Echo & Alexa Forums

General Category => Google Home => Topic started by: jwlv on November 05, 2016, 10:06:14 pm

Title: FAIL! Google Home
Post by: jwlv on November 05, 2016, 10:06:14 pm
According to USA today, Google Home is a fail.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=goIOcsPO0Wk

Title: Re: FAIL! Google Home
Post by: mike27oct on November 06, 2016, 01:53:35 am
Not surprised; so we can pop the top and drop an air freshener inside to make it more useful.
Title: Re: FAIL! Google Home
Post by: ScottinPollock on November 09, 2016, 01:54:30 pm
Do any of you really rely on USA Today for tech?

I have one sitting next to my Echo and it succeeds every time the Echo fails on something. I also prefer the more verbose responses from HA commands rather than just OK. Speaker system is much more musical than Echo as well.

It is also more sensitive than the Echo, picking up my voice from my office where the Echo fails (both units are in the bedroom down the hall).

I can ask it for any podcast (even rather obscure ones) and it just finds and plays them. I can say skip ahead xx seconds/minutes or go back xx seconds/minutes, and it remembers where I left off.

I can ask it about traffic to anywhere (not just work).

I can name my timers.

I can set the volume in 1% increments.

It is much smarter with my Hue integration: allowing me to change colors (it accepts every color I have asked for - including taupe and lavender), and turning on lights with the same word in their name, and allows for instant name changes via nicknames. i.e. "turn on front lights" will turn on any lights with 'front' in the name.

And casting is great, with whole house range over wifi. Can send my playlists to any/all system(s) in my house with a single command.

In comparison to my Echo, the only things it currently falls short on is:

1.) Creating a new calendar event... while it will read me my events for today or any given week or day, I can not yet set one.

2.) Obviously, my custom skills that report values from various SmartThings is missing. We'll see what is possible when they announce the API next month.

3.) Currently only one alarm sound (which I rather like) and one timer sound (which is a little jarring for my taste).

4.) No playback sleep timer.

Say what you want about the design, it fits in nicely (rather than standing out), is bottom heavy so if you knock it it will just move rather than tip over, and is much nicer to listen to music on.

Hardly a fail in my book.
Title: Re: FAIL! Google Home
Post by: mike27oct on November 09, 2016, 06:37:38 pm
Thanks for the feedback, so you think Echo device owners ought to have at least one Google Home device to "complete the set" of talking gadgets?
Title: Re: FAIL! Google Home
Post by: ScottinPollock on November 09, 2016, 08:01:20 pm
It depends on what you use it for, and the ecosystem you have installed. If you rely on it for questions, I'd say yes. If you want multi-room audio and don't already have Sonos, I'd say definitely. If you're tied into Google services and want integration with an always listening device, I'd say keep an eye out for the future (it is a little disappointing in this regard currently).

But if you're happy with all that Echo does, this isn't a reason to change; at least not yet.

With one Echo, and one Home, I don't see myself getting rid of either at this point. But if I had to install another tomorrow, it would be another Home... based on what it does better, and multi-room Wifi support, and that multiple Homes within earshot behave better.
Title: Re: FAIL! Google Home
Post by: Snafs on November 10, 2016, 05:23:38 pm
Whilst I agree that Google should be able to add things to it's own Google Calendar NOW, and it's a bit odd it can't, I feel a few people are being over harsh here.

They are comparing a product, that's been out 1 week, with a product that's been out 2 years and had 2 years of updates, 3rd party skills and work done to it.

To be fair, how about testing the Echo on launch day? I know that can't be done now :)

Or, test the echo today, and compare it to what the Google home will be like in 2 years.

Ok, perhaps I'm being silly, but I feel we need to give it a bit of slack here as it's only just launched, It's got a long long was to go and is already much better than the echo in many ways.

That's not to say I don't like my Echo. I love my Echo and I won't want it to get left behind, so I'm hoping the launch of the Google product will force Amazon to devote way more time into improving the Echo, faster that is has been.
Title: Re: FAIL! Google Home
Post by: malliekm on May 20, 2017, 01:30:02 am
I agree with everything ScottinPollock said and with all this time that has passed, GH has even more features.  I like having both :)  Already wish I had one more GH but I'm pretty sure that won't happen.  DH has already said I've gone over-board with the whole smart home and AI thing :o 

I had Argentine Tango music playing on GH (yes, there is an Argentine Tango station!) in the dining room.  I was two rooms away.  I hollered for DH to say "Hey Google, stop".  It heard me and stopped!  No way could Alexa have heard that with the level of the music that was playing.

