What Can Amazon Echo and Google Home Really Do?

Smart home devices are becoming more popular with the public, taking an idea that used to be a fantasy and designing it to fit into our day-to-day lives. These devices can take care of everything, from telling us the most pressing news to even controlling our lights and even our thermostats. And that’s not even the best part: these devices can be set up in as little as five minutes and can be controlled from a smartphone.

Google Home and Amazon Echo are the two best-known and most widely used smart home devices on the market today, but what can they really do? Both devices have special actions and features, so let’s go through what makes each one special. It may help you make a decision on which smart device might be right for you.

Google Home

Google Home

Google Home is Google’s first foray into bringing the smart home together. While it wasn’t the first smart home device on the market, the wait allowed the company to look at what its customers really wanted from the product.

Now, the company has come out with a suite of features that the public loves, including the ones below.

Music and TV

Google Home can link its users to their music and entertainment channels, including access to Spotify and Pandora. Google also supports Netflix through a user’s Chromecast account, allowing them to set up their favorite shows and films on their smart TVs.

News, Weather, Traffic, and Calendar

For Google Home users, having access to things that affect their day is important. Having the ability to wake up in the morning and get the news, weather, and a rundown of what’s important to do during the day is helpful.

Google Home offers all of this, and all a user has to do is ask Google Home for this information. An audio rundown of the latest news, the weather, and traffic on the user’s commute is available while they get ready for their day.

Link to Smart Home Devices

It’s also possible for Google Home users to connect the device to other smart home devices, including Philips Hue light bulbs, Samsung SmartThings, and Nest. The list of available smart devices that can be linked with Google Home has been growing, but currently allows users to connect lights, a smart thermostat, and more.

Amazon Echo

Amazon Echo

Amazon Echo was the first smart home devices to hit the market, and it is also the most popular. It does a lot, from giving you traffic and weather updates to news rundowns, and is continuing to build on itself to make it a necessity for forward-thinking technology users.

So what can Amazon Echo do? It turns out, a whole lot more than can be written down, but we’re going to try our best to list all the ways it can help you in your busy life.

Get Things Done

For any user that has a busy schedule, a device that can cut down on the time they spend setting up their day is a welcome utility. Amazon Echo delivers exactly that, allowing the user to set appointments, get a rundown of the weather and traffic, look up movie times and even flight information, and even create to-do lists, all with simple voice commands. The Echo even allows users to set reminders for special events, turn lights on and off, and even regulate the temperature in their home.

Listen to Your Entertainment

Amazon Echo currently lets users listen to podcasts, radio stations, albums, and even audiobooks. A user just has to link their accounts to Alexa through the smartphone device; then everything is available on the smart home device.

Additionally, if a user has more than one Echo device, they can program the devices to play whatever they’re listening to depending on what room they move to, ensuring their entertainment goes uninterrupted.

Shopping

One of the best features of Amazon Echo is the fact that Amazon users can use the device to shop on the site. By formulating a phrase that confirms the purchases, users can place orders for anything they may have run out of, including groceries and housewares. The Echo can also inform a user when an order was placed and when it’s expected to ship and arrive.

Smart home devices are a great addition to any home; with some time, these devices will be able to take on more chores and abilities. For now, users have a lot to play around with both of these devices, and it’s a great way to get used to having a smart home.

This guest post contribution is courtesy of Mighty Skins, a company based in Florida creating precision made vinyl skins for electronics such as Google Home skins, Amazon Echo skins and tablet skins.

[image source: Google.com, Amazon.com]

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