by admin | May 25, 2021 | Branding, Business, Markets, SMEs, Technology
By Nishant Arora,
New Delhi : Smart home speakers are steadily gaining ground in India and Amazon’s Echo range has been appreciated the most so far, followed by Google Home.
Led by Amazon Echo, with 59 per cent market share, the smart speakers category in India grew 43 per cent in the second quarter (July-September) this year, according to an International Data Corporation (IDC) report.
Analysts see the nascent smartphone market in India growing beyond entertainment and Amazon, with its top-of-the-line voice-based Alexa platform, has brought the second iteration of its Echo smart home speaker to the country that is able to control connected devices around you and does not need third-party support.
The Indian smart home devices market which consists of connected lights, smart speakers, connected thermostats, smart TVs, home monitoring/security products and digital media adapters saw a healthy year-on-year growth of 107 per cent to hit 1.4 million shipments in the second quarter.
Let us see what the Rs 14,999 All-New Echo Plus (2nd Gen) with a smarter Alexa has to offer.
The top has four buttons — two to adjust volume, one to wake up Alexa and one mute button — along with seven ergonomically-placed microphones.
This time, the 780-gram device goes beyond reading daily news, playing music, announcing weather or ordering food.
The All-New Echo Plus comes with a built-in smart hub that helps you set up compatible Zigbee-enabled smart home devices directly, just using your voice.
Zigbee is a wireless technology developed to enable low-cost, low-power wireless machine-to-machine (M2M) and IoT (Internet of Things) networks.
Just ask Alexa to discover your devices and begin controlling compatible lights, plugs, locks, thermostats, sensors and in-wall switches.
For example, Echo Plus connected directly to Philips Hue light-bulbs.
Insert the bulb into a receptacle and tell Alexa to discover new devices. Within no time, she will throw up the name of the device (in this case, the light-bulb).
Start controlling the device, like “switch on the light Alexa”.
You can also control compatible lights and plugs from Syska, TP-Link and Oakter.
With seven microphones, beam-forming technology and noise cancellation, Echo Plus heard us from almost all directions.
Housing new speakers powered by Dolby and enhanced back volume, the bass felt stronger and the sound crisp and clear.
One feature that is worth mentioning is the equaliser (EQ) feature that allows users to personalise sounds by adjusting the bass, mid-range and treble.
Just ask Alexa to increase or decrease a specific band like “turn up the bass” or “decrease the treble” and she does it for you.
We could also made adjustments through the Alexa app.
The new Echo Plus also has a temperature sensor, making it possible for Alexa to tell the temperature in any room (it works with a compatible smart home thermostat).
With the device, call or message your friends and members in the family who also has an Echo device or the Alexa App.
Simply ask “Alexa, how do I set up calling?” and get started.
What doesn’t work?
Alexa is getting smarter by the day and we will soon have more local functionalities in it. At the moment, the device gives the best smart speaker experience.
Conclusion: From a tall, metal cylinder look in the first generation, Echo Plus has come a long distance in terms of look and feel. The second-generation Echo Plus with a far more intelligent Alexa is a real upgrade if you have experienced the first generation Echo.
(Nishant Arora can be contacted at nishant.a@ians.in)
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Markets, Technology
By Sourabh Kulesh,
New Delhi : “OK Google, wake me up at 8 a.m. and book an appointment with the hair stylist at 10 a.m.,” went the instruction to Google Home — the voice-activated speaker powered by Google Assistant.
“Sure, your alarm is set for 8 a.m. and the appointment has been fixed for 10 a.m.,” came the instant reply from Google Assistant — the new lady in my home who, according to senior company executives, has received over 4.5 lakh marriage proposals from India.
Following the launch of “Amazon Echo” smart speaker in India last year, Google has now brought its “Home” speaker range to the country.
Google Home and Home Mini speakers — priced at Rs 9,999 and Rs 4,499, respectively — can help people with their commute, play their favourite songs and videos, plan their daily schedule and lots more.
Let’s see how Google Home fares in the Indian context.
The speaker is capable of understanding the thick Indian accent thanks to two microphones on either side of the LED lights that light up when the device recognises the opening “OK Google” voice command.
The two microphones utilise the neural beam forming technique to enable accurate voice recognition.
The curves of the device resemble a wine glass. The lower part holds the speakers and the upper part is the main body with the touch-sensitive top.
When the volume is increased or decreased, the device responds with the shimmering ivory-coloured light ring.
Google has trained the Assistant in English and has promised Hindi support later this year.
“Play ‘Firestone’ by KYGO,” went another voice command and lo! the device checked the Google Play music subscription — the company is giving six-month free Google Play music subscription when you buy the device — and instantly played the song.
The device also works with music streaming platforms like Saavn and Gaana. The music output was good for a medium-sized room.
“OK, Google, play Arijit Singh songs.” She returned with the hit number “Enna sona kyun rab ne banaya”.
If you want to chat or listen to her in an another room, pair another Home device or a Bluetooth speaker with Chromecast support. Another option is to attach a Chromecast Audio device to a speaker.
Google Assistant told us the correct score of Delhi Daredevils while it chased the Mumbai Indians’ total in one of the IPL matches.
However, to a question on happenings in Syria, she played a 30-second news bulletin from BBC News.
Google has simulated hundreds of thousands of noisy environments and applied Machine Learning (ML) to recognise patterns that allow it to filter and separate speech from noise.
Google Assistant understands several languages and can translates sentences into Spanish, French and more.
Not only multimedia, Google Home can also control smart devices such as connected Internet of Things (IoT) device “Philips Hue” in your drawing room.
We set up Google Home to control a light bulb which was connected via “Philips Hue”. We asked the device to dim, turn off and turn on the light and got the desired results.
What didn’t work?
While playing music, Google Home at times did not receive the command in one go. We had to raise our voice twice or sometimes thrice to get the command through the noisy environment.
One important takeaway: Never keep your Google Assistant-enabled smartphone near Home device as the voice command does wake up Assistant in the smartphone too and could ruin the whole experience.
Conclusion: At this price point, Google Home is a good choice as it saves time while performing some key daily tasks for you. It is not the replacement of your better half yet, but does help you with daily chores. Take it home.
(Sourabh Kulesh can be contacted at sourabh.k@ians.in)
—IANS
