Google Home for every personality
Google Home was clearly one of the most popular gadgets during the holiday season. Maybe you were lucky enough to get one for Christmas! With multiple features and voice commands, Google Home can adapt to suit any personality type. Whatever your interests are, your device will find ways to keep you happy! Here are some tips and tricks that will make you love Google Home even more, no matter what you're into. If you’re a sports fan Google Home could be your best sports buddy if you need quick updates on your favourite teams or if you don’t have time to watch all their matches. Here are some commands sports fans can use: OK Google... When is the next Habs game? What's the score for the Packers game? What place are the Pittsburgh Penguins in? Who won the Stanley Cup in 2003? How tall is Lebron James? When is the next FIFA World Cup? What are tonight’s NHL games? Whether you're in front of your TV screen, talking sports with your friends or just too busy to watch the game, Google Home is there to help keep you up-to-date! If you’re always in a hurry Lots of people wish there were more than 24 hours in a day. Luckily, Google Home can help you make better use of your time while keeping your hands free. Share your mental load with Google so you can relax a little! To improve your experience, make sure you’ve properly synced your Google account on your phone. OK Google... Tell me about my day. (The Google Assistant will tell you about things like the weather, any events on your calendar, how long it will take you to get to work, and more.) Remind me to call mom tomorrow at 6 p.m. (The Google Assistant can sync the reminder to your phone and also include it on your schedule when you ask it to tell you about your day). How long will it take to get to Montreal? Where is the nearest pharmacy? Remember that my keys are in my purse. (When you need them, just say “OK Google, where are my keys?”and Google Home will tell you what you asked it to remember.) Find my phone. (Google Home will ring your phone inside your house.) For those of us who like to be as efficient as possible, these voice commands make Google Home a helpful assistant! If you’re a music lover One of the best features of Google Home is that it can play music using an integrated speaker. But since it’s a smart speaker, it can do much more with your music than just play it. Here’s how you can take your musical experience to the next level. You’ll need a premium subscription to Google Play Music or Spotify to request specific songs, albums or artists. The free service can only play music inspired by your request. OK Google… Turn the volume up to 7. Play music for house cleaning. Play some relaxing music. I like this song. (The song will automatically be saved in your favourites.) Who sings this song? Have you bought several Google Home speakers for your house? You can use the Home app to create groups of speakers and give each group its own name. For example, the living room and basement speakers could be in a group called “Social areas.” Then try this: OK Google… Play some Imagine Dragons in the social areas. (The music will play from all Google Home devices that are part of the “Social areas” group.) It will make for a seamless and pleasant musical experience! If you want to impress your guests If you already own a Google Home, you’re probably one of the first people in your social circle to get one. This is a great opportunity to impress your guests. Here are a few features that are sure to wow your friends. OK Google… Tell me a joke. Let’s play a game. (Google Home will suggest games, including group quizzes.) Sing me a song. Do you have a Chromecast device connected to your T.V.? If so, try this… (You can assign a name to your Chromecast using the Home app). OK Google… Play a Bruno Mars YouTube video on the living room T.V. Show my photos of Florida in the living room. (You need to make sure you have synced your photos with the Google Photos app.) With these voice commands, your guests will be very impressed with your smart speaker! These features represent just a fraction of Google Home’s potential. This smart speaker is constantly improving—it gets even better as you use it. That said, I hope these tips will help you get familiar with your new toy and its wide range of possibilities!Google Assistant now offers interpreting services
Google has already made a name for itself as a leader in language processing in the era of globalization. The company has created an Assistant that understands several languages, it has developed a translation tool for its Android devices and added a webpage translation feature to its Chrome browser. Even Google Home devices can help you out by translating words for you. But the achievements don’t stop there. Google Assistant is now able to act as your personal interpreter! Here’s a look at the new interpreter mode, including: What is it? How do you use it? Who is it for? Essentially, the interpreter mode is a translation tool that works in real time. When activated, it listens to your conversation and translates each sentence. But what’s really neat is that it can translate in both directions to facilitate conversation between people speaking different languages. So, if you speak English to someone from Germany, it will translate each of your statements into German. And then it will translate their answers into English for you. In other words, it works as your interpreter. The new feature is currently available on Google Home devices and other gadgets that come equipped with Google Assistant. To activate interpreter mode, simply say “Hey Google, be my Spanish interpreter” or “Hey Google, help me speak Mandarin.” Note that you must use English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, or Spanish to start using interpreter mode. The device will start listening to you talk and provide bilingual translation in the two languages you selected. Interpreter Mode currently supports 26 of the most widely spoken languages in the world. That means you still can’t use it for trips to places like Iceland, but it stands to reason that more languages will be added in the coming months. But the most important question is: Who will this feature help? While most of us will never be invited to a wine and cheese at the United Nations, new travel trends, like discount flight operators and alternative accommodations platforms (Airbnb), are making international travel more affordable than ever. Since language barriers still hold people back from travelling, Google Assistant’s interpreter mode may prove helpful to many. You could find yourself discussing history with a local teacher in Athens, art with a gallery owner in Milan or politics with a student in Berlin. New levels of cultural exchange are sure to follow! Of course, the interpreter feature also promises to enhance customer service, especially when paired with Smart Display. For example, think of how it could improve communication between employees and guests at a Spanish youth hostel. The tool could also help you hone your skills in a second language. All you have to do is say, “Ok Google, help me speak Hungarian,” and the Assistant will translate your English sentence into Hungarian. Then it’s just a matter of repeating the Hungarian sentence back and seeing whether the device is able to understand you well enough to translate the idea back into English. Google Assistant’s interpreter mode still has room for improvement, but it’s already pretty impressive thanks to Google’s experience in the translation field. When you think of how many people have to juggle different languages every day (business leaders, flight attendants, hotel concierges, ambassadors, tourist guides, and even hockey coaches), this new feature is sure to become very popular. And we expect it will get a lot better over time. It may eventually be able to start translating before a sentence is complete, just like human simultaneous interpreters. In fact, real-time interpreting seems even more plausible if you add wireless earbuds to the experience. Time will tell! Let us know what you think about Google Assistant’s interpreter mode on the Videotron Forum. Is this a game-changer or just another useless feature? If you think you’ll use it, tell us how! More information is available here: https://support.google.com/googlehome/answer/9234753?hl=en&ref_topic=7399445
