can use a better speaker)

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melling
Is Google twice as smart as Siri?

[https://www.cnbc.com/2017/10/02/google-ai-has-almost-
twice-t...](https://www.cnbc.com/2017/10/02/google-ai-has-almost-twice-the-iq-
of-siri-says-study.html)

I’m considering adding one of these to my family of iOS devices. Siri is cool
when it works, but I’d like something a little better. That, and I won’t have
to watch my watch, phone, and tablet competing to answer my questions.

Finally, and most importantly, according to the article, Google appears to be
improving the fastest.

~~~
Klathmon
I love and use our 2 google homes on a daily basis, but they get significantly
more useful if you are in google's ecosystem and have home automation.

For me, i'd give a super rough guess at my usage like this:

* 60% home automation (turning on and off lights when hands are full, ensuring doors are locked and garage door is closed, running "shortcuts" like "i'm leaving" which will lock up and arm the alarm in 5 minutes, etc...)

* 15% playing and controlling music/tv shows on various devices in the house (tv's with chromecasts, the home itself, etc...)

* 10% as a shopping list (it makes a damn good shopping list and it's nice as hell to be able to just yell at the thing to add "frosted mini wheats to the shopping list" the second you run out and have it synced to the whole family's phones)

* 9% as a "day planner" of sorts. Generally each morning I tell it "good morning" and it tells me the weather, things on my calendar, and starts playing some news snippets I setup.

* 5% for timers/alarms (really useful while cooking to be able to shout at it to start a timer for 15 minutes then walk away)

* 1% for the dumb trivia lookups/random information. Stuff like "how many calories in X?" or "when was the Apple II released?"

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r00fus
Sorry to be the luddite, but these devices just seem like first-world-only
interest to me.

I have no desire to automate my house (I can see why others do). I don't have
a home alarm. I have one TV in the house for several kids.

The day planner/shopping list is good, but I pull out my phone instead and
speak to it (when I press home button).

Finally, is everyone really comfortable having always-on listening in their
home? The convenience/creepy ratio just doesn't seem prudent for me. It's
amusing to see how privacy oriented HN is yet these devices are so popular
here - they're an unaudited vector into your most private moments.

~~~
mikeash
What's the difference between having something like Google Home in your home
and carrying a cell phone in your pocket, other than the fact that the cell
phone can listen in on you even when you're away from home?

I really don't get why everyone carries listening devices 24/7 and then freaks
out about these smart speakers.

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r00fus
One is designed to be listening at all times, the other one may not even have
the explicit capability (I turn off voice-activated Google/Siri on all my
devices).

Trigger words can be accidentally spoken, they can be spoken by other devices,
etc. Hidden trigger words can exist.

I think it's logical fallacy of extremes to say that carrying an e.g. iPhone
is an equivalent security exposure to having GoogleHome/HomePod/Echos littered
around your house, just because they both "could" be hacked/backdoored.

~~~
mikeash
Many (most? all?) modern smartphones are designed to be listening at all times
too.

You turn this off on all your devices. Do you trust the manufacturer to
actually stop listening when you do?

I don’t see how it’s a logical fallacy to point out that there’s another
device with the same capablilities that most of the complainers don’t give a
second thought to. I really don’t understand how the risk from something like
Google Home is any higher than the risk from a smartphone.

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EADGBE
I don't want X Company's answer to Y Company's product.

I want all this siloing to disappear and fricken make technology better.

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bazizbaziz
I notice on the tech spec's page that the Mini also has bluetooth [0]. Would
love to know if this means all connected homes will play (the same) audio via
bluetooth.

[0]
[https://store.google.com/product/google_home_mini_specs](https://store.google.com/product/google_home_mini_specs)

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wonder_bread
It's unfortunate the amazing advances Google's been making with its ml
software are being packaged up into a bunch of happenstance hardware
offerings.

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tmzt
I choose Amazon for this because they are dedicated to it, it's a contributor
to thei e-commerce business, and there is plenty of reason to believe they
will still work a few years from now.

I have no such belief with Google in this case, it's one hobby among many
disconnected from their main business. It is search but not web search.

I'm also building a snips.co device and am very interested in offline speach
recognition both for pricacy and utility reasons.

~~~
untog
Google has voice-based functionality pretty deeply embedded into Android - I
really don't think it's going anywhere.

By contrast, I chose a Google Home over an Alexa because I think Google is
better at AI - I am consistently surprised by how many random questions the
Home can answer.

~~~
Klathmon
Yeah, Google is really throwing their weight behind "AI". It seems like it's
the most likely candidate that could eventually replace search as their "main
product".

