Google’s October 1 Smart Home Revolution: Everything Announced Today

Google Devises

Google has officially launched its most ambitious smart home update in years, introducing Gemini AI across its entire ecosystem alongside new hardware designed specifically for the next generation of home intelligence.

Gemini for Home Arrives

The most significant announcement is Gemini for Home, Google’s AI-powered replacement for Google Assistant on speakers and smart displays. This represents a fundamental shift in how users interact with their smart home devices, moving from rigid voice commands to natural, conversational AI.

What’s New With Gemini for Home

The basic Gemini for Home voice assistant comes free with all compatible devices, maintaining the familiar “Hey Google” wake phrase while delivering dramatically improved capabilities. Users can now speak naturally without memorizing specific command structures, and the AI handles complex, multi-step requests with contextual understanding.

For more advanced features, Google introduced Google Home Premium, a new subscription starting at $10 per month (also included with Google AI Pro and Ultra subscriptions). Premium unlocks:

• • Gemini Live: Fully conversational mode without repeated wake words, enabling natural back-and-forth discussions for everything from meal planning to troubleshooting
• • AI-powered notifications: Detailed alerts that explain what’s actually happening (like “dog jumps out of playpen” instead of just “motion detected”)
• • Home Brief: Daily summaries that condense hours of camera footage into quick, digestible overviews with relevant video clips
• • Ask Home video search: Natural language queries like “What happened to the vase in the living room?” return relevant video clips
• • Automation creation: Set up complex smart home routines using simple voice commands

The rollout begins in late October with early access for existing Google Nest speakers and displays in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Australia.

New Hardware: Built for Gemini

Next-Generation Nest Cameras

Google unveiled three new wired camera products, marking the first refresh of its security lineup in four years:

Nest Cam Indoor (3rd Gen) – $99.99

• • 2K HDR video resolution
• • 152-degree diagonal field of view
• • Available in Snow, Hazel, and Berry
• • Improved low-light performance
  

Nest Cam Outdoor (2nd Gen) – $149.99 (also available in two-pack for $249)

• • 2K HDR video resolution
• • 152-degree diagonal field of view
• • IP65 weather resistance
• • Available in Snow and Hazel
  

Nest Doorbell (3rd Gen) – $179.99

• • 2K HDR video resolution
• • 166-degree diagonal field of view with 1:1 aspect ratio
• • Head-to-toe coverage with ground-level package detection
• • Available in Snow, Hazel, and Linen
  

All three cameras earned first-in-class rankings from DXOMARK for image quality and feature significant hardware upgrades, including wider apertures for better low-light performance and new sensors. The devices have six hours of free event video history (doubled from the previous generation) and built-in intelligent alerts for people, vehicles, animals, and packages.

Google Home Speaker – Coming Spring 2026

Google previewed its new Google Home Speaker, the first audio device engineered specifically for Gemini. Key features include:

• • $99 price point
• • 360-degree balanced audio
• • Dynamic LED light ring showing Gemini’s listening, thinking, and responding states
• • Support for stereo pairing and multi-room grouping
• • Surround sound pairing with Google TV Streamer
• • Available in Porcelain, Hazel, Jade, and Berry
• • Made with recycled materials and 3D-knitted fabric that reduces waste

The speaker launches in Spring 2026 across the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Belgium, Switzerland, Austria, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand.

Expanding the Platform: Walmart Partnership

In a significant strategic move, Google announced its first partner devices through a collaboration with Walmart’s onn brand:

Indoor Camera Wired – $22.96 onn Video Doorbell Wired – $49.86

These budget-friendly options work seamlessly in the Google Home app with 1080p resolution, intelligent alerts, and access to Gemini for Home camera features through Google Home Premium. They’re available today at Walmart stores and online.

This partnership marks the beginning of Google’s platform expansion strategy, with the company launching a dedicated program for camera manufacturers. The initiative includes hardware reference designs, recommended components, and a Google Home camera embedded SDK to help partners build AI-powered cameras compatible with the ecosystem.

Sustainability and Design

Environmental responsibility features prominently in today’s announcements. The outdoor camera and doorbell use reformulated resin with UV protection that eliminates the need for paint. All packaging is 100% plastic-free, using recyclable paper and molded fiber. The new Google Home Speaker incorporates recycled materials and features 3D-knitted fabric that significantly reduces manufacturing waste.

Availability

The new Nest cameras and doorbell are available starting today at the Google Store and major retailers across 18 countries including the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan, and most of Europe. Gemini for Home features will begin rolling out to new device owners immediately in select markets, with broader international availability in early 2026.

Existing Google Nest speaker and smart display owners can expect Gemini for Home access through an early access program beginning in late October.

The Bottom Line

Today’s announcements represent Google’s most comprehensive smart home update since the original Google Home launch. By combining advanced AI capabilities with significantly improved hardware and an expanded partner ecosystem, Google is positioning itself to compete more effectively against Amazon’s Alexa and Apple’s HomeKit.

The question now is whether Gemini can deliver on its promise of more reliable, intelligent home automation after years of Google Assistant frustrations. With advanced reasoning capabilities, natural language processing, and genuinely useful AI features like video search and automated summaries, the foundation appears solid. The real test will be whether Google can maintain this momentum and avoid the performance degradation that plagued Assistant.

For smart home enthusiasts who’ve grown frustrated with the limitations of existing voice assistants, today marks the beginning of what could be a genuine transformation in how we interact with connected homes.

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