Artificial Intelligence At Home: Google Home And Google Wifi To Enter UK With Extra Bonuses

The artificial intelligence assistant Google Home is scheduled to debut in the U.K. on April 6, according to Google’s blog post Tuesday. The hands-free assistant and speaker, similar to its rival Amazon Echo, was launched last year in the U.S. in an attempt to make artificial intelligence readily available in homes. Google's new product, Google Wifi, would be released simultaneously, as well.

The U.K. can look forward to new features not yet released elsewhere. “We know the U.K. has been patiently waiting for Google Home to arrive and we’ve been working with our favorite partners to give you the best possible experience,” director of Product Partnerships and Planning at Google, Suveer Kothari said in the blog post.

“We’ve hidden a few British treats for you to discover; just try asking Google Home about its hobbies or favorite foods.”

Google Home, powered by Google’s search engine, knows how to use maps, ask questions, make calendar entries and translate. It can also deliver news briefs from BBC, the Financial Times, the Sun, the Guardian, Huffington Post, Sky News, Sky Sports and more. By using the Google assistant, the device can also answer questions based off “interests, the weather, traffic, sports, finance, local businesses and more.”

Additionally, customers can play music via voice command from Google Play Music, Spotify, TuneIn and live radio from BBC.

Kothari said Google would be introducing its own Wifi service to combat disruptive wireless connections, which would replace a traditional router and allow users to have uninterrupted wifi service in all parts of a house. Google Wifi uses a mesh network that connects individual Wifi points together that finds “the best path for your data.” The product comes with an app that would allow its customers to pause Wifi on other devices, similar to parent control options. Google Wifi’s one pack was scheduled to be available online for £129, and a two pack would be available from the Google Store for £2,299.

Customers will find both products at Dixons, Argos, John Lewis, Maplin—with Google Home priced at £129.