Tag: Lenovo Smart Display

Third-party Google Assistant smart displays start benefiting from Google Home Hub features

Article

Lenovo Smart Display now to be the same level as the Google Home Hub

Lenovo to Send Out Update to Smart Displays That Has All the Google Home Hub Goodies | Droid Life

Lenovo updates Smart Display with Google Home Hub features | Engadget

From the horse’s mouth

Lenovo

New features coming to Smart Display (Oct 22nd) {Forum Post – Press Release)

My Comments

Google recently launched their Home Hub smart display which is a “first-party” effort to offer more that what their Google-Assistant-based third-party smart displays offer.

This included multiroom audio functionality with Google’s Chromecast, Home smart speakers and other similar devices; Live Album display for the Google Photos application; tight integration with the Nest Hello smart doorbell; a dashboard user interface for your compatible Internet-of-Things devices on your home network; amongst other features.

But they have started rolling out extra software code to third-party Smart Display manufacturers to open up these extra features to their Google-based smart-screen devices. The first of these to benefit from this update are the Lenovo Smart Displays which will benefit from a firmware update (version 3.63.43) to be rolled out from October 22nd 2018.

The firmware will be automatically updated in your Lenovo Smart Display and you can check if it is updated through the Settings menu. Here, you have to “swipe up” from the bottom of your Lenovo Smart Display’s screen to expose the Settings icon, which you would tap to bring up the menu.

The question that will surface for others with similar Google-based smart displays like the JBL Link View would be if and when the display’s manufacture will roll out the firmware update for their devices. It is something that is similarly happening with the Android mobile-device platform where the Google first-party devices have that latest software updates and features first while third-party devices end up with the software a few months later. This is ostensibly to allow the device manufacturer to “bake in” their user interface and other features into the package.

But could the Google-based Assistant / Home platform simply end up as the “Android” for voice-driven smart-display devices?

Lenovo launches the first smart display to compete with Amazon Echo Show

Lenovo Smart Display press picture courtesy of Lenovo USA

Lenovo Smart Displays now available in the USA (press picture courtesy of Lenovo USA)

Articles

Lenovo delivers the first Google Assistant smart display | Engadget

Google and Lenovo’s Smart Display Trounces Amazon’s in Every Way | Gizmodo

First of the Google Assistant-Powered Smart Displays Arrives This Week From Lenovo | Droid Life

From the horse’s mouth

Google

The first Smart Displays with the Google Assistant are now available in stores (Blog Post)

Lenovo

Smart Display (Product Page, Blog Post)

Video – Click or tap to play

My Comments

Google premiered the idea of smart displays based on their Google Assistant (Home) platform at the Consumer Electronics Show in January 2018. This is seen as an intent by Google to answer Amazon’s Echo Show smart display and they had Lenovo and JBL register their intent by presenting prototype products at that trade show. Lenovo even exhibited two models – a baseline unit with an 8” display and a premium unit with a 10” display.

Now Lenovo have made these Smart Displays available to the US market. Here, they will be made available through most of the well-known online and bricks-and-mortar stores who sell household technology like Walmart, Best Buy, Amazon, Costco and Sams Club, as well as being available direct through Lenovo.com.

The baseline model has an 8” screen with a 1280×800 resolution and a single full-range 10-watt speaker and being sold for USD$199.99. The premium model has a 10” display with a 1920×1200 resolution, two full-range speakers and a bamboo finish on the back for USD$249.99. Here, even the baseline model offers a larger display than what the Amazon Echo Show is equipped with.

There is the access to Google’s online services including YouTube, Duo and Maps. Users can even sign up to YouTube TV to receive most of the USA’s over-the-air and cable TV networks on this device via the Internet for USD$40 per month. As well, users also have access to Spotify, Pandora, iHeartRadio, TuneIn Radio along with most of the other popular content services available to the US market. They can also engage in videocalls using the Google Duo “over-the-top” IP-telephony platform thanks to an integrated video camera. Google Photos also allows these Smart Displays to become electronic picture frames as well.

