Smart Displays with Google Assistant now in stores
From the last week’s news department but I have kids so it’s news to me: Google Assistant with a display is now a thing you can buy in stores.
As far as I can tell the current technology is… rolls dice… an Android tablet with a speaker.
Looks like they did it right in getting the thing put together – minimal tablet, plays video, can be a photo frame, video calling device with Duo, yadda yadda holy hell it’s a $250 tablet with a good speaker.
No. Bad Google.
OK. Bad Lenovo.
While I expect the life cycle of a Google Assistant display will be significantly longer than your average cheapo tablet + speaker + duct tape, it’s still coming in at $150 higher than I’d expect for a 10″ tablet.
At $250 maybe consider getting a decent phone and a cell phone hat. I mean dang that’s a high price point for a Lenovo Google Product. I’ve drunk the Google Koolaid and that’s still steep.
That said, this might be the perfect gift for parents as it’s a photo frame, video conference speaker, etc. Maybe we’re almost to the point where we can have a virtual window into the lives of the people we’ve moved away from. I mean, I want one for the Oregon relatives so the kiddos can call grandma and grandpa and their aunt when they want. But dang, that’s a price tag.
I expect prices will drop as JBL, LG, and probably more are listed as partners in upcoming products. Sticker shock will probably abate. It just seems pretty pricey when you look at the reasonably priced Google ecosystem products.
I’m also pretty sure Apple and Amazon’s versions of this will not be able to video between the platforms and we’ll end up with Assistant device segmentation because Apple will want Facetime, Google will want Duo, and Amazon will want something else.
[Google Blog]
