Uh-oh, we’re not in Kansas anymore, but a magical place where you voice can control your home, with Telstra and Google working closely together.
Smart homes aren’t new any more, and neither is Telstra’s Smart Homes offering, although for the vast majority of people, the concept is still as new and fresh as a daisy - even if we’ve seen smart homes since the days of The Jetsons.
Our own personal Rosie robot is still but a gleam in a robot designer’s eye, striving to create an automaton android that will be like the one of our sci-fi dreams, as opposed to the one from our terminated nightmares, but we do have Google Home in Australia these days.
So, with smart home technology from a range of vendors, including Telstra, already making a real difference to the lives of the many Australian households that can afford to digitally and electronically smarten up their homes, it should come as no surprise to see Telstra wanting, as always, to make it easier for you.
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In this case, the attempt is via welcoming Google Home as one of Telstra’s partners in the Australian market.
Telstra says it has worked closely with Google to allow its Telstra Smart Home customers to “seamlessly control lighting and smart plugs by talking to their Google Home.”
A video of this in action is embedded below.
John Chambers, Telstra’s Executive Director of Product Innovation said: “Customers with a Telstra Smart Home kit and a Google Home will be able to ask Google to turn their lights on when they come home with their arms full of groceries or use a smart plug to turn off the iron before they run out the door by simply asking their Google Home.
“Over time, we’ll continue to work with Google to build more integration with our current and future Smart Home range.
“The ability to control Telstra Smart Home using your voice opens up great opportunities for our older customers and Australians with mobility issues who will now be able to turn appliances and lights on and off without needing to move around their house, wait for help or use their smartphone.”
Now, I have largely reprinted a blog post from Telstra’s Smart Home team senior product specialist, Mat Gibbs, on his “favourite life hacks” in using Google Home, but before we get there, what does a Google Home cost, and what does it cost as part of one of Telstra’s home bundles?
To buy a Google Home with Telstra:
Telstra says its customers signing up to its “smartest home internet bundle will receive 1000GB of data, a Telstra TV to access the best in entertainment, their choice of Telstra Smart Home Starter Kit, plus included smart plug and Google Home device for no additional repayments, for $124/month over 24 months (min cost $3065).”
You can buy a Google Home outright for use with any ISP for $199, JB Hi-Fi sells them and presumably Telstra stores do too.
Over at Telstra’s Exchange blog, the company has a post by the aforementioned Mat Gibbs entitled: "Five ways Google Home helps my family”
Gibbs has been trialling Google Home as part of his Telstra Smart Home set up, and here are “his favourite life hacks using the device.”
1 – Helping the kids learn
As a parent, Gibbs says “your kids expect you know everything.”
“Dad how far away is the moon? What’s the square root of 144?”, “Why is the sky blue?”
Gibbs says “Asking Google Home helps us keep up the myth that we remember long division, spelling and a whole range of other questions. It’s a fun way for the family to explore and learn about the world, and gives us a chance to get dinner on or take five for a coffee.”
Gibbs doesn’t answer the question as to whether his children respect him less for not knowing the answer, or for wondering whether Google Home is smarter than their father, or smarter than a fifth grader, or the font of all knowledge, or the mark of the beast in audio format.
Gibbs doesn’t explain any of that, so you’ll have to make your own mind on that front, but Gibbs appears to effectively assure us that Google Home does NOT speak gibberish.
2 – Appliances off
With three kids and a dog, Gibbs says “we’re always rushing around and it’s not hard for me to forget about the iron being on. With a Telstra Smart Power Plug connected to our appliances, we can switch off devices with a simple voice command.”
Presumably, Gibbs will never attach a Telstra Smart Power Plug in between Google Home and the wall plug, lest one of the kids (or the dog) says “Ok Google, switch off Google Home” and causes a quantum temporal causality loop fixable only by shooting the warp drive into the nearest black hole, so - thank goodness for that!
3 – Prepare for the day
“Before we rush out the door,” says Gibbs, “there’s always a few last minute questions for Google Home. ‘Ok Google, what’s the weather today?’, ‘Ok Google, what time is dinner at Nan’s?’, ‘Ok Google, what are we doing today?’, ‘Ok Google, what’s the best route to work today?’”
If only Gibbs would ask “Ok Google, what are this weekend’s winning lottery numbers”.
4 – Lights on when you get home
“With an arm full of kids school bags and three kids in tow,” explains Gibbs, saying “Ok Google, turn off the hallway lights’ can help our mornings run a little smoother. As long as the kids can decide on who gets to talk to the Google Home!”
My question would be “Ok Gibbs, when are you getting each family member their own personal Google Home device even if that's not the way Google Home is supposed to work yet?” :-)
5 – Resolve arguments
“It might surprise you,” says Gibbs, not knowing of our sarcastic and unshockable nature, “but our kids aren’t always angels. They’ve hit the age where little arguments between siblings can easily turn into giant tantrums. If we’re debating issues, we can resolve them quickly with Google Home, and sometimes (on a good day), the jokes and games will get a smile out of them.”
So, does Gibbs say “Ok Google, tell us a joke?”. Sounds like he does! It makes me think of one of the jokes I read Cortana giving, which was “What do you get if you cross a dog with magic?”
“A Labracadabrador!”
We can only hope Google Home has been programmed with better jokes, because if Google Home tells bad jokes and ends up a dead man on the switched off comedy circuit, all we’ll be left with is an abracadaver.
So, with that lame attempt at human humour out of the way, you can check with your closest Google Home as to what kind of a better job it does (or doesn’t).
For more info on Google Home and Telstra’s “smartest home Internet bundle”, you can click here (or you can try asking Google Home to click it for you, even if he/she/it can't quite do that yet).
Here’s that Telstra Google Home video: