Google announces Home, Wifi UK pricing and availability

March 29, 2017 | 11:20

Tags: #access-point #advertising #amazon-echo #google-home #google-wifi #lan #mesh-networking #pan #wan #wi-fi

Companies: #alphabet #google

Google has confirmed that it will be launching its Google Home and Google Wifi [sic] products in the UK in April, marking the first territory outside the US to receive the goods, priced at £129 for Google Home and £129 for Google Wifi.

Designed to compete with Amazon's Alexa-powered Echo platform, Google Home combines a high-quality speaker with internet connectivity and a link to the advertising giant's voice recognition platform. When used on its own, the Google Home device is capable of understanding commands and queries ranging from "play me some Black Sabbath" to "do I have any appointments in my calendar today," and when linked to compatible home automation devices can control everything from a house's heating to its lighting. It also has a tendency to inject adverts into its daily summaries, though Google has claimed giving you a summary of an upcoming film entirely unrelated to your personal viewing history is in fact not an advert.

Google Wifi, meanwhile, was announced at the same event back in October 2016 as a mesh-powered Wi-Fi hotspot system featuring integration with multiple local, wide, and personal area networking standards including Bluetooth Smart, IEEE 082.15.4, and Google's own Weave platform. Using multiple Google Wifi devices in a single house, the company claims, allows them to work cooperatively in a mesh network to boost signal strength and throughput, while the smart home functionality ties in to standards-compliant devices including Google Home.

Both Google Home and Google Wifi are launching in the UK in April, the company has confirmed, marking the first time the hardware has been available outside the US. Google Home is priced at £129, slightly below Amazon's largest Echo model, with colour-coordinated base accessories available for £18 for the fabric and £36 for the metal versions; Google Wifi, meanwhile, is priced at £129 per access point or £229 for a two-pack.

Both devices will be available from April 6th at Google's own online storefront and selected high-street and online retailers. Full details are available from the official announcement.
Discuss this in the forums
YouTube logo
MSI MPG Velox 100R Chassis Review

October 14 2021 | 15:04

TOP STORIES

SUGGESTED FOR YOU