Want an Amazon Echo with Google Now?

As great as the Amazon Echo might be for doing your banking and grabbing you an Uber, there’s at least one big trick it lacks up its cylindrical sleeve: regular old Google searches. What if you could leverage the power of Google Now (and all the data that Google already has on you) with the convenience of an always-listening smart speaker? We may soon find out.

The product may not yet have a name and it might not even ever see the light of day, but there are rumblings through the Interwebs that Google is working on a competitor to the Amazon Echo.

This makes a lot of sense. Google already knows your contacts, your calendars, and your browsing habits. It’s already getting jacked into your smart home with Chromecast and Nest products. Tie this all in together and you’ve got quite the compelling solution.

You also have to remember that the search engine giant also boasts one of the best voice recognition systems on the planet today. If you could have the convenience of the Google Now cards you already have on your Android smartphone, but have that kind of information just a yell-across-the-room away, you’d be able to keep your hands free for whatever it is you need to keep your hands free for.

The integration possibilities are fantastic. You could ask for Google Maps directions to be sent to your phone or to queue up a certain playlist for Google Music on your Chromecast Audio.

Would you buy Google’s version of the Amazon Echo?

Via Gizmodo