Just saw this. Google is telling “partners” that they can’t integrate with Google Home and Google Cast if they integrate with Amazon Echo/Alexa.
Sounds like a spectacularly bad move. Being that Echo is an actual, real-live-product that people own and many of the biggest players in the HA industry are already integrated with - seems unlikely to work. Especially when you consider that NEST, their own freakin product already does.
How about, Hue, SmartThings, Ecobee, Wink, Insteon, Vivint, Homeseer, LiFX, WeMo, Honeywell, and on, and on, and on.
How many more will be on board before the first Google Home device ever gets into one consumer’s hand?
I really hope that this is all just some shoddy reporting. It just makes absolutely zero strategic sense. You need to get in and integrate with everyone, even your competitors.
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Wow that does sound like a bad move.
Google’s own negotiations with consumer electronics manufacturers could be hampered by what multiple sources have described as overly aggressive muscle-flexing. At the meeting in June, Google is said to have told home audio vendors that they won’t be allowed to add any other digital assistants than Google’s own to their hardware if they want to continue to use Google Cast. Another source told Variety of similarly far-reaching demands made in negotiations with another big consumer electronics manufacturer — demands that ultimately led to talks breaking down.
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I’m betting on shoddy reporting. It’s not consistent with Google’s historical MO.
If there is an engineering reason, maybe. But still doubt it.
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