Google Home expands its reach with smart home device firms
Google Home has expanded its range of smart home device partners with the inclusion of three more systems. Luton's Caseta selection of dimmer switches and lights, Osram's lighting range and Lowe's Iris smart home system can now be integrated with Google Home and controlled using voice commands.
Google Home’s repertoire of skills and smart home device partners is constantly expanding, and this time around, Google’s take on the smart home hub is picking up compatibility with Lowe’s take on the concept, the Lowe’s Iris, as well as products from the Osram lighting brand, and Luton’s lineup of Caseta wireless dimmers and switches. Google Home fully integrates with these products, and they can be controlled easily by voice commands. As with any other compatible partners, Google Home will have access to all functions of these new partner devices, meaning that users should not have to shoehorn any functions via programs like IFTTT and Tasker, though they can use those to control the new partner products as well, if they wish to set up custom commands and actions for them.

Luton’s Caseta products coming on board means that Google Home can control anything hooked to them, including things like thermostats, household sound system, and lights. This can happen as easily as assigning the correct switches and dimmers to certain names, and issuing commands based on those names, such as “Turn down the lights in the hallway,” or “Mute the speakers in the bathroom.” The same can be said of Osram lights jumping on the Google Home bandwagon. The usual lighting control commands can now control them. Lowe’s Iris is the most exciting device on the list, however, because having full access to it means that Google Home can control anything that it can control. That list is pretty extensive, and includes all sorts of home IoT categories, like security, childproofing, and automated alerts and monitoring.

Google Home’s long list of supported devices and capabilities is growing by the day, with names like Dominos Pizza joining the list of commands and functions. Device makers like WeMo have also been jumping on board with Google Home left and right. While Google Home’s capabilities are nowhere near wide enough to cover the entire spectrum of IoT devices and possible home automation functions out there, between the ever-growing support list and addon services like IFTTT, Google’s very own smart home hub can come pretty close to meeting the needs of most users.