Now there is the speaker who knows Swedish: the housing guide

1. Is this the first such product on the market, or are there more similar smart speakers?

– There are several smart speakers on the market, but Google Home is the first to launch in Sweden. Internationally, Amazon’s Echo speakers with its Alexa voice assistant and Apple’s Homepod with its Siri are the biggest. There are also a number of other voice-controlled smart speakers that other companies’ voice assistants use, says Evelina Galli.

2. What makes Google Home stand out?

– For Swedish consumers, of course, it is characteristic that Google Home is the only speaker who speaks Swedish at this time. Google Home is considered one of the smartest options on the market, above all, it has a very good listening understanding. It’s a constant race among top gamers over who can create the smartest best speaker and it remains to be seen how well Google Home will be at the English launch.

3. Have you tried it and what do you think?

– Last week we were greeted at Google’s Stockholm office and tested in their test environment representing a smart home they built. The speakers did not work perfectly, several times they did not understand what we were saying and until now the uses are relatively limited. It is important to note that this was before launch, but it is still interesting to see what implementations will be possible and what vision Google has. Among other things, we try to control an element, the lighting and the television with Google Home.

4. What are the best uses for smart speakers?

– This, of course, is very personal depending on the needs of the consumer in question. Personally, I’m more interested in how you can act as a “hub” in the smart home and how you can talk to the rest of my connected products. At first, I think most people will use their smart speakers more frequently to control the lighting in their home and play music.

5. Will this speaker break in Swedish homes?

– I really think so! And if it’s not Google Home that’s making an impact, I think the smart speaker as a product will make its way. What is required is that more companies look up to the smart home so that more of our home products become compatible with our smart speakers. In the future, I am convinced that more and more of us will discover how smooth it is when all technology is controlled from the same device and with the voice, we are already seeing how smart speakers have had an impact in other markets where they have been available. for a long time, for example in the United States. The smart speaker will mean that we share even more information with these companies, and it remains to be seen how willing Swedish consumers are to do so. And even though Google was clear on how much they cared about our security, everything that’s connected is hacked.

At Elgiganten in Uppsala, he noticed interest in the new product.

– Many people think this is exciting news and we have many questions, says Robert Wallsten, manager of a department store in Elgiganten in Uppsala, who has the picture ready for what the new smart speakers will mean:

– This is going to be a revolution in the home. They will become the center of the house in the future, where you will control various functions of the house with your voice.