First detailed at Google's developer conference in May, Google Home is a capable, sleekly designed voice-controlled speaker that's presents the first real challenge to the Amazon Echo. Now, you can officially order one. Home goes on pre-order today for 129, and will ship November 4. And while Echo has a significant head start, Home makes a pretty compelling case for earning a spot in your kitchen or bedroom come November. It's got a more elegant design, for one. You'll be able to choose between different brightly colored bases, from purple to light blue to gray.

Later this week, Google is expected to unveil a bevy of new products: phones, a smart home hub, a Wi-Fi router and possibly more. It's all stuff you can touch and pick up -- objects made of atoms. But don't let the hype around the new hardware fool you. As is almost everything Google does, this is firmly about code. Think of hardware, whether it's the rumored Pixel phone or the previously unveiled Google Home speaker, as the physical gateway into the company's software, which can't exist on its own.

Last weekend, I saw my first Christmas ad. And what a Smart Christmas it will be, judging by the haul on offer. Over the past year, companies have been teasing the various connected must-haves for the holidays: bots that can respond to kids' questions and movements, and capture audio and video; an imitation smartwatch that chats with other devices over Bluetooth; not to mention the Barbie Hello Dreamhouse, a pink-and-white smart house for the iconic doll. Not everyone is excited about the intelligence creeping into kids' toys. Privacy activists and developmental psychologists have objected on grounds ranging from security and privacy to fundamental worries about the nature of play.

Google, ubiquitous in internet search but trailing in consumer hardware, is expected Tuesday to reveal details of its latest efforts to infuse smarts into more of its product offerings. The Alphabet Inc. GOOGL 0.22 % unit aims to integrate its work in artificial intelligence, which allows software to make inferences and decisions, to make products more useful with voice commands that may represent the next step in search. The Mountain View, Calif., company foreshadowed its strategy in May when it announced a device called Home to rival the Echo speaker, Amazon.com Inc. AMZN -0.43 % 's surprise hit that allows users to ask a virtual assistant named Alexa questions and to perform tasks. Home, a voice-controlled speaker, will be powered by what the company calls Google assistant.

After all, consider that bees' markings are instantly distinctive to each other and across species as a biological imperative. The idea of the brand goes from optimistic (bees were a brand, man!) Will we ever start to see distinct, convincing personalities emerge as brands--or at least a few decent archetypes? Because right now, I don't think that most of us could really distinguish a Siri response from a Cortana response from an Alexa response, beyond the specific voice.

Nasa has announced that it has found evidence of flowing water on Mars. Scientists have long speculated that Recurring Slope Lineae -- or dark patches -- on Mars were made up of briny water but the new findings prove that those patches are caused by liquid water, which it has established by finding hydrated salts. Several hundred camped outside the London store in Covent Garden. The 6s will have new features like a vastly improved camera and a pressure-sensitive "3D Touch" display

At Google's official launch in San Francisco at 9:00 PST (17:00 BST), the firm is expected to launch a personal-assistant for the home, alongside the new Pixel phone. The device, called'Home', is an internet-connected device, similar to Amazon's Echo speaker and was first unveiled in May. While Google has declined to confirm any specifics, analysts and industry blogs have suggested that a new virtual reality headset and a home router could also be unveiled. The device, called'Home', is an internet-connected speaker, similar to Amazon's Echo, and was first unveiled in May It is clear that Google is working on virtual reality and augmented reality, but whether a standalone high-end device will be released, remains unclear. Earlier this year, the Mountain View-based firm announced its plans for Daydream, which will be a more advanced version of Cardboard.

Talking to computers was once for the likes of Captain Kirk, but a new product due to be announced by Google on Tuesday demonstrates that it believes devices that can speak to humans are ready for the living room. The search engine giant is expected to launch its Google Home "personal assistant" speaker system – a squat cylinder that will be able to process search requests and other everyday tasks when instructed to by the sound of a human voice. For many, conversations with computers consist of frustrating attempts to provide credit card numbers to a bank or talking to a bemused mobile phone, but Amazon has transformed the market, with the help of Alexa, its digital assistant, which lives inside its multimillion-selling Echo. A week ago Amazon said it would start selling the Echo in the UK at 149.99, two years after its introduction in the US, where it had become a sleeper hit. Despite a low-key launch the Echo sold 3.5m units in the time it took Amazon to adapt the device to recognise the full gamut of British English accents and voices.

FILE - In this May 18, 2016 file photo, Google vice president Mario Queiroz gestures while introducing the new Google Home device during the keynote address of the Google I/O conference in Mountain View, Calif. On Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016, the search giant will ramp up its consumer electronics strategy with expected announcements of new gadgets including new smartphones and an internet-connected personal-assistant for the home similar to Amazon's Echo speaker. All are intended to showcase Google's software and online services.

FILE - In this May 18, 2016 file photo, Google vice president Mario Queiroz gestures while introducing the new Google Home device during the keynote address of the Google I/O conference in Mountain View, Calif. On Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016, the search giant will ramp up its consumer electronics strategy with expected announcements of new gadgets including new smartphones and an internet-connected personal-assistant for the home similar to Amazon's Echo speaker. All are intended to showcase Google's software and online services. FILE - In this May 18, 2016 file photo, Google vice president Mario Queiroz gestures while introducing the new Google Home device during the keynote address of the Google I/O conference in Mountain View, Calif. On Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016, the search giant will ramp up its consumer electronics strategy with expected announcements of new gadgets including new smartphones and an internet-connected personal-assistant for the home similar to Amazon's Echo speaker.