Google? In the bath? I ask you!

GADGET OF THE WEEK JBL Link 10 £149.99

IF YOU ask Google’s voice assistant ‘What are you afraid of?’ it replies: ‘Four words: rail replacement bus service.’

Science fiction just hadn’t prepared me for the fact that when the robots took over, they might actually be amusing.

This year is going to see the launch of voice-controlled gadgets from washing machines to showers: the trend for ‘voice assistant’ speakers (half hi-fi, half high-tech Jeeves) isn’t going away.

JBL’s Link 10 speaker comes armed with Google’s assistant, and can perch on the edge of your bath without fear of electrocution. It’s IPX7 certified, which means it will survive in up to three feet of water for 30 minutes (so long as you remember to shut the little rubber hatch on the back).

It turns out the bathroom is a perfect place to commune with these devices – you can bolt the door, so there’s no one there to chortle as you say ‘OK Google, sing me a song’ (which kicks off a sequence reminiscent of the murderous computer in 2001: A Space Odyssey).

Voice commands are actually rather useful in the bath – no more wiping dry your prune-like fingers just to skip a song. Instead, you just say ‘OK Google, play Radio 4’, and it will.

It’s no match for a ‘proper’ hi-fi, sound-wise, but it’s portable, so once it’s finished a shift on the edge of the bath tub, you can haul it into the kitchen to put in some hours Googling recipes and timing your eggs.