If you’re a techie you’ll have heard about Google Home, but for many there’ll be some head scratching.

We’ll start with something simple – this isn’t going to be everyone’s cup of tea. I don’t see your gadget-illiterate parents welcoming this into the home, but I don’t think that’s who they had in mind when they designed it.

Let’s get some basics from Pocket Lint:

Google Home is a Wi-Fi speaker that also works as a smarthome control centre and an assistant for the whole family. You can use it to playback entertainment throughout your entire house, effortlessly manage every-day tasks, and ask Google what you want to know.

The device itself has interchangeable bases available in various colours and finishes (such as metal and fabric, allowing you to match it to your decor). Underneath that swappable shell there is a speaker that can playback songs and allow Google Assistant to talk to you. It appears to be pretty small, as a Google executive was able to easily hold it in one hand while unveiling Google Home.

Meh, let’s just take a look at their intro video:

Google Assistant seems to be one of the big drawcards here, so let’s see what that fuss is about:

…It basically improves the two-way conversation experience of Google Now thanks to AI and machine learning.

These advances basically add context to your questions. For instance, when you say “OK Google” followed by “What’s playing tonight?”, Google Assistant will show films at your local cinema. But if you add “We’re planning on bringing the kids”, Google Assistant will know to serve up showtimes for kid-friendly films. You could then say “Let’s see Jungle Book”, and Assistant will buy tickets.

You can even ask “Is Jungle Book any good”, and then the assistant will display reviews, ratings, and a trailer. Notice Google Assistant is able to string your questions together in order to determine context and serve up the right information. It can do basic stuff like retrieve your travel itinerary, daily schedule, commute time to work, package delivery information, and more.

Well, that’s quite nice.

You can run through a full review HERE, but as of yesterday (November 4) you can now pre-order one.

It’s not going to cost an arm and a leg either, retailing on Walmart for $129 (R1780), so who wants to be the first in South Africa to own one?

You’ll have to hurdle the fact that Walmart doesn’t deliver to SA, but by now we’ve told you how easy that is to overcome. You chat to the folks at Postbox Courier, who will handle all the hassle and make sure your Google Home gadget touches down without a hitch.

Here’s how they work:

Postbox Courier is reliable, quick and easy to use – just follow their simple steps:

1. Sign Up
   Register free of charge with Postbox Courier via their website. They will assign you with a Personal Postbox at each of our worldwide depots. Look out for the confirmation email which provides a link to activate your account.
2. Sign In
   Once you have activated your account, you will be able to login to view your unique Postbox addresses, by clicking the “View your Personal Postbox addresses” banner. Your addresses are permanent, so you can save them and start sending items to your Postbox!
3. Notify us of incoming items
   Each time you send something to Postbox Courier, please notify them via the Parcel Pre-Alert (in your Parcel Manager).
4. Manage your orders
   You can ship single items or multiple pieces combined into a single shipment. If you do wish to consolidate orders from different suppliers (in the same origin country), you will be able to do so in your Parcel Manager. Just notify them of each shipment that is en-route to your Postbox, and then use the ‘Group’ button to let them know which items you wish to combine.
5. Pay for shipping
   Once they receive the items that correspond with your booking they’ll let you know via email and invite you to login to your Parcel Manager and make payment, upon which they will courier your items to your door within South Africa immediately.

Look at you leading the way with your new toy, so sophisticated.

[sources:pocketlint&walmart]