Voice Search Babble – Volume Three
Voice Search

Voice Search Babble – Volume Three

John Campbell • 15/11/2017

Interested in Voice Search? Read our whitepaper and learn more about our Voice Search Ranking Reports


A little later than expected but here’s the third installment of the Voice Search Babble.

Smart devices continue to grow in the US

A study by Forrester has revealed that the U.S. will reach 244 million smart home devices by 2022, which is up from 24 million in 2016. Smart speakers, including Amazon Echo, will account for 50% of the total installed base of smart home devices in 2017.

 

More details here: https://www.forbes.com/sites/gilpress/2017/10/29/22-million-amazon-echo-smart-speakers-to-be-sold-in-2017-driving-us-smart-home-adoption/

Google showoff their depth of integrations

Google have produced a web page listing of all the various devices you can hook your Google Home, Max or Mini up to. From cookers to garage door controllers, the extent of devices shows how quickly other software and hardware companies are keen to integrate with the Google ecosystem.

More details here: https://www.engadget.com/2017/10/31/google-lists-devices-home-support-easy-reference/

IKEA smart bulbs expand integration

In recent times, IKEA have launched furniture with integrated wireless charging for phones and the Swedish brand also have their own range of smart lights. Now, the lighting range called TRÅDFRI, will integrate with Apple’s HomeKit and Alexa, although there is no date for Google Home integration yet.

More details here: https://www.theverge.com/2017/11/1/16589418/ikea-apple-homekit-tradfri 

Printing with Google Home

Following on from the list of hardware devices that integrate with Google, Android Police spotted a nice integration with HP printers – not only does this allow you to print from the device but you can also tell Google home what to print. For example,

  • “Hey Google, ask HP Printer to print a Crayola coloring page.”
  • “Hey Google, ask HP Printer to print an art therapy page.”
  • “Hey Google, ask HP Printer to print a hard Sudoku.”

More details here: http://www.androidpolice.com/2017/11/02/tip-can-ask-google-home-assistant-print-calendar-sudokus/

Catch them with your voice???

The Pokémon Company have announced that they will be developing an app for Google home. They haven’t released many other details, but it could be similar to the Stranger Things “voice game”, which we mentioned in the last Voice Search Babble.

More details here: https://www.theverge.com/2017/11/2/16597732/pikachu-google-home-amazon-echo-alexa-pokemon-company

Google Home gets the temperatures wrong inside…or do they?

An interesting story about voice search not quite working. A reddit user posted about a problem with his Google Home device and integration with Nest. When asking for the temperature inside, the response wasn’t as expected. It turned out Google thought he was looking for the temperature in Side, a place in Turkey. This shows that, as good as these devices are, there are still some problems with voice recognition.

More details here: https://www.cnet.com/uk/news/google-home-mini-temperature/

Voice search helping service customers

Australian telecoms operator Optus have launched a Google Assistant service to help customers. After an authentication process you can ask about balance, and data questions.

More details here: https://www.telecompaper.com/news/optus-launches-google-assistant-for-customer-service–1219062