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A Google Home smart speaker can now be paired with a Bluetooth speaker that wasn’t made by Google, and a Bluetooth speaker can be paired with a group of Google Home speakers. The new feature is available for all three models of Google’s Home smart speakers.
Only one Bluetooth speaker can be connected with a Google Home speaker or group of Home speakers at a time, a Google spokesperson told VentureBeat in an email.
It’s no longer unusual for people to have multiple smart speakers in the home, and being able to pair speakers in the home can significantly change your experience for the better, giving you the same song or podcast in the kitchen that you hear in your bathroom or bedroom.
By connecting a Bluetooth speaker with a Home speaker, you can access the same music or weather or Google Assistant actions you can access through a Home speaker, although voice commands will still need to be communicated through a Home smart speaker. To connect a Bluetooth speaker, open the Google Home app and tap the Devices icon in the top right hand corner, then choose the Home speaker you want to connect. Then tap Settings and scroll down to “Default music speaker” and choose your Bluetooth speaker.
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Today’s news continues the expansion of Home interaction beyond using your smartphone or voice as a remote control, following the introduction of Bluetooth for Home speakers and multiroom audio for Home speakers.
The feature introduced today for Google Assistant stands in contrast to experiences with several other AI assistants like Alexa or Cortana. Alexa also has multiroom audio and the ability to control one of a series of Echo speakers but is unable to pair a group of Echo speakers with a Bluetooth speaker.
