Google's Gemini Arrives in Google Home, Alongside New Speaker, Nest Cam, and Nest Doorbell

Google has spent overmuch of this twelvemonth porting its Gemini chatbot to different platforms extracurricular of Android. It arrived connected Wear OS smartwatches this summer; it's coming to Android Auto this fall; but now it's Google Home's turn. Say goodbye to Google Assistant, which has powered galore of Google's smart location products since its 2016 debut. The bid connection remains, “Hey Google,” but now it'll activate Gemini.

Nearly 10 years ago, Google Assistant was nan company's reply to Amazon's Alexa. It kick-started a voice adjunct war, but aft a play of stagnation, these chatbots person been revived pinch nan advent of large connection models. You tin talk to them much conversationally without being restricted by rigid commands, which marks a step-change successful really we interact pinch sound assistants successful nan home. Creating a routine—a task nan mean personification mightiness find a tad excessively complicated—is now arsenic elemental arsenic asking Gemini to “Turn connected nan lights and adjacent nan shades, and move connected nan sound instrumentality each nighttime astatine 9 pm."

Along pinch Gemini's infusion, nan Google Home app is getting a redesign to make usage of its caller capabilities, and location are caller devices arsenic well: a Google Home Speaker ($100), Nest Cam Indoor 2K ($100), Nest Cam Outdoor 2K ($150), and Nest Doorbell 2K ($180). Walmart is besides partnering pinch Google to connection an uber-cheap indoor camera and doorbell pinch its Onn brand, some of which tin beryllium added straight via nan Google Home app.

These products are disposable for acquisition today, though nan Google Home Speaker launches early 2026. Here's what you request to know.

The Gemini Upgrade

When Google Assistant debuted connected nan original Google Home speaker, nan institution promised an ambient computing acquisition that would present an intelligent home, but nan reality didn't meet expectations. Google Assistant and Amazon's Alexa are really awesome astatine telling you nan weather, but they're not rather arsenic proactive arsenic we wanted them to be.

“The AI astatine nan time—the instrumentality learning of nan past generation—really was nan limiting function,” says Anish Kattukaran, caput of Product for Google Home and Nest. “As we deliberation astir this adjacent era, nan imagination is still very overmuch nan same—to springiness group a partner successful their location that tin enactment arsenic an hold of them to do things for them and make their lives a small better, and Gemini is well-positioned to do that.”

Adding Gemini to Google Home isn't nan aforesaid arsenic adding Gemini to your telephone aliases watch. You don't usage your location nan measurement you usage a phone; it's not active, but ambient. And it's not conscionable for you, it has to beryllium designed for everyone successful nan home, whether that's a spouse, visiting parents, guests, aliases kids.

The first awesome alteration you'll announcement coming from Google Assistant is that nan adjunct sounds much natural. There are 10 caller voices to take from, and you'll beryllium capable to chat pinch Gemini without being restricted to circumstantial commands. You tin besides proceed talking to Gemini astir a topic, and it will understand nan context, truthful you don't person to support repeating nan taxable matter. The answers it delivers are richer, and you won't get routed to Google Search results arsenic much.

Google is taking nan other attack to Amazon erstwhile it comes to readiness for its caller souped-up adjunct experience. Whereas Amazon says nan fastest measurement for you to entree Alexa+ is by buying one of nan caller Echo devices it announced yesterday, Google is prioritizing existing devices first. This month, Gemini will motorboat connected each Google Assistant smart location instrumentality from nan past decade, from nan original 2016 Google Home speaker to nan Nest Cam Indoor 2016. It's rolling retired successful Early Access, and you tin motion up to return portion successful nan Google Home app. (Support doesn't see third-party devices for illustration Lenovo's smart displays, which Google stopped updating successful 2023.)

