In addition to a slew of new features just announced, Google Home will support more languages down the road, as the smart speaker enters more markets internationally.
In addition to a slew of new features just announced, Google Home will support more languages down the road, as the smart speaker enters more markets internationally.
The search giant said at Google I/O 2017 that Google Assistant, the virtual assistant that powers Google Home, will get more language support. Brazilian, Portuguese, French, German and Japanese will become available this summer. Also, Italian, Korean and Spanish will arrive by the end of the year.
As the assistant speaks more languages, Google Home will function in more homes around the world.
In addition, five international markets will soon welcome Google Home – Australia, Canada, France, Germany and Japan, although the exact launch date and pricing info were not revealed yet.
The smart speaker is currently sold only in the U.S. and the UK, while its rival Amazon Echo is available in the same two countries as well as Germany.
Google Assistant and the Google Home ecosystem are a focal point in Google’s developer conference this year. Important new features for Google Home have been announced, including free landline calling and proactive notification sending.
Meanwhile, Google is strengthening its relationship with manufacturers and developers in the ecosystem. The company is opening the entire Google Assistant API to developers to let them create devices with the assistant built in. Google is also offering AI tools and has built the Google Voice First App Store allowing users to explore new voice apps.
There are already 70 manufacturers that have made smart products compatible with Google Home, including the recently joined LG and GE. With the open developer platform, the number of cooperating partners is expected to grow. Also, there are third-party hardware makers that will soon unveil Google Home-like devices.
Although Google Home entered the market after Amazon Echo, it is catching up fast. As Google gains momentum, Amazon might not indefinitely hold its leadership position in the smart speaker market.