Technology & Social Media Woolworths Online giving away Google Home Mini

Discussion in 'Living Room' started by Simon Hampel, 6th Dec, 2017.

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  1. Simon Hampel

    Simon Hampel Founder Staff Member

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    Simon Hampel, 6th Dec, 2017
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  2. jprops

    jprops Well-Known Member

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    I got the same offer. Apparently it is targeted and different offers are being promoted.

    Woolworths Rewards: Spend $50/Week for 4 Weeks, Get Google Home Mini or 6000pts | Spend $50/$100 Online Pickup, Get 1000/2000pts
     
    jprops, 6th Dec, 2017
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  3. PandS

    PandS Well-Known Member

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    a bit wary of this google voice, it recorded and store everything you said and the mic is always on in your home
     
    PandS, 6th Dec, 2017
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  4. bunkai

    bunkai Well-Known Member

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    It should be free - the information Google gets from having it in your home is invaluable to them.

    In theory, the cloud recording only starts when you say the keyword. However, there was an early bug, now corrected, that recorded everything.
     
    bunkai, 6th Dec, 2017
    #4
  5. vbplease

    vbplease Well-Known Member

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    invasion of privacy much? I'm surprised anyone would have one of these in their home..
     
    vbplease, 6th Dec, 2017
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  6. PandS

    PandS Well-Known Member

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    this stuff is not that useful and at worse it a massive breach of your in-home privacy, I don't think it worth the risk, because the device is there and always on, there is always a risk for hacker and all sort of nastiness to start misusing them even the vendor themselves and claim it a bug etc...
     
    PandS, 6th Dec, 2017
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  7. geoffw

    geoffw Moderator Staff Member

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    We don't have kids at home. Spending $300 in a single week would be a big ask. Even if we didn't buy most things at Aldi.
     
    geoffw, 6th Dec, 2017
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  8. jprops

    jprops Well-Known Member

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    admittedly it was a bug, a reviewer found it when looking at his activity history. In this case I don't think anything sinister was happening.

    None the less, new technology often comes with tradeoff to personal privacy.

    Google’s Home Mini needed a software patch to stop some of them from recording everything


    For those interested in getting one, for me it's mostly a music player. I love music, but I can't be arsed picking what to play. Ok Google, play music. Done.

    Integration with various home automation devices are also good. This is really where the niche is for these assistant devices.
     
    jprops, 6th Dec, 2017
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  9. Terry_w

    Terry_w Lawyer, Tax Adviser and Mortgage broker in Sydney Business Member

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    I got one the other day. I stocked up on water, tissues, rice etc - saved me lugging the heavy stuff up the driveway. Free delivery too
     
    Terry_w, 6th Dec, 2017
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  10. Simon Hampel

    Simon Hampel Founder Staff Member

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    Interesting.

    We typically spend around $300 once per fortnight, so I grabbed one as part of our regular shop - it was kind of a no brainer.
     
    Simon Hampel, 6th Dec, 2017
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  11. Simon Hampel

    Simon Hampel Founder Staff Member

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    Wow - you're a doom and gloomer about everything, aren't you!

    Privacy is very important and indeed there are a lot of products out there doing it very (very) wrong.

    I take the approach that Google is such a high profile company whose behaviour is scrutinised very closely that anything inappropriate would be highlighted very quickly - they can't afford to be doing the wrong thing (I mean really wrong "immoral / unethical / illegal" - not just "I don't like it" wrong).

    The device is NOT designed to record everything, the data is NOT stored on Google's servers.

    More information about how Google handles data here:

    Data security & privacy on Google Home - Google Home Help

    Some FAQs:

    Is Google Home recording all of my conversations?

    No. Google Home listens in short (a few seconds) snippets for the hotword. Those snippets are deleted if the hotword is not detected, and none of that information leaves your device until the hotword is heard. When Google Home detects that you've said "Ok Google" or that you've physically long pressed the top of your Google Home device, the LEDs on top of the device light up to tell you that recording is happening, Google Home records what you say, and sends that recording (including the few-second hotword recording) to Google in order to fulfill your request. You can delete those recordings through My Activity anytime.​

    You can also view your entire history (and delete it!) via the My Activity site: Welcome to My Activity

    I'm not trying to convince you to get one. Just pointing out how it really works.

    PS. using a browser or email on the internet is far more dangerous than having someone listen in on your conversations about inane things. Having mail stolen from your letterbox is potentially far more damaging too (I know this from personal experience).
     
    Simon Hampel, 6th Dec, 2017
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  12. PandS

    PandS Well-Known Member

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    I am not doom and gloom that is the reality, unfortunately,
    people nude photos suppose to be safe on their phone
    big business don't abuse their market power and missed use information? they have been caught out a lot more than once.

    I don't advocate people not using them I am just weary of them and for me, it doesn't do anything useful to introduce another entry door to your home.

    email and internet is a necessary thing and I can manage it, having stuff like a google home is something fun thing I can do without that what I am saying.

    There is nothing google home can do that I can't do with other stuff, but there is no internet substitution :)

    It cool and it fun for a lot of people and I got nothing against them using them
     
    PandS, 6th Dec, 2017
    #12
  13. bunkai

    bunkai Well-Known Member

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    There is "hacker risk" though your mobile phone and PC are probably already compromised.

    Google do own you though. e.g. they can use anything you upload for promotional purposes.

    Now they have said that they won't do this but that is not written in the terms and conditions.

