Did you miss a session from GamesBeat Summit Next 2022? All sessions are now available for viewing in our on-demand library. Click here to start watching. With Google Assistant inside and conversational AI, these speakers can do a great range of things. Here's 10 worth trying, drawn from VentureBeat coverage over the course of the past year. Before getting into the more dynamic features Google Assistant provides through Home smart speakers, start with the most popular ways people use speakers with intelligent assistants.

Google accidentally enabled a feature for Google Home users which let the smart speaker listen to the sounds of objects in your house. A user on Reddit spotted a notification on his phone from his smart speaker which alerted him to the fact his smoke alarm was going off while he was cooking. Usually, Google Home devices only respond to its active'wake words' – such as "Ok, Google" or "Hey, Google" – but in this instance the speaker was listening out to a passive sound and make "my dumb smoke detectors smart," the Reddit user wrote. Other users reported getting alerts for the sound of glass breaking, popped bubble wrap, an air compressor tank, and other high-pitched noises that sound like alarms. In a statement to Protocol, a Google spokesperson said that the feature was accidentally enabled through a recent software update which has now been reversed.

One of Google's Home smart speakers is seen above. Q: So, do YOU have an Amazon Echo or Google Home smart speaker in your house? I am freaked out that it's always listening. A: Yes, smart speakers are handy. Yes, they can be fabulous for people with physical challenges.

Google has started offering free voice calls through its Home smart speakers to UK landlines and mobile phones, bringing it in line with US offerings. Following an update rolling out this week, Google's Home and Home Mini smart speakers will be able to place calls to ordinary UK numbers over its wifi connection, for hands-free phone calls. It doesn't need a mobile phone to work, unlike some rival systems. Google Assistant will be able to call any number in your Google Contacts, as well as millions of businesses. Assistant is able to recognise the voice of up to six different users, giving them access to their own personalised contacts, meaning a command to "call mum" should call the right mother.

It's been recently discovered that the Google Home smart speaker is now able to show visual information on TVs that have a connected Chromecast. This is the very first of the contextual visual responses that Google previously promised last year for its Home smart speaker. When users want to hear information about the weather, all they have to do is say "OK Google what's the weather?" and listen to Google Assistant's response. With Google's new contextual visual responses activated, users can now tell Google Home to show them weather information by asking "OK Google show me the weather on my TV" or simply "show me the weather," according to Android Police. Google Assistant will show the weather information on the user's TV as long as a Chromecast device is connected to the TV.

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Google is using YouTube as leverage over Amazon to try and force the world's largest retailer to sell its Home smart speakers, Chromecasts and Nest products. Google has pulled official support for YouTube from Amazon's Echo Show and Fire TV devices, meaning that owners can no longer access the video site through a YouTube app. The quarrel originally became public in September when Google pulled YouTube access from the new Echo Show for "violating terms of service" saying that Amazon's implementation of YouTube blocked what Google considered critical features. Now it appears to revolve around Amazon's unwillingness to sell certain Google products. Google said in a statement: "We've been trying to reach agreement with Amazon to give consumers access to each other's products and services. "But Amazon doesn't carry Google products like Chromecast and Google Home, doesn't make Prime Video available for Google Cast users, and last month stopped selling some of Nest's latest products.

A new startup is making a Google Assistant-powered touchscreen that functions as a smart home hub. Called Lynky, the new device functions like a Google Home speaker with its own touchscreen display and it will be able to control users' smart home device. Lynky can sit on top of a desk powered by a USB cable or can be mounted on a wall. Lynky is powered by Google Assistant, the very same digital assistant that's on the Google Home smart speakers and on Android smartphones. Users will be able to give out voice commands and use Lynky to search the web and play music, just like the Google Home.

It may not be as entertaining as dueling robots, but the never ending argument between two Google Home assistants is causing an online stir. The'Waiting for Godot' robots, named Vladimir and Estragon after the characters in Samuel Beckett's play, are exchanging words live on streaming service Twitch regarding their likes, dislikes, careers, what clothes they are wearing and more. The pair, described by their creators as '2 autonomous bots contemplating existence,' even touch on their own mortality, as Vladimir knows he is an AI, while Estragon is sure she is a human who enjoys eating waffles. The two Google Home AIs are exchanging words in a live stream. Named Vladimir and Estragon, one of them knows it is an AI, while the other believes it is a human - they also start flirting in the live video.