When Facebook introduced the Portal, my jaw dropped.
The thought of all that facial recognition data Facebook is going to be rigging out just makes my skin crawl. Yes, I’m aware that Amazon tracks my shopping pattern, Google machine learns my interests, preferences, and political affiliations (if there are any), and a blogger I’m subscribing to uses cookies to track my purchases and monetize from them. But still, I can never be okay with a camera that’s staring at me 24/7 – whether that’s on or not.
Still, I very much appreciate the convenience of a digital assistant, I went ahead and purchase Google Home Hub. Originally retails at $145, it was part of the Black Friday promotion at $99. It is more expensive than the entry-level Google Home, but I really liked that it included a screen.
It comes in a sturdy white box with a charger.
The Google Home Hub has an integrated Google Assistant, similar to Amazon’s Alexa.
It includes a speaker behind the screen, and the volume gets sufficiently large.
It also plays music and delivers decent sound, although I wouldn’t compare it with other freestanding speakers.
The biggest upside of having a Google Home Hub for me is the ability to play Youtube videos instantly. I keep my Google Home Hub in the kitchen, and it’s great for playing recipes or other cooking-related videos without having to touch the screen.
For example, I bought Rambutan fruits (similar to lychee) for the first time a few days ago. I was able to peel them but didn’t know how to remove the seeds. My hands were already sticky, but that was okay because the Google Home Hub showed me how.
It is also useful for various kitchen tasks including setting the timer, looking up nutritional values, and managing the family’s grocery list.
When idle, the screen displays images – even your own photos, if you want to -, acting as a techy picture frame.
The standby screen shows time and weather with a photo background, and the home screen shows useful gadgets – like reminders and calendars - to manage your schedule easily.
All in all, it's a functional and handy device in the kitchen.
When Facebook introduced the Portal, my jaw dropped.
The thought of all that facial recognition data Facebook is going to be rigging out just makes my skin crawl. Yes, I’m aware that Amazon tracks my shopping pattern, Google machine learns my interests, preferences, and political affiliations (if there are any), and a blogger I’m subscribing to uses cookies to track my purchases and monetize from them. But still, I can never be okay with a camera that’s staring at me 24/7 – whether that’s on or not.
Still, I very much appreciate the convenience of a digital assistant, I went ahead and purchase Google Home Hub. Originally retails at $145, it was part of the Black Friday promotion at $99. It is more expensive than the entry-level Google Home, but I really liked that it included a screen.
It comes in a sturdy white box with a charger.
The Google Home Hub has an integrated Google Assistant, similar to Amazon’s Alexa.
It includes a speaker behind the screen, and the volume gets sufficiently large.
It also plays music and delivers decent sound, although I wouldn’t compare it with other freestanding speakers.
The biggest upside of having a Google Home Hub for me is the ability to play Youtube videos instantly. I keep my Google Home Hub in the kitchen, and it’s great for playing recipes or other cooking-related videos without having to touch the screen.
For example, I bought Rambutan fruits (similar to lychee) for the first time a few days ago. I was able to peel them but didn’t know how to remove the seeds. My hands were already sticky, but that was okay because the Google Home Hub showed me how.
It is also useful for various kitchen tasks including setting the timer, looking up nutritional values, and managing the family’s grocery list.
When idle, the screen displays images – even your own photos, if you want to -, acting as a techy picture frame.
The standby screen shows time and weather with a photo background, and the home screen shows useful gadgets – like reminders and calendars - to manage your schedule easily.
All in all, it's a functional and handy device in the kitchen.