So this is a much bigger version of the Google Home Hub (now known as the Google Nest Hub)
Twice the size and with a built in camera.
Anyone picking one up?
So this is a much bigger version of the Google Home Hub (now known as the Google Nest Hub)
Twice the size and with a built in camera.
Anyone picking one up?
Iāve run out of rooms I need an assistant in so Iāll have to give this one a miss
I picked the regular one up free with the 3a
Goodbye to the Nest API
shakes fist at Google
Pretty much all the news Iāve seen on this has said how bad it is that Google included a camera on this (considering it was a āfeatureā to not have a camera on the first model).
Butā¦ If you are buying a smart device which is designed to listen to you 24/7ā¦ can you really be concerned with privacy?
The concept behind the new Nest Hub is literally my idea of the future.
If anyone is going to make this work well, itās Google - They are so far ahead in the AI stakes right now.
My feeling is that if you want to have these futuristic devices, youāll have to accept the trade off in potential privacy issuesā¦
I wish the original had a cam. Would have been a good video call service in our kitchen
Yes you can.
How that data is stored and used is where privacy concerns kick in. I donāt think there needs to be any trade off at all. Trust level perhaps but thatās different.
Valid point, and possibly more where I was going/aiming with my comment.
That being said, how many of the ābigā tech companies do we trust?
Apple? Generally considered trustworthy.
Google? Mehā¦ Not so much.
Facebook? -
Amazon? Less so since the recent āour staff listen to your Echo devices so we can improve the serviceā commentsā¦
But I guess there does need to be a human element involved at some stage to improve everything.
Bingo. I trust one of those companies substantially more than all the others.
Iām 100% Apple - But boooooooy, is Siri bad.
Google Assistant is seriously next level in comparison, and Iām not sure Apple will ever be able to catch up in that space (not to mention their poor offering in the āsmartā home devices).
Yup, Apple are behind on this stuff but maybe thatās all part of the compromise.
I have Alexa devices at home but given itās almost only for āplay musicā or āswitch on/off lightsā I can see HomeHub being a future (expensive) investment.
They seemed to put a lot of effort into AR, which hasnāt really gone anywhere (yet).
Siri just hasnāt developed at allā¦ Itās the most disappointing of all the Apple features right now.
Back to the topic - Iād definitely pick up a Nest Hub if I was even partially in the Google eco system, or if it played nicely with iCloud (which it doesnāt).
Iām delighted this one has a camera. I was going to add a Nest Cam Indoors to my kitchen (to go with my existing Home Hub) but now Iāll probably just replace the current Home Hub with this one and kill two birds with one stone. Then I can use the smaller Hub in the bedroom.
Off-topic, but Siri has a bit of a perception problem. Theyāve actually improved it a lot over the last year, and in some respects it now outperforms Alexa.
Nice article, but I think the reason for Siriās perception (for me anyway), is the effort involved in getting what I want when using Siri, vs Google.
Siri requires me to be pretty robotic with how I ask it things - General questions are OK, but half the time it doesnāt pick up the āHey Siriā, and the watch doesnāt register me bringing it to my mouth to talk.
When it does pick it up, itās very unnatural and you have to be quite specific with no stuttering or āermāsā.
I find Google Assistant to be so good in all these areas, even though I donāt use it much (due to itās lack of integration with Apple).
So Siri might be able to answer questions, and I appreciate itās come on leaps and bounds since it first started in terms of the tech and āstatsā - But for me, itās not a perception that itās bad, itās the reality (at the moment).
Yeah, itās the āroughnessā I can use with Alexa that āworksā (perception) for me. I donāt have to memorise specific commands, just talk at it and it responds correctly most of the time.
Siri still feels likeā¦ āOhhh I didnāt say that right soā¦ā and local information is a joke, I live in Glasgow, if I ask for how Rangers or Celtic are doing, I get either New York or Boston team responsesā¦ (I support none of those teams, before anyone starts!)
I probably wonāt be getting one simply because I donāt have any interest in making video calls. Are there other genuine use cases for the camera? The larger screen could be useful so maybe one for the bedroom as a clock, etc. or maybe replace the existing Home Hub in the kitchen with this one? Hmm.
From what limited info Iāve read, it seems like Google want to track who comes in the room, and adjust everything to suit that person.
I think you may be able to use gestures to control other stuff, and itās how I imagine the future to look when it comes to smart devicesā¦
Butā¦ Itās one thing having a smart device listen to you all day, itās something else to have it watching you all dayā¦
There seems to be a lot of negativity around this (understandably so), and Iād love to see how Google use this video dataā¦
Iām sure they will be completely transparent and upfront about what they tell us they are doing with said dataā¦
Iāll get one if it can actually recieve all casts, if I can get Netflix on it iām in
The use cases they described were video calls, security cameras and gesture control, and information personalisation as someone else mentioned. Thereās also a physical off switch for the camera that they say fully disconnects the camera from the circuit (which should be very easy for teardowns to verify)
Actually yes, they said theyād be publishing documents describing their data uses