Google is bringing Gemini Live to prime Google Home devices (the Nest Audio, Google Nest Hub Max, and Nest Hub 2nd Gen, positive nan caller Google Home Speaker). That's because Gemini Live has a fewer hardware dependencies, for illustration amended microphones and inheritance sound suppression. With Gemini Live, you'll beryllium capable to person a back-and-forth speech pinch nan chatbot, moreover person it trade a communicative to show kids, pinch characters and voices. At present, Gemini Live can't execute actions, truthful you'll request to exit nan Live convention to inquire Gemini to move disconnected nan lights. However, Kattukaran says adding actions to Live is connected nan roadmap.

Gemini is besides capable to grip analyzable automations for you, positive chained commands. You tin inquire it to adjacent nan car shed door, move disconnected nan lights, and move connected nan TV successful 1 breath. And routines are arsenic easy arsenic conscionable asking it to repetition an action each night; nary request to fuss pinch a regular tool. Part of this is tied to a caller characteristic successful nan Google Home app called Ask Home. It's wherever you tin inquire Gemini what happened while you were out, and nan adjunct will show you really galore packages arrived aliases whether your kid collapsed a vase successful nan backyard. You're moreover capable to inquire information astir location instrumentality usage consumption, for illustration “How galore hours of TV did I watch this weekend?” (Maybe don't reply that.)

If your Google Home ecosystem is powered by information cameras, they'll now get richer notifications. Instead of “Person seen,” Gemini tin beryllium acold much descriptive. This influx of much precise accusation is besides summarized each evening via a characteristic called Home Brief successful nan Home app (more connected this below).

However, immoderate of these caller capabilities are locked down a subscription. Gone is nan Nest Aware subscription successful favour of a caller work called Google Home Premium, and location are 2 plans to take from.

• The Google Home Premium Standard subscription astatine $10 a period aliases $100 a twelvemonth includes Gemini for Home, Gemini Live, Automation features, and besides 30 days of arena history for Nest cameras, intelligent alerts, and acquainted faces. This tier is included arsenic portion of Google AI Pro.
• The Google Home Premium Advanced subscription astatine $20 a period aliases $200 a twelvemonth adds nan Ask Home feature, AI notifications and descriptions, and nan Home Brief, alongside 60 days of arena history aliases 10 days of 24/7 recording. This tier is besides included arsenic portion of Google AI Ultra.

The Google Home App Redesign

Redesigned and simplified, nan caller Google Home app consists of 3 tabs pinch a persistent header hunt bar, called Ask Home, that you tin usage to find what you’re looking for:

• Home shows each your favourite devices, and you tin customize nan position and swipe into nan various dashboards to power your lights, cameras, and everything else.
• Activity shows a history of your location pinch a summary from Gemini and a big of filters to alteration you to negociate nan data.
• Automation organizes your automations, which tin now beryllium created conversationally utilizing Gemini, into chronological order, truthful you tin spot what’s scheduled to hap successful your home.

The Google Home app has seen a big of mini improvements complete nan past fewer months to heighten stableness and polish. However, Google says pinch this caller update, you tin expect to spot 70 percent faster startup pinch nan app and 80 percent less crashes. There are artillery life and representation optimizations, and scrubbing done nan camera is six times smoother. The Home app is designed to beryllium utilized easy one-handed, and you tin usage much gestures, specified arsenic swiping down to participate a camera position aliases swiping up to backmost out.

You now get preview images from nan past arena earlier nan unrecorded position loads, nan expertise to swipe betwixt timeline and events, double-tap to accelerated guardant aliases rewind, and amended notifications pinch a fixed thumbnail expandable to a ample animated preview.

Google says nan merger of features and devices from nan aged Nest app is now complete, and folks should beryllium capable to modulation seamlessly, though nan bequest app won’t beryllium disappearing yet.

New Nest Cameras

Google unveiled 3 caller wired Nest devices, nan Nest Cam Outdoor ($150), Nest Cam Indoor ($100), and Nest Doorbell ($180). All of them jump from 1080p to 2K resolution, and clasp nan aforesaid precocious framework complaint (30 fps) and HDR support arsenic nan erstwhile generation. This solution bump enables you to zoom successful connected specifications for illustration car licence plates, but it besides provides acold much information for Gemini to analyse and construe (more connected that successful a moment). They person bigger sensors for much meticulous detection, travel successful a assortment of caller colors, and they person a typical resin coating that guards against UV discoloration (the outdoor cameras are IP65-rated).

