Australian technology news, reviews, and guides to help you
Australian technology news, reviews, and guides to help you

Google’s Assistant goes walkie talkie

If you’ve embraced the smart home lifestyle and managed to integrate Google in your world, you can now talk to more than just Google, but also the rest of your home.

Remember the walkie talkie? Better than two cans and a long piece of string, the walkie talkie gets two people talking over a wireless reach, often ending with “over” (over).

The walkie talkie hasn’t really been a thing for a while, thanks in part to the rise of the smartphone, but that doesn’t mean the modern intercom has died.

Far from it, as Google finds a way to return the retro technology to the fore provided you have a Google Home or a Google Assistant-enabled device at home.

If you do have more than one of these spread out at home or possibly a Chromecast-enabled speaker, you can send a message throughout the home simply by calling out “OK Google, broadcast” and then your message.

Connected devices will play the message, possibly even with a chime, allowing you to shout out digitally so you don’t make your voice a little hoarse.

Google’s addition to its Home-enabled speakers isn’t the first of its kind, however, with apps available for Sonos that do much the same thing over on iOS in the form of “Sonos Voice” and “Intercom for Sonos”, while “Sonofy” does the same on Android.

It turns out that the whole the digital intercom and refresh of the walkie talkie is available no matter what major multiroom system you use, Google or Sonos.

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