I hope I'm not sounding anti-Alexa with the various posts about GH.  I still love the Echo Dots but GH is filling in some AI gaps and getting improving (just as Alexa is). 
Title: Re: FAIL! Google Home
Post by: malliekm on May 27, 2017, 05:18:32 pm
Alexa was given three chances to tell me what time a local business closed today.  She couldn't get the name right, much less the closing time.  GH got it right the first time...name and closure time (which is different than M-F hours).  Far from "FAIL!"
Title: Re: FAIL! Google Home
Post by: skullboy on May 31, 2017, 03:11:36 pm
Oh, i wish the google home should support my country, i heard it is so cool men.
Title: Re: FAIL! Google Home
Post by: renegade600 on May 31, 2017, 04:28:22 pm
Alexa was given three chances to tell me what time a local business closed today.  She couldn't get the name right, much less the closing time.  GH got it right the first time...name and closure time (which is different than M-F hours).  Far from "FAIL!"

that is the advantage of owning a search engine. 
Title: Re: FAIL! Google Home
Post by: mike27oct on May 31, 2017, 10:07:22 pm
And, is why I do not ask these AI gadgets any challenging questions.  I just use search on computer since it is always on all awake hours.
Title: Re: FAIL! Google Home
Post by: malliekm on June 01, 2017, 02:05:30 am
And, is why I do not ask these AI gadgets any challenging questions.  I just use search on computer since it is always on all awake hours.

But you're missing out on half of the allure of having an AI.  Why go to the computer or reach for a phone when you can simply ask your question.  I was multi-tasking and in a hurry. Google home performed exactly as it was meant to. Alexa does many things flawlessly as well but this is not one of her strong points...Yet  :D
Title: Re: FAIL! Google Home
Post by: mike27oct on June 01, 2017, 04:14:36 am
Well, not really.  Not all of us are enamored with gadgets answering questions (I think Renegade and I are on the same page here.)  I often ask 'em real simple questions like what time is it or what's the weather forecast? 

We have had an Echo since the beginning, and we have our preferred uses of them.  Wife gave me the initial release Echo as a gift -- she got a pre-release offer that she then saved the Echo until my bday for a few months.  I had no idea what it was; never heard of it, so had no reason for one until we had it up and running.  We really started from scratch.  We like the time/temp feature, timers and shopping lists, and most of all, we like the music feature where we can play a Tunein station when TV is off.  Since adding the smart plugs, we like that feature as well. So is why we have a bunch of Dots and Taps these days, too.  Asking Alexa for factoids really hasn't caught on in our household. Alexa's voice can get on one's nerves, so often, the less chatter from her the better.  Silence is golden. Uh-huh.
Title: Re: FAIL! Google Home
Post by: renegade600 on June 01, 2017, 04:58:43 am
Well, not really.  Not all of us are enamored with gadgets answering questions (I think Renegade and I are on the same page here.)  I often ask 'em real simple questions like what time is it or what's the weather forecast? 

We have had an Echo since the beginning, and we have our preferred uses of them.  Wife gave me the initial release Echo as a gift -- she got a pre-release offer that she then saved the Echo until my bday for a few months.  I had no idea what it was; never heard of it, so had no reason for one until we had it up and running.  We really started from scratch.  We like the time/temp feature, timers and shopping lists, and most of all, we like the music feature where we can play a Tunein station when TV is off.  Since adding the smart plugs, we like that feature as well. So is why we have a bunch of Dots and Taps these days, too.  Asking Alexa for factoids really hasn't caught on in our household. Alexa's voice can get on one's nerves, so often, the less chatter from her the better.  Silence is golden. Uh-huh.

I agree - we are on the same page here.   I normally only ask about the weather, otherwise, I use it for turning things on/off.   If I want more info about something, I will do an online search on a computer or tablet because a lot of times, there is interesting background info the gh or the echo would not mention.   
Title: Re: FAIL! Google Home
Post by: mike27oct on June 01, 2017, 03:24:19 pm
Well, I did it; just ordered a Google Home for cheap.  Details posted here elsewhere.  I will keep it in living room; same room as Echo.  Now, we can have dueling AI gizmos.
Title: Re: FAIL! Google Home
Post by: malliekm on June 01, 2017, 04:24:27 pm
Yay!  I know you'll enjoy it!  Ask GH...Hey Google, "Can you talk to Alexa?"  Assuming both are within hearing distance, they will talk to each other :)
Title: Re: FAIL! Google Home
Post by: mike27oct on June 01, 2017, 04:36:44 pm
Cool, grab the popcorn and enjoy the show.  They will be just a few feet apart on separate tables, across a hall to family room; a very central location.
Title: Re: FAIL! Google Home
Post by: malliekm on June 01, 2017, 05:38:38 pm
You will be amazed at how good she can hear.  My GH is centrally located too and hears a whole heck of a lot better than my husband hears! lol  I am 31 ft (yes, I used a tape measure) from GH.  Mostly an openish concept (straight shot).  There is a tv on, closer to GH than to me.  I just said "Hey Google" in a normal speaking voice as if the person I was speaking to was in the office with me.  31 ft away, in the dining room, GH replied. 
Title: Re: FAIL! Google Home
Post by: mike27oct on June 01, 2017, 07:59:21 pm
Oh, goody, I can hardly wait.   :D
Title: Re: FAIL! Google Home
Post by: malliekm on June 04, 2017, 03:37:14 am
If I hit Google home could she charged with domestic violence?   >:(   Most of the day she's been saying, "there must have been a glitch try again in a few seconds".  I'll show her a glitch!   >:(  Wi-Fi signal is excellent, the Dot sisters are working fine.  I unplugged GH for 10 minutes.  That didn't help.  I'll research to see if anyone else had problems today. If it's not better tomorrow I'll call GH text support. 
Title: Re: FAIL! Google Home
Post by: strayfish on June 04, 2017, 04:43:58 am
If I hit Google home could she charged with domestic violence?   >:(   Most of the day she's been saying, "there must have been a glitch try again in a few seconds".  I'll show her a glitch!   >:(  Wi-Fi signal is excellent, the Dot sisters are working fine.  I unplugged GH for 10 minutes.  That didn't help.  I'll research to see if anyone else had problems today. If it's not better tomorrow I'll call GH text support. 


I got that a couple of times yesterday (June 3rd) evening. I persevered and it resolved without need of unplugging but I'll give it another couple of goes today to see.
Title: Re: FAIL! Google Home
Post by: malliekm on June 05, 2017, 12:23:59 am
Problem started again today.  DH suggested I move GH closer to either the wifi or the extender.  Didn't need to do that.  My wifi analyzer said the signal was -45 where GH  was located and other devices further away and on the extender were working find.  So he moved it closer and there were no hiccups  ::)  Coincidence!  I moved it back to it's previous location and so far so good. 
Title: Re: FAIL! Google Home
Post by: mike27oct on June 05, 2017, 01:55:33 am
Maybe Alexa is messin' with GH and jammin' it's radio signal?
Title: Re: FAIL! Google Home
Post by: malliekm on June 05, 2017, 07:06:01 am
Ohhh, a conspiracy theory!  Humm, they claim to have mutual admiration for each other but talk is cheap.  Competition is heating up and all's fair in love and war ;)  I bet you're right!  There could be some jealousy goin' on too.  I have a new favorite AI.  A poster on a different site suggested Google should start a trade-in campaign.  Trade in your Echo, to them, for a GH :D
Title: Re: FAIL! Google Home
Post by: malliekm on June 05, 2017, 08:25:42 pm
I finally got around to going to the Google forum to see what all this "glitch" stuff was about (now that it has resolved it's self).  Sure enough, it was on the Google server side.  Looks like everything is back to normal.
Title: Re: FAIL! Google Home
Post by: mike27oct on June 05, 2017, 11:24:07 pm
Seems our alexa devices got hosed before dinner time, but it could have been Comcast.  By the time I had a chance to dink with it, it got resolved.