Amazon Echo and Google Home speakers have been able to make voice calls – and video calls on variants with a built-in display – since their launch.
But Amazon really stepped things up a notch by introducing the ability to call UK mobile phone numbers from its chatty AI speakers back in June.
That means you’ll be able to quickly kickstart a call to your friends or loved ones while you’re busy washing-up, cooking, or whatever.
Thankfully, Google has started to catch-up.
The Californian company is bringing voice calls to its Home speaker line-up with a forthcoming update, so you’ll be able to ask Google to call any mobile or landline number – regardless of whether they have a Google smart home gadget installed.
Unfortunately, it’s not available in the UK yet. Google’s all-new feature is only available to customers of Australian carrier Telstra, with the network letting you make calls over its cellular network without needing a phone to hand.
Google enables up to six different users to register their numbers with their Google Home speaker. Each of these users can sync their contact list with the speaker.
Google Home can work out which of the six users is making the call request using its built-in Voice Match feature. So, two people can ask the speaker to “call mum” and get completely people on the end of the line… well, that’s the theory anyway.
The call feature works across the whole Google Home and Google Nest range, including the Home Mini, Google Home, Home Max, Google Home Hub, and Home Hub Max.
Any Aussies who want to get their hands on the new feature should visit the Telstra support page for more details.
Unfortunately, everyone else just has to to be patient. Either that, or buy a smart speaker from the Amazon Echo range to use the feature today.
Amazon is widely-tipped to announce new Echo devices during its flashy media event at its Seattle headquarters next week.