14 DAY TRIAL // Google has rolled out a massive update to its Home devices by enabling support for up to six different accounts. The coolest part is that users can switch to their own account by speaking to the device and Google Home will pull up personalized information.
For instance, if your brother decides to ask Google Home for something, the device will know who he is and bring up his favorite playlists or even calendar events.
Each user can link his or her account through the Google Home app. Then, in order to get the device to recognize your voice, you have to say "Ok Google" and "Hey Google" a couple of times each. The voice sample is then analyzed by a neural network which will help the device recognize it thereafter.
"From that point on, any time you say 'Ok Google' or 'Hey Google' to your Google Home, the neural network will compare the sound of your voice to its previous analysis so it can understand if it's you speaking or not. This comparison takes place only on your device, in a matter of milliseconds," writes Yury Pinsky, product manager at Google Assistant.
Rolling out in the US
The new capabilities should already be available for Google Home users in the United States, with the same features becoming available for UK users in the coming months.
"Your Assistant should be personal to you - and now it is. From music to news, your Google Assistant on Google Home is ready to answer your questions and help you get more done," Pinsky adds.
By comparison, Amazon's Echo has long had multiple account support. The device, however, cannot recognize different voices. The switch between accounts has to be done personally by telling Alexa to switch the account to a certain individual's profile. Of course, now that Google has this feature out, we should probably expect the same from Amazon too. After all, it's a pretty nifty feature to have.
