It's long been possible to say "Hey Google" to your Google smart speaker to request a playlist from, say, YouTube Music, Spotify, Pandora, and even Apple Music. But can you spot the major music service that's missing? Until now, Amazon Music had been conspicuously absent from the list of music streamers that Google Assistant could easily control on your Google Nest smart speaker or display. Recently, though, Google has begun changing its tune in regard to Amazon Music support on its Nest devices. As spotted by 9to5Google, Amazon Music can finally be set as a default music service on your Google smart speakers.

Both Amazon and Apple are playing it safe when it comes to allowing generative AI on their respective smart speakers. On the other hand, you can already chat with Google's Gemini AI on a Nest device, and Google has now detailed how you can get in on the test. The whole "there's Gemini in my Nest!" hubbub began earlier this month, when some Nest speaker users began noticing that Google Assistant was speaking in two different voices: the standard Assistant voice, and a deeper, more loquacious voice that most suspected was powered by Gemini. Google has now confirmed that it's testing Gemini on certain Nest devices, and (as spotted by 9to5Google), it's even published a support page detailing how you, too, can give Gemini a spin on your Nest speaker. Here's what you'll need to do: Now it's time to give Gemini on your Nest speakers a whirl.

Amazon Prime Day is usually a great time to pick up things for your home, particularly smart home tech. This year, a bunch of Google's Nest devices have been discounted, with many down to record-low prices. These gadgets are best for anyone who already lives within the Google ecosystem, especially those who already rely on the Google Assistant to help them get things done. You'll find a few Nest security cameras on sale for Prime Day, as well as video doorbells and Wi-Fi systems. If you're looking for even more Prime Day deals, check out Engadget's Prime Day hub where you'll find all of the best tech deals you can get for the shopping event this year.

Google is expanding its smart home integration at CES 2024. The company said Tuesday that, in the future, LG TVs and some Google TV (and other Android TV) products will work as Google Home hubs. Considering Google's support for the Matter smart home standard, the move could make it easier for customers to set up and control their smart homes without buying a Nest device. "In the future, LG TVs and select Google TV and other Android TV OS devices will act as hubs for Google Home," Google Android VP Sameer Samat wrote in today's announcement blog post. "So if you have a Nest Hub, Nest Mini or compatible TV, it's easy to add Matter devices to your home network and locally control them with the Google Home app."

If you want to score Google's Nest devices at a discount before Black Friday arrives, check out Best Buy's sale -- some of them are even available for the lowest price we've seen them sell for across retailers. The Google Nest Audio, for instance, is now listed for $60, which is $40 less than its standard price and is the lowest we've seen for the speaker. In case you missed the chance to purchase the device at that price from B&H Photo in October, here's another chance to do so. The second-gen Google Nest Hub is also on sale for $50, which is only $10 more than what the first-gen Nest Hub goes for these days. We gave the Nest Audio a score of 87 in our review and called it a steal at $100.

Remember Bixby, Samsung's voice-activated assistant? While the company doesn't seem any closer to finally abandoning the AI, it is at least becoming more open to letting people use Google Assistant on its devices. Starting in January, Google and Samsung plan to integrate their respective platforms more closely together. To start, you'll be able to control your Nest devices, including cameras, thermostats and doorbells, through Samsung's SmartThings apps. If you happen to own a compatible Samsung smart TV or appliance, you'll be able to control those Nest devices from there too.

Google has announced that it will invest $450 million in security firm ADT, forming a partnership that will allow ADT's technicians to sell and install Google's Nest family of products. At the same time, Google's Nest devices and AI technology will eventually expand ADT's home security product range and become the "cornerstone of ADT's smart home offering," Google wrote. The initial goal of Google's investment, which gives it a 6.6 percent share of ADT, will be to get its products into the hands of more consumers. "The company's network of thousands of professional technicians will be able to sell and install devices like Nest Cameras and Nest Hub Max, all powered by Google Assistant," the company said in a news release. Later on, ADT will borrow Google's tech to enhance its own capabilities.

Google is facing an onset of privacy concerns after it announced it plans to dissolve the Nest brand in favor of a new, all-purpose smart home division, called Google Nest. As part of the decision, existing users of Nest smart thermostats, security cameras and other products will be forced to migrate their information over to a Google account. The announcement, made at Google's I/O developer conference last week, has caught the eye of some users and experts who say it gives them little control over the future of their Nest data and, as a result, their privacy. When Google acquired Nest in 2014 for $3.2 billion, Nest pledged to keep the data it collects on its users separate from Googles other services. 'When you work with Nest and use Nest products, that data does not go into the greater Google or any of its other business units,' Tony Fadell, former CEO of Nest, told BBC in 2015.

With a 7-inch widescreen display, you'd think the Google Home Hub wouldn't fit on your nightstand. And it'll leave plenty of room for a Pixel Stand, too. I don't usually start off hands-on stories with price, but it's worth mentioning right at the top: The Google Home Hub, with its 7-inch touchscreen display, is just $149. Granted, these aren't apples-to-apples comparisons--the screen size is three inches bigger on the Show, for example--but when people are shopping for a smart speaker with a screen, a few inches here and there won't matter. And the price tag will make the Google Home Hub hard to pass up.

Many times, sports have been at the leading edge of data analytics. The book "Moneyball" was one of the first popular books to bring the basic concepts behind data analytics and data science to the general audience. Fantasy leagues, sabermetrics and even games like "Strat-O-Matic" baseball and basketball provided an introduction into basic statistical concepts. And it now seems that sports, in this case the National Basketball Association (NBA), are breaking new ground with another data analytics topic: who owns the data? The National Basketball Players Association recently banned NBA teams from using a player's wearable data in contract negotiations or other transactions (see "NBA Bans Teams From Using Wearable Data In Contract Negotiations").