Google debuted its take on the smart display earlier this year with a slew of Echo Show rivals. This is, after all, the Google way. As it did with Android, Google created the ecosystem and then partnered with third-party companies like Lenovo and JBL to make the actual products. However, as with the Pixel and the first run of Google Home products, Google likes to dabble in hardware, too. That's why it wasn't much of a surprise when Google announced the Home Hub -- its very own spin on the smart display.

Google is shifting its focus from a smorgasbord of new hardware to a slew of Assistant- and software- based features. To begin with, it's rolling out multi-room audio support to all smart displays. Like audio-only Assistant speakers, you can add the screen-equipped devices to speaker groups and play music wherever you are in your home. Also, smart displays and smart speakers alike are receiving a previously hinted-at "Downtime" feature to block access during key hours. A "Filters" option, meanwhile, manages permissions for kids.

Another Google Assistant-powered smart display is on the way, as JBL has now made its Link View available for preorder. First announced at CES earlier this year, the JBL Link View follows the release of Lenovo's Google Assistant-powered Smart Display -- you can check out our review here. The JBL Link View has an eight-inch display and a 5-megapixel front-facing camera. The display is also splash proof and comes with two front-facing 10W speakers, a rear-facing passive radiator for deeper bass and 24-bit HD audio streaming, resulting in JBL's "legendary sound," as the company puts it. A number of companies showed off their Echo Show and Echo Spot competitors during CES this year.

Amazon may have pioneered the smart-speaker movement, but Google isn't far behind. A year after Amazon debuted the first Echo, Google followed in its footsteps with the Home. The company copied Amazon yet again with the Home Mini, which is its version of the Echo Dot. Last year, Amazon revealed the Echo Show -- an smart speaker with a display. And, sure enough, earlier this year, Google announced that it, too, was getting into the smart-display category.

While Amazon might have been the first to come to market with a smart display -- the Echo Show and the Echo Spot, respectively -- it's now no longer the only ones. At this year's CES, Google is announcing a slew of smart displays from several companies, and one of them is the JBL Link View from Harman International. Think of it as a Google Home, but with a touch screen. Measuring 13 by 5.9 by 3.9 inches, the overall Link View looks a bit like a halved football, but with a display set in the middle. That display measures 8 inches across and features a HD 1280 x 720 resolution.