Google Home

Google Home is picking up some nice new features of its own – the highlight being hands-free calling capabilities. It will call businesses and your Google Contacts on command, and you don’t need any extra apps or even a phone line for it to work. You can opt to allow the call to show your mobile number on the receiving end, or it’ll use a number flagged as private.

The smart speaker will also offer ‘proactive assistance’, or the ability to notify you of timely and important notifications. The lights will flare to life when you have a notification, prompting you to ask Home “What’s up?” Amazon’s Echo rolled out similar functionality. Google Home is adding Bluetooth compatibility too, the ability to push content to Google apps on your phone and support for Spotify’s free, ad-based streaming music tier.