Just a day after Amazon introduced its new AI-powered Echo devices, Google debuted its refreshed lineup of Google Home and Nest devices, designed to showcase its AI assistant Gemini AI. The company also took the wraps off its revamped Google Home software platform and its new business strategy for the AI era.
While the company still plans to compete on hardware, it also wants to make Gemini accessible to other manufacturers and businesses. It’s similar to how Google offers its own flagship Android devices with its Pixel line but allows other companies that make products compatible with Google’s platform to build their own Android smartphones with different form factors and price points.
“We’re going to build flagship hardware in certain categories where we think there’s a lot of room to showcase innovation and push the boundaries of what’s possible with Gemini,” said Anish Kattukaran, Chief Product Officer at Google Home and Nest, in a press briefing ahead of Wednesday’s announcement. “And then we’re going to complement that with the second part, which is, we don’t think that Gemini should be constrained to one set of devices from one OEM, at one set of price points that may make it accessible or inaccessible to a certain group of people,” he said.
Image Credits:Google
To demonstrate what that means, Google unveiled an overhauled lineup of Nest devices, including the Nest Cam Outdoor, the Nest Cam Indoor, and the Nest Doorbell, which take advantage of Gemini. It also teased an upgraded version of its Google Home speaker, due out in spring 2026, and a low-cost camera and doorbell sold in partnership with Walmart.
However, the company decided to first bring Gemini to its existing device owners, provided they have certain hardware capabilities like sufficient processing power. (See list below).
This approach is intentional. Google doesn’t want to require people to buy new devices to access the power of its AI, when it already has over 800 million devices in its ecosystem — both its own and those from third parties. Those devices are connected through the company’s Google Home Cloud-to-Cloud APIs and the smart home standard Matter, an industry protocol that allows devices from different manufacturers to work together.
Plus, the company needs time to test the Gemini features and performance with existing customers before launching them on new flagship devices, like the upgraded Google Home smart speaker due out next year.
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