Like other devices based on the Google Assistant (Home) platform, these Lenovo Smart Displays support the Google Assistant Routines which are effectively like “macros” or “scripts” that run a user-determined series of actions under one command. There is also the ability for these smart displays to interlink with “smart home” devices that work with the Google Assistant (Home) platform and can run video from compatible devices like the Nest Cam.

Individual privacy has been taken care of properly with a mechanical shutter that is slid over the camera along with a switch to mute the microphone. That feature is also important to prevent Google Assistant acting on “wake words” or other commands that may be said in normal conversation or uttered by a device.

From what I have seen of the photos posted online of this device, there is a clear concise graphically-rich user experience offered on the screen. It is rather than having a second-rate text-based display offered on the Amazon Echo Show devices. This is because the visual component of Google Assistant (Home) is based on the Android variant of the Google Assistant and it makes it easier to achieve a visual user interface across both Android devices and these Smart Displays.

But there is limited portrait-mode support amongst the app based offered for this platform. It is a sign that the visual-aid functionality for Google Assistant (Home) is still a “rough diamond” and Google and third parties will be needing to refine this functionality further.

I would see some of the other makes like JBL launch at least one Smart Display product for the Google Assistant (Home) ecosystem over the next few months, if not by year’s end.

At CES 2018, Google is answering Amazon’s Echo Show with smart displays

Articles

JBL Link View smart display press picture courtesy of Harman International

JBL Link View – one of the smart displays that is Google’s answer to the Amazon Echo Show (Press picture courtesy of Harman International)

Google takes on Echo Show with four new smart displays | CNet

Google’s routines look ready for prime time at CES | CNet

Google unleashes ‘smart displays’ loaded with Google Assistant | PC World

Lenovo Smart Display makes Google Assistant a smart home sidekick | PC World

Lenovo announces Google Assistant-powered Smart Display | Android Authority

From the horse’s mouth

Google

New devices and more: what’s in store for the Google Assistant this year (Blog Post)

Lenovo

Seeing is Believing on the New Lenovo™ Smart Display – with the Google Assistant™ Built In (Blog Post)

JBL

JBL® Announces LINK View, A Smart Display Speaker with The Google Assistant (Press Release)

My Comments

Amazon Echo Show in kitchen press picture courtesy of Amazon

Google is now giving the Amazon Echo Show something to worry about

Amazon has become the first company to integrate visual support in their voice-driven home assistant platform. This is in the form of the Echn Show and Echo Spot being “smart displays” with the ability to show text or other visual information to augment Alexa’s replies.

Now Google is answering Amazon by having a few other companies launch smart-display devices that work on their Google Home (Assistant) platform. The Consumer Electronics Show 2018 has effectively become the time for a showdown between both voice-driven home-assistant platforms.

These devices have the ability to work as a videophone thanks to integrated cameras and will have improved powerful speakers and microphone arrays. But they will miss out on the ability to show up Web pages. Rather they will provide visual feedback for Google Assistant replies or show videos at your command.

Lenovo has announced two of these smart displays – one with an 8” screen and grey back panel and one with a 10” screen and a bamboo back panel. Both of these units, equipped with the mono speaker and a touch screen can be positioned in a horizontal or vertical manner. They also have a switch to turn off the microphones along with a privacy shutter for their cameras.

JBL also premiered the Link View which has an 8” display but has stereo speakers and a rear-mounted passive radiator for that extra bass kick in the sound. LG and Sony are to release similar smart displays through the coming year thus building up Google Assistant’s position in this space.

But Google is integrating their Assistant (Home) platform in more smart speakers and TVs with some extant Android TVs from TCL, AirTV, Xiaomi and Skyworth having this function provided through a software update. Funai, Haier, Hisense, Westinghouse, Changhong and Element will roll this functionality in newer Android TVs that will be released this year. Of course, LG is integrating this functionality in their 4K UHD TVs.

You can’t escape Google Assistant when you get in to your car because it will be part of the Android Auto platform which a significant number of vehicle builders and aftermarket infotainment manufacturers are implementing.

What I see of this is that it will lead to a showdown between Google and Amazon regarding the voice-driven home assistant platforms that they offer. Who knows what else they could be lining up to answer each other with?