[010a]

> I can't wait until they are connected and I can issue a command to move streaming from one device to another one in another room

Google Home can do this to a degree today. You are capable of saying things like "Play X on my TV." if your TV is wired up with a ChromeCast.

In general, Google Home is very far ahead of Alexa. I agree with the opinion that Alexa is a glorified radio, but I don't believe that opinion extends to all devices in that class. I think its just because Alexa is overrated and not very powerful.

[simcop2387]

Alexa plus Plex just got this a day or two ago. I'd imagine that it'll happen with other services too.

[notyourwork]

You give a really vanilla use case and than suggest Google Home is superior. Can you give me a use case where it actually demonstrates it is far ahead.

The Chromecast example isn't supporting your claim in my opinion.

[Eridrus]

Entertainment is the biggest use care for these devices IMO; Music and TV. I haven't used an Echo in a while, but it had nothing for TV and wasn't that great at music at the time. Does it have good support for both now?

[tluyben2]

I always try all these things as I am a junky like that but these things seem to have such limited use cases. Looking up and playing things on chromecast, for me, is faster using my phone than speech will ever be. So is controlling things in the house and with a phone I can open the catflap without waking my wife talking to Alexa. Switching on and off things is okish (phone or even a normal lightswitch are still faster and less hassle imho), but trying to look up what that great song from that obscure Norwegian black metal band was, of which the name is something Alexa does not parse and will take me 10 minutes to properly explain while it makes me sound like robot doing it; while via my phone I google it in seconds. I am really not convinced if this is not just gadgets because of gadgets. Or maybe I am just weird. Which is fine too.

[Klathmon]

Where it really shines for me is playing the latest podcast on YouTube or continuing a Netflix show where I left off.

Being able to say "Watch Breaking bad on the living room TV" and have Netflix pop-up and start playing right where I left off, or being able to say "play the latest off topic podcast on the bedroom TV" and have it startup right away is really nice.

I've also got a lot of home automation stuff so that combined with telling it to turn lights on/off is fantastic.

My nightly routine is to tell it to turn the bedroom lights on, get ready for bed, tell it to play the show I'm watching, then when I'm in bed and comfy tell it to turn all lights off.

[Eridrus]

I don't think it's fully there yet, but I really disagree that it's more convenient to use a phone app than a Google Home. Alexa is worse here since skills are clunky, and while I agree that voice isn't the best setup in bedrooms with multiple people, it's definitely easier to say "Hey Google, open catflap" than futzing with a phone.

For me, simply being able to turn my TV + soundbar on/off with Google Home + IFTTT + Harmony Hub, while being a stupid amount of duct tape, has made me no longer need to hunt for where the TV or sound bar remote are any more. Being able to pause/resume shows on my Roku with the same setup avoids me having to get my phone out, unlock it, open the Roku app and press the pause button. It's pretty convenient. Is it life changing? No. Could I just stop losing the remotes? No :p

I have also found myself listening to a lot more music with the google home since I can just turn it on with my voice when I crawl out of bed. Not sure if that's a good fit for metal of any kind though.

I don't think it's truly life changing, few things are, but well executed voice control is truly convenient.

[daveguy]

A really vanilla use case that Alexa can't do yet.

[notyourwork]

Keyword being yet. Recently Plex announced integration with Alexa. Nvidia Shield recently saw Amazon Video app. It is really just a matter of time before skills to play video on devices like the audio is available.