Google unveiled its updated lineup of Google Home and Nest devices, which are intended to highlight its AI assistant, Gemini AI, just one day after Amazon unveiled its new AI-powered Echo devices. Additionally, the company unveiled its updated Google Home software platform and its new AI-era business plan.
The company aims to make Gemini available to other manufacturers and companies, while still intending to compete in the hardware market. In a similar vein, Google permits other businesses that produce goods compatible with its platform to create their own Android smartphones with varying form factors and price points, while still offering its own flagship Android devices with its Pixel line.
According to Anish Kattukaran, Google Home and Nest’s chief product officer, during a press conference before the announcement on Wednesday: “We’re going to build flagship hardware in certain categories where we think there’s a lot of room to showcase innovation and push the boundaries of what’s possible with Gemini.
“And then we’re going to complement that with the second part, which is, we don’t think that Gemini should be constrained to one set of devices from one OEM, at one set of price points that may make it accessible or inaccessible to a certain group of people,” he added.
To illustrate this, Google released a redesigned range of Nest products that utilise Gemini, such as the Nest Doorbell, Nest Cam Indoor, and Nest Cam Outdoor. Additionally, it hinted at a low-cost camera and doorbell that would be sold in collaboration with Walmart, as well as an updated Google Home speaker that would be available in the spring of 2026.
However, the business chose to initially make Gemini available to its current device owners, as long as they possess specific hardware capabilities, such as enough processing power. (See the list below.)
This strategy is deliberate. With more than 800 million devices in its ecosystem, including both its own and third-party devices, Google doesn’t want to force users to purchase new gadgets to utilise its AI capabilities. The company’s Google Home Cloud-to-Cloud APIs and the smart home industry standard Matter—a protocol that enables devices from various manufacturers to cooperate—are used to connect those devices. Additionally, before introducing the Gemini features and performance on new flagship devices, such as the upgraded Google Home smart speaker that will be released next year, the company needs time to test them with current customers.
A new reference hardware design, suggestions regarding system-on-chips (SoCs, the primary processors that drive smart devices), a new Google Camera embedded SDK, a toolkit for creating AI cameras, Google’s “Works with Google Home” partners, and more are all being made available by the company. As Google’s first partner, Walmart is introducing a low-cost doorbell and camera system under the retailer’s Onn brand.
The goal of Gemini is to provide AI-powered gadgets that you can interact with more naturally, whether that means asking more complicated questions or interrupting or adding details after an initial query.
For example, the device might play an Aerosmith song from the film “Armageddon” if you said, “Play that song from that movie with Ben Affleck where he’s on a rocket and going off to like an asteroid or something.” You could ask what the lyrics mean while the music is streaming, and after it’s done, you could ask for more songs with a related theme.
Another option would be to request a podcast that features a particular individual without having to recall the show’s or episode’s name. Alternatively, ask Gemini to create a story for the kids to help create the characters in an interactive bedtime story. Calendars, lists, timers, reminders, and other items that simplify your life at home are among the household coordination tasks that Gemini can manage. For example, you could tell the smart speaker that you want to make “vegetarian pad thai” rather than asking it to add each ingredient to a shopping list. Gemini might then ask, “For how many people?” It will then create a shopping list for you with the appropriate quantity of ingredients if you don’t already have one.
Another example would be to say to the smart device, “I’m boiling eggs,” rather than asking it to set a timer for a specific amount of time. Is it possible to set a timer? Then, depending on your response, Gemini may ask if you prefer a soft or hard boil before setting the timer. Additionally, consumers won’t need to recall the names of their numerous smart home appliances. The AI would therefore understand that you mean to turn on the lights in the kitchen if you were sitting in your bedroom telling Gemini that you were “about to cook” and to “turn on the lights.”
Furthering, you can use chain commands to instruct the device to simultaneously turn off the lights, change the thermostat, and turn on the Roomba. “Turn off all the lights but leave my office lights on” is another way to request an exception. With cameras and doorbells, Gemini can better interpret what it’s seeing, giving you a summary of events or highlights of the ones that truly matter rather than a barrage of dozens of notifications, BrandSpur digital news platform reports.
More people will be able to utilise more sophisticated features, such as preset routines that automatically control multiple devices or ask questions to better understand their energy use, thanks to Gemini. Additionally, you could ask Gemini what you want to do using a new “Ask Home” feature and receive helpful advice and assistance rather than manually configuring automations. If you ask how you could feel safer at home, for example, it might recommend a home automation system for when you’re by yourself or one that mimics your presence when you’re not there. Gemini can arrange for them if that’s what you want.
The updated Google Home app, which is now faster, more reliable, and equipped with Gemini AI, controls all of this.
Gemini will provide summaries of the day’s events, point you to a clip when you request it, describe the events and activities your cameras captured, and more within the app. A Google Home Premium subscription is necessary for certain features. See the chart below for more information.)
Saying “Hey, Google, let’s chat” to your smart device allows you to engage in a conversation with Gemini Live in addition to its AI-powered features. This will initiate a dialogue in which you won’t have to repeatedly say “Hey, Google” before making a request. You can ask sophisticated questions, collaborate with an AI partner on brainstorming sessions, have the AI generate original ideas, and more in this more organic conversation. Although the devices currently offer Gemini Live as a mode, Kattukaran thinks that this conversational approach will eventually be “all of the experience.”
Kattukaran went on to say: “I’m so bullish on this experience becoming the de facto thing. Between having a more conversational assistant, Gemini Live, the access to endless information and creativity, ‘Ask Home’ — all of these converging together — is really this foundation that we’re setting in place.
“We’re starting to deliver on this promise of a home that can actually see, hear, understand, and ultimately act on your behalf to make your life a little bit easier in smaller ways, so you can go and spend time on the things that you actually care about,” Kattukaran added.
Today, the Google Home app update is being made available to early access users. Google’s new Home speaker will launch in the spring of 2026, but Nest and Walmart devices are already on the market. Manufacturer specifications can be found on the Google Home developers’ website.