The Nest Doorbell features immoderate important upgrades. To guarantee you get nan complete image of what’s happening astatine your beforehand door, this video doorbell has an enhanced section of position (from 152 degrees to 166 degrees) and switches to a 1:1 facet ratio. But erstwhile you get a notification, nan preview will zoom successful connected immoderate triggered nan event. You tin zoom and harvest to attraction connected nan areas you want successful nan Home app. All of nan caller cameras characteristic 6X integer zoom.

The caller wired Nest Doorbell is only disposable successful nan US and Canada for now, and comes successful Snow, Hazel, aliases Linen. The Nest Cam Indoor is disposable successful a wide assortment of markets, including nan US, UK, and Japan, and comes successful Snow, Hazel, aliases a agleam reddish Berry, but those past 2 colors are US-only. The Nest Cam Outdoor is wide disposable and comes successful Snow aliases Hazel (US-only), and you tin snag a two-pack of nan Nest Cam Outdoor for $250.

Why nan agleam red? Kattukaran says there's a displacement successful interior creation from muted colors to brighter tones and pops of color, truthful nan institution wanted to connection a bold option. It's very uncommon to spot a reddish information camera!

Despite nan higher demands of 2K footage connected your Wi-Fi, Google has gone pinch dual-band Wi-Fi 5 successful these caller security cameras, alternatively of Wi-Fi 7. You will request a reasonably beardown awesome to watercourse successful 2K (at slightest 3.3 Mbps).

As touched connected before, much important than nan hardware upgrade is what’s going connected nether nan hood. With nan summation of Gemini AI connected nan package side, your notifications astir a personification aliases package being detected are going to get a full batch much descriptive. Gemini tin watch nan footage and find that FedEx dropped disconnected a package aliases show you erstwhile your kids sewage home.

You tin inquire Gemini much elaborate questions, like, “Why is nan works connected nan floor?” and find retired that nan feline was nan culprit. You tin moreover get a location little astatine nan extremity of nan time that presents a benignant of item reel, and you tin tweak that little to attraction connected your kids aliases pets aliases immoderate you want. But galore of these features require a subscription.

Each of nan caller Nest cameras comes pinch six hours of arena history successful 10-second video clips for free, but if you want to unlock nan AI capabilities, you'll person to stump up for 1 of nan caller Google Home Premium subscription plans.

Google is besides partnering pinch 3rd parties connected much Gemini for Home-compatible devices that will activity successful nan Google Home app. The first partner is Walmart pinch nan Onn Indoor Wired Camera ($23) and nan Onn Video Doorbell ($50). Both are budget-friendly 1080p cameras.

A New Google Home Speaker

There hasn't been a Google Home smart speaker since nan Nest Audio successful 2020, but that's yet changing pinch nan aptly named Google Home Speaker. It costs $100, and while nan audio value whitethorn not beryllium arsenic up to par arsenic nan larger Nest Audio, this instrumentality has a snazzy, information creation made from a 3D knit recycled yarn that isn't excessively different from nan caller Echo Dot Max. It's arriving successful nan outpouring of 2026, and you tin take from 4 colors: Jade, Berry, Porcelain, and Hazel.

There's an expressive ray portion astir nan guidelines to bespeak erstwhile Gemini is listening aliases talking, and you get 360 audio from this small orb. Google says you tin brace 2 of these together pinch nan Google TV Streamer 4K for situation sound. Naturally, it tin beryllium grouped pinch different Nest speakers for stereo sound aliases multiroom music. There's besides a beingness toggle to shut up nan microphone.

It has been a rocky roadworthy for Google's smart location level complete nan past fewer years, pinch a clunky modulation from nan Nest app, missing features, and a deficiency of polish successful nan Home app. Today's announcements are a important measurement guardant for its smart location ambitions, particularly since nan location sound adjunct wars look to beryllium picking backmost up wherever they near off.