The good: Customizable design, Google Assistant helpful for answering questions and translations, Offers concise and clear answers The bad: Limited smart home compatibility, Doesn't support many apps yet Who should buy: Those who really care about having Google's search engine at the tip of their tongue and want little else. For about as long as I remember using the Internet, Google has been my encyclopedia, study aide, tour guide, news curator, and more. Given that Google processes more than two trillion searches per year, it's likely safe to say many Internet users around the world have a similar relationship with the search engine. Google is now looking to deepen our collective reliance on its search prowess by taking up residence in our living rooms, nightstands, and kitchens. Google Home, an Internet-connected speaker that can answer questions, play games and music, and control your other smart devices begins shipping Nov. 4.

The assistant wars are in full swing, with Google Assistant and Viv entering the fray and existing players such as Apple's Siri, Microsoft's Cortana, Hound and Google's Now all stepping up fight for consumers' hearts and minds. Apple's rumored Amazon Echo competitor, which VentureBeat believes is a next-gen Apple TV, could blow all the assistants out of the water when it comes to deciphering complex natural language queries. And powering it--VocalIQ, a sophisticate technology Apple acquired back in October 2015. Tech Insider provided an in-depth overview of how VocalIQ could make Siri a lot smarter than it is today. Tech Insider's piece, titled "Apple is working on an AI system that wipes the floor with Google and everyone else," notes that Apple had been testing VocalIQ technology against Siri, Google Now and Cortana. "Users asked each AI questions using normal language, not the robotic commands you're used to using with digital assistants," reads the article.

Google will unveil an Amazon Echo competitor called Google Home tomorrow, according to The New York Times. It's not stated exactly what form the device will take -- a speaker seems like a reasonable guess, but it's only ever referred to as a "voice-activated home device." Like the Echo, it'll be able to answer questions and take commands by voice. Though it'll be demonstrated tomorrow, according to the report, Google Home won't ship until this fall. The early demonstration is somewhat unusual for Google, but there's good reason it may want to unveil it at I/O. Announcing Google Home now would let third party developers begin building out integrations with it, which could then be ready at launch.

Google's answer to the Amazon Echo is named Google Home, according to The New York Times. Google Home, which was developed under the codename "Chirp," is a voice-powered assistant that can answer basic questions as you bustle around the house. The device should hit stores in the fall and Google is set to unveil the device during its big I/O conference tomorrow, NYT reports.