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Electronic gifts/acquisitions during the holiday season

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  • Electronic gifts/acquisitions during the holiday season

    Wanted to enquire into any experiences out here with my own received toy... the Google Home Mini ....but thought I'd open it up to any similar type baubles.

    Anyway, it is one of those toys I would put in the cute, conversational piece and possibly totally unnecessary add ons to the living area and added load on the wifi router. In my case even more so since I live in a rural area and deal with a mere 3 GBps internet speed total (radio trans.).

    Just using it for simple commands for radio stations, questions answered re phone #s of eg. local Canadian Tire store, Chinese takeout etc, turn on/off my tv. It works off the Google Home app. which is now on my IPhone and acts as a controller to multiple devices which when identified to the app is then controllable via a voice command to the Mini. Right now I have just my Chromecast (attached to my TV) and the Mini itself as the only devices defined.

    Works great so far and quite the novelty as in "Hey Google, turn on CBC Radio 1" etc etc

    Anyone experienced with this? Or, any other similar device?


    Looks like my home is going to be Google controlled!! Yikes. Next step probably an Android phone?

  • #2
    I want to get either the Mini or the Echo Dot. Still trying to decide which is better for my needs.

    Oh, and this.

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    • #3
      Nilanka wrote: View Post
      I want to get either the Mini or the Echo Dot. Still trying to decide which is better for my needs.

      Oh, and this.
      That vid was alternately funny and then.... stopped being so!

      This is all new to me and it was a gift...in my search for quick help I did find this which might help with your comparison efforts...

      ps...I like the simple name identifier (eg Alexa) as opposed to having to use "Google" each time to awake the unit. Something odd about having to invoke this behemoth company name all the time....haha.


      Last edited by Bendit; Fri Jan 5, 2018, 01:43 PM.

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      • #4
        Bendit wrote: View Post
        Wanted to enquire into any experiences out here with my own received toy... the Google Home Mini ....but thought I'd open it up to any similar type baubles.

        Anyway, it is one of those toys I would put in the cute, conversational piece and possibly totally unnecessary add ons to the living area and added load on the wifi router. In my case even more so since I live in a rural area and deal with a mere 3 GBps internet speed total (radio trans.).

        Just using it for simple commands for radio stations, questions answered re phone #s of eg. local Canadian Tire store, Chinese takeout etc, turn on/off my tv. It works off the Google Home app. which is now on my IPhone and acts as a controller to multiple devices which when identified to the app is then controllable via a voice command to the Mini. Right now I have just my Chromecast (attached to my TV) and the Mini itself as the only devices defined.

        Works great so far and quite the novelty as in "Hey Google, turn on CBC Radio 1" etc etc

        Anyone experienced with this? Or, any other similar device?


        Looks like my home is going to be Google controlled!! Yikes. Next step probably an Android phone?
        No but I use Google voice command on my S8 to do just about everything except web browsing. I'll have to try one of these out someday, sounds cool.

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        • #5
          Apollo wrote: View Post
          No but I use Google voice command on my S8 to do just about everything except web browsing. I'll have to try one of these out someday, sounds cool.
          For about $50 it's worth the try...I think. As you can see there are other companies in the space but Google/Android probably has the lead because so much of the interaction is personalized and their AI and personal information base to delve from is so much more mature I believe. I have already noticed that it's voice/language recognition has "improved" (become more varied) over a few days...eerie!

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          • #6
            I don't have the link but if u goto YouTube n search unboxing Google home mini with Demar Derozen you should find a helpful and entertaining video on there.

            Sent from my SM-G930W8 using Tapatalk

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            • #7
              Interesting article....looks like the "war" is on for a "Home Assistant" !


              The competition to be the first assistant to get into people's homes is fierce. It's a market that's expected to grow considerably within the next few years, with the analysis firm Gartner predicting that a quarter of all household requests will be made through voice assistants by 2019. Currently, Amazon’s Echo devices have 67 percent of the smart speaker market, to Google's 25 percent according to Strategy Analytics. And both Google and Amazon offered drastic holiday price cuts to get ahead of Apple’s HomePod. That speaker, expected later this year, will give Apple's Siri voice assistant its own perch in the home — though the company's HomeKit software already lets Siri control lightbulbs, smart locks and other products, including some exhibiting at the show.

              https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...=.0a8cbf8d0018

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              • #8
                wall-e wrote: View Post
                I don't have the link but if u goto YouTube n search unboxing Google home mini with Demar Derozen you should find a helpful and entertaining video on there.

                Sent from my SM-G930W8 using Tapatalk
                Haha...

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                • #9
                  Bendit wrote: View Post
                  For about $50 it's worth the try...I think. As you can see there are other companies in the space but Google/Android probably has the lead because so much of the interaction is personalized and their AI and personal information base to delve from is so much more mature I believe. I have already noticed that it's voice/language recognition has "improved" (become more varied) over a few days...eerie!

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    That is scary. Which raises the issue of privacy loss which I had not fully appreciated before about what devices like these may pose.
                    Especially with orgs.like Google who already have much info on all of us individually thru our searches and use of Google, Android cells, gmail etc etc....and now with a Mini. In order to further improve/increase their AI knowledge base both on an individual user basis and collectively ...all of our/my requests/queries to my Mini are no doubt stored. It's coming true!! Others shall know of me than I or mine.... brrrrr.

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                    • #11
                      So, this just dropped into my Inbox....

                      Who's going to be the first RRer to get a 146 or 85 inch Samsung for their wall in 4k or 8K microLED visual nirvana? Apparently the technology is scalable to any size (comes in tiles!). Will this tech. improvement in visuals ever end?

                      This was just introduced at CES so pricing not released yet! But who's asking...lol.


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                      • #12
                        It's very frustrating when you forget to buy a gift. And on the eve of the holidays, prices skyrocket. I try not to forget, but still sometimes I have to splurge.

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