During CES 2025, I had a chance to check out a demo of the way Google is integrating Gemini capabilities into its smart home platform via devices like the Nest Audio, Nest Hub and Nest Cameras. The main takeaway is that the conversations you have with the Google Assistant will feel more natural. Personally, I’d appreciate being able to ask questions as they pop in my head, without having to formulate some Assistant-friendly sentence before speaking — what I saw makes me feel like my wish could come true.
To kick things off, you’ll still say “Hey Google,” but for follow-up questions you can skip the prompt and the Assistant will be able to hold on to the thread of your conversation. During the demonstration, held in a simulated (and very posh) kitchen, the Google representative asked things like what to cook with ingredients he had on hand (chicken and spinach). On the Nest Audio, the Assistant rattled off a few recipe ideas (creamy chicken and spinach, chicken and spinach stir fry).
On the Nest Hub, the rep was able to play a song he didn’t know the name of by asking, “Hey Google, what’s the song from Wicked where they’re dancing in the library?” The Assistant named the song and played it after a follow up prompt.
Possibly the most impressive trick I saw was the case of the missing cookies. The rep asked the Nest Hub the question, “Hey Google, what happened to the cookies on the counter?” Pulling footage from a connected Nest Cam, the Hub displayed a dog walking into a kitchen, swiping a cookie and scampering off. The Assistant meanwhile narrated the context of the video saying, “A dog jumped on the counter and looked at the cookies on December 12th at 1:29PM.” Of course, this was a pre-recorded clip, as there was sadly no dog in the demonstration kitchen.
The video analysis adds to tech already available with the Nest Cam, like familiar face recognition and builds on features that were launched in beta last year where you could type questions into the Google Home app, asking things like, “Did my FedEx package get delivered?” The update here is that you’ll be able to ask these things using your voice and see relevant clips on the Hub.
Unfortunately I wasn’t able to ask questions of my own as both the speaker and display were keyed to the Google rep’s voice. Each question was followed by a one or two second pause as, I assume, the Assistant gathered/synthesized/analyzed the information (or whatever AI does) before answering. Of course, the Assistant can still do all of the basic tasks it always has — set timers and reminders, play music and videos and control smart home routines. The Google reps were sure point out that this isn’t a replacement of the Google Assistant, but an enhancement with Gemini.
Having used all three of the major smart home assistants fairly extensively, I’ve found the Google Assistant is best at accessing and delivering general information, but Alexa was better at smart home control and understanding me overall (for the record, Siri is best at frustrating me). With this new Gemini integration, the Google Assistant may be in a good position to overtake Alexa in that department.
These Gemini-improved improvements will be coming to Nest Aware subscribers in a public preview later this year.
