If you picked up a Google Home over the holidays you may be wondering what it's good for besides checking the weather and playing music. Google's smart speakers may not boast as many third-party skills as Amazon's Alexa, but there's still a ton you can do.

One of the easiest ways to get into the world of smart home devices is to invest in a security camera. Google has been making a big play to embed smart, connected devices to the home through Google Home and their acquisition of Nest. The Nest Cam IQ integrates into the Nest app and includes facial recognition and very sharp images.

If you're looking to kick your smart home sound system up a notch, here's a fun way to do it. With a little extra work and some RFID technology, you can build your own card-driven jukebox that's sure to impress at your next party.

For the past year, Google has been pumping out lightweight versions of its most popular apps designed specifically for low-cost smartphones. Under the Android Go banner, we've already seen YouTube Go, Google Maps Go, and even a brand new service called Files Go meant to clear up storage space on your device. Now Google is rolling out its latest lightweight app: Assistant Go.

I love starting every morning with a daily briefing from my Google Home speaker (just say "Hey, Google good morning" and you'll get the weather, news and any events on your calendar), but using it as an alarm clock is another story. That's because Google's never made it easy to wake up to music instead of a wailing siren - until now.

Amazon's Alexa may have more "skills" and connect with more services, but when it comes to artificial intelligence smarts, Google Assistant has the competition beat (sorry Siri, it isn't even close).

Amazon may have been first to offer a smart home display with the Echo Show, but Google just beat its rival in one key category: Privacy.

This February Google finally brought the Google Assistant from the Pixel and Google Home to other Android devices, but they were newer products such as the Samsung Galaxy S7 and HTC 10. Older phone owners were stuck with upgrading or going Assistant-less. That changes now. The company announced on Wednesday that Google Assistant is now coming to some older devices.

Unfortunately, Google didn't include an aux port in its Home Mini, meaning you'll need a Chromecast Audio to connect it to another speaker - or you can try adding the extra port yourself.

Smart devices are becoming more and more ubiquitous. Whether you're the owner of a smart lightbulb, smart outlet, security camera, or all of the above, managing your devices can get tricky, especially if you're amassing a collection.

If you're using a Google voice assistant, though, they're making it easy to add new smart toys to your existing home setup: one simple command that can get your voice assistant up to speed and keep your connected devices aware of one another. All you have to do is say: "Hey Google, sync my devices."

Google Home, the search giant's answer to Amazon's Echo speaker, launched with at least one glaring omission: The ability to access and manage multiple calendars. That's particularly surprising considering that so may people use Google's own Calendar app to organise their lives, but, thankfully, the company now seems to be rolling out an overdue update.

Your Google Pixel 2 has a pretty capable built-in butler in the form of Google Assistant. Not everyone with an Android phone, however, is all-in on Google's ecosystem. In fact, some users might be - wait for it - Microsoft users. And that means Cortana is their go-to virtual assistant. Thanks to Microsoft, you can ditch Google's voice assistant and swap it out with one that's more up your alley.

Google announced a pair of new smart home speakers this month in an effort to compete with devices from Amazon and Apple. The search giant now offers a pint-sized Google Home Mini for $79 and a powerful Google Home Max (currently US only) for $US399.

One of the Pixel 2's most interesting features is Active Edge, which lets you launch Google Assistant by simply squeezing your smartphone. Unfortunately, Google made the annoying decision to lock this function to its AI assistant, but one developer has already found a way to get around the company's restrictions.

You know that thing you do where you ask your partner/friend/family member to remind you to do something later? Yeah, well now Google Home can actually do that, and unlike that person you always ask, it won't forget. Last month, Google Home rolled out an update that finally enabled voice-activated reminders for the digital assistant.

For six glorious months a few years ago C-3PO was the voice of Waze on my phone. That December I drove from California to North Carolina, and having my favourite droid give me directions made the whole experience a lot more pleasant. I love it when you can change the voice of digital assistants you deal with daily. Sure, it isn't adding any functionality, but it can be fun to change things up every now and then. And now you can change the voice of Google Assistant on your Android phone or Google Home setup.

A little over an hour into Google's Pixel 2 event yesterday, Senior Director of Product Management Sabrina Ellis did something unusual: She squeezed the new smartphone. Then, without tapping a single button, she said the words "take a selfie," held the phone up in the air, and snapped a group shot with the packed conference room.

"Okay, Google. Find me the best price for Google Home."

Google Home, the voice-controlled smart speaker/personal assistant/smart hub for your home, usually retails at $199. Right now, you can get it for $134.90 from DWIdigitalcameras.

Last week, Google finally released Google Home in Australia, a voice-controlled smart appliance that can answer questions, remind you of your schedule, play music and even control your house lights. But how does it fare against the similar Amