Google Home Hub
The first Google Home with a screen

Given everything that you can do with your Google Home(s) and/or Google Nest Hub(s), it’s easy to forget some of the simple tasks it can handle. One that I make use of a few times a week is the ability to make calls. Once you have it set up this is dead simple, so here’s how to get started making calls with Google Home and Google Nest Hub.
The renamed and rebranded Home Hub is now the Google Next Hub with the price now starting at just $129 with availability now increased to a further 12 markets globally alongside support for nine more languages.
Starting today, Google is making a welcome change to Google Assistant. You can now cancel alarms on Google Assistant and devices like the Google Home by just saying “Stop.”
Having Google Assistant ready at all times is a handy tool in day-to-day life, and Smart Displays only enhance that with visual components. However, these displays are annoying to use at night because Google’s UI is a stark white. It’s time for Google to add a dark mode to Smart Displays like the Home Hub.
Mother’s Day in the U.S. is next Sunday, May 12th and Google has a clever ad that ties into its iconic “Hey Google” hotword. The one minute clip is accompanied by a Google Store sale on Home products, including a return of the $99 Home Hub.
Several days ago, Google itself accidentally leaked the names of both the Pixel 3a and the forthcoming Nest Hub Max. At the same time, the company accidentally revealed a potential rebrand for the smaller Home Hub to “Nest Hub”. We can now confirm that is indeed what’s happening when these products launch in the coming weeks.
Arguably one of the biggest and most frustrating aspects of Google Home devices is the constant repeating of actions it has performed when you ask it to run an Assistant routine.
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I’m a big Google Home user. I have one in pretty much every room in the house, and in some rooms, I have two. This works out fine for the most part, but something that’s unique about having so many Homes is that there’s a more-than-average number of them constantly battling to figure out which one you’re talking to. Sometimes that goes well, and other times, it’s very broken.
For quite some time we’ve been tracking a second smart display from Google, and today we have further evidence that it is indeed in the works. A blurb on the Google Store spotted today reveals a product called the Nest Hub Max as a 10-inch smart display.
Google is giving all basketball fans the ability to tune into March Madness for free simply by asking your Smart Display, Home Hub, Google Home, or simply the Google Assistant to play the game.
The Continued Conversation feature that was rolled out not too long ago to US users has now made the short hop over the pond meaning that we UK users no longer have to keep asking to activate Google to get answers (via Android Police).
With Continued Conversation, smart speakers will leave the microphone on for a few seconds after Assistant finishes a reply so that users can ask a follow-up without repeating the hotword. Google is now bringing this feature to Smart Displays.
With the 91st Academy Awards on Sunday, Google is advertising Assistant and its hardware family in a funny new ad. The minute-long clip references several famous Hollywood movies from 2001: A Space Odyssey to Lady Bird and Jerry Maguire.
The Google Home ecosystem grows and grows, as does the usefulness of the Google Assistant itself. The announcement at CES means that you can tap into the power of Google Translate and use it for live conversations with those speaking another language.
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Our avid readers know that we follow Fuchsia, Google’s in-development operating system, closely here at 9to5Google, for both its software and the various device prototypes that Google adds support for. This week on Fuchsia Friday, more details have come to light about Fuchsia’s “Sherlock” prototype, which strongly associate it with the Google Home Hub and suggest a Home Hub “Max” could be in the works.
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In case you weren’t already aware, Google Home Hub has a built-in web browser. It’s not a standalone app that’s meant to be used by itself, but you can manually navigate around the web to just about anywhere. The existence of the browser isn’t a new addition, but it is a “hidden” feature that many might not yet know about.
Earlier this week, we reported that just about everything we’ve seen about Fuchsia is now gone, as the “Armadillo” UI has been deleted. In its place, we only have references to what seem, in context, to be three other “shells” or user interfaces which are all kept closed-source by Google. However, one of these, “Dragonglass,” may offer more answers than we initially thought.
The Google Home Hub is one of the best Smart Display options on the market, albeit there are very few options. It might not have a camera, however, oddly, makes it one of the best options available especially as you have fewer privacy concerns.
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Following deep Black Friday discounts that led to equally deep consternation among early adopters, the Google Store is continuing its holiday offers on the Pixel 3, Home Hub, and Nest smart home bundles. These deals on Made by Google 2018 products start today, with some ending on Christmas Eve.
Earlier this month, Google Assistant added a number of new features, including recipe cards and the ability to reply to Broadcasts on the Google Home Hub. Google is now rolling out a new firmware version for Home Hub’s enrolled in the Preview Program that adds more precise device controls, including separate alarm and media volumes.
While Google Assistant smart displays options are still quite limited, there’s already a model for nearly every user. The first option was that of the Lenovo Smart Display. Though now, everything is compared to the Google Home Hub that undercut the pricing of everyone else. For Black Friday, however, the Home Hub and smaller Lenovo Smart Display have the same price tag, and I think Lenovo’s might be a better buy. Here’s why.
Made by Google is heavily advertising its latest lineup from Hardware Stores to pop-ups, but sometimes nothing brings in more sales than a good deal. The Google Store today has shared its Black Friday and Cyber Monday offers, with good deals beginning the week before.
Amid a series of hardware unveils at 10/9, Google announced several new features for Assistant. The Home View dashboard launched on the Google Home Hub and made its way to other Smart Displays, along with Digital Wellbeing. Google Assistant is now adding Broadcast replies, cooking cards, and more.
The Google Home Hub, Google’s first foray into smart display has been generally lauded in reviews, including our own. Under a security review, however, the story may be a bit different, with one researcher claiming that the device’s security is “beyond dismal.” Google, of course, denies these claims.