    ---
    When you upload, submit, store, send or receive content to or through our Services, you give Google (and those we work with) a worldwide license to use, host, store, reproduce, modify, create derivative works (such as those resulting from translations, adaptations or other changes we make so that your content works better with our Services), communicate, publish, publicly perform, publicly display and distribute such content. The rights you grant in this license are for the limited purpose of operating, promoting, and improving our Services, and to develop new ones. This license continues even if you stop using our Services (for example, for a business listing you have added to Google Maps). Some Services may offer you ways to access and remove content that has been provided to that Service. Also, in some of our Services, there are terms or settings that narrow the scope of our use of the content submitted in those Services. Make sure you have the necessary rights to grant us this license for any content that you submit to our Services.
    --

    An alternative view...

    Apple’s Tim Cook speaking out against the new service, “We believe the customer should be in control of their own information. You might like these so-called free services, but we don’t think they’re worth having your email, your search history and now even your family photos data mined and sold off for god knows what advertising purpose. And we think some day, customers will see this for what it is.”
     
    bunkai, 6th Dec, 2017
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  14. Simon Hampel

    Simon Hampel Founder Staff Member

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    LOL ... Apple's approach isn't much better IMO. Google the term "vendor lock-in".

    That being said - I absolutely do not allow anyone else control over my photos. Not so much from a privacy perspective (although I would be very upset with someone using my photos for other purposes) - I decide where they get stored and how they get used.

    I haven't looked into the T&Cs for Google's photo services because I don't use them.
     
    Simon Hampel, 6th Dec, 2017
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  15. mikey7

    mikey7 Well-Known Member

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    I bought my brother the Google home mini, Chromecast audio and Chromecast video for his bday. He loves it.. doesn't have to get out of bed to listen to music or watch movies.

    From my basic playing with it, it's not 'great' but can do a few small things easily..
    You can tell it to create items in your calendar for the day, make a shopping list etc which all syncs to your phone.

    I don't have one so haven't explored its capabilities in full, but by the looks of it, to play music you need a subscription service like Spotify or YouTube Red. I have neither, and won't be getting them ever.

    I don't really see any added benefit in life for the price. Happy to buy as a gift, but can't justify it for me. But if it was free (I'd never spend $300 in one shop to get it), I'd give it a go.
     
    mikey7, 7th Dec, 2017
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  16. geoffw

    geoffw Moderator Staff Member

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    Spotify with ads is free - though the free version has some limitations. YouTube Red now is included with Google Music subscription. I'm subscribing to Google Music because it's a lot cheaper than buying music.
     
    geoffw, 7th Dec, 2017
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  17. Simon Hampel

    Simon Hampel Founder Staff Member

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    I picked up a 2nd Google Home Mini in the middle of last year for free under a similar promotion to the one I described in the first post. This one gets used in the office - handy for setting reminders and checking on things hands-free.

    I also use it to control the office light (a LIFX wifi light) - since the lightswitch is behind a bookshelf, I can't turn it on manually and have previously relied on several desk lamps sitting on top of a cupboard for light in the office. Now I can just say "hey Google, it's dark in here" and it will turn on the light for me!

    Then a few weeks ago, Woolies sent me another Google Home Mini as a "free sample" with my weekly shop! :eek:

    They must have been clearing out old stock that wasn't moving - so sent it to some of their regular customers who had previously purchased them or something - bonus! :D

    We now have three of them in use and one spare!

    The GHM in the dining room gets used by the kids a lot - they like playing the trivia game and my son asks for soccer scores and stats about his favourite soccer players, and it frequently gets asked about the weather.

    The kids also like to ask it to play songs (linked to my Spotify account which does horrible things to my song recommendations) - but I've had to insist they be very specific about the song and artist when requesting songs after some incidents where they got a very different and inappropriate song after being too vague with the request!

    The GHM in the kitchen gets used mostly as a hands-free cooking timer! It's very useful to just ask google to set a timer for X minutes while cooking without having to stop what you're working on.

    I really must spend some time working out what other things I can use them for.
     
    Simon Hampel, 4th Apr, 2019
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  18. geoffw

    geoffw Moderator Staff Member

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    It's good for adding items to a shopping list.

    I was playing a YouTube where somebody said "Ok Google, play my favourite music" - it was very obedient. My plan now is to release a viral video where somebody asks Google, Siri and Alexa to set the alarm for 3 am.
     
    geoffw, 4th Apr, 2019
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  19. Simon Hampel

    Simon Hampel Founder Staff Member

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    Yes, I was watching a video on YouTube where they were reviewing the various Google Home products and it kept triggering the GHM sitting on my desk :eek:

    One interesting quirk we've found is that because I have trained it to recognise my voice, it works really well for me - but my son has no end of difficulty, it seems to believe that he is from the US and insists on giving him weather reports in Fahrenheit. I ask the same question and it gives it to me in Celsius. My wife and daughter get it in Celsius too - it's just my son who has difficulty. Probably picking up on his attitude or something!
     
    Simon Hampel, 4th Apr, 2019
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  20. Terry_w

    Terry_w Lawyer, Tax Adviser and Mortgage broker in Sydney Business Member

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    All i do with mine is ask the weather. sometimes it talks to me, and scares the **** after me late at night when it response to voices on the TV. Once asked it who has the longest penis in the world - some mexican guy apparently.
     
    Terry_w, 4th Apr, 2019
    #20
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