+

Cookies on the Business Insider India website

Business Insider India has updated its Privacy and Cookie policy. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the better experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we\'ll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies on the Business Insider India website. However, you can change your cookie setting at any time by clicking on our Cookie Policy at any time. You can also see our Privacy Policy.

Close
HomeQuizzoneWhatsappShare Flash Reads
 

Hands-free calling is coming to Google Home, and it'll be better than Amazon Echo's

Aug 25, 2024, 21:55 IST
GoogleThe Google Home smart speakerGoogle's high-tech smart speaker is getting a throw-back feature -- the ability to make phone calls.

Owners of Google Home will be able to place calls by just asking the device to call a person or a business. Google will offer the service as a free update for US users of the gadget later this year, Rishi Chandra, the company's vice president for home products, announced Wednesday at Google's IO developer conference in Mountain View, California.

"Now you can call mom while you're scrambling to get the kids ready in the morning," Chandra said.

The new feature matches a similar one Amazon recently announced for its Echo smart speaker. Unlike Echo, though, Home can recognize the voices of different people in a home. So, if a husband asks the Home to "call mom," the speaker will know to call his mother rather his wife's.

Advertisement

Another difference between the calling feature on the Home and that on the Echo: Home owners will be able to use it to call any regular phone number. Echo users, by contrast, can only call other Echo speakers.

The new feature, which will assign a private phone number to the Home, won't require any set up to work, Chandra said. However, users will be able to configure home to dial using their mobile number instead.

Chandra didn't say exactly when the feature will launch or whether there are any limitations on the free calls.

Get the latest Google stock price here.

NOW WATCH: 16 keyboard shortcuts only Mac power users know about

Please enable Javascript to watch this video
You are subscribed to notifications!
Looks like you've blocked notifications!
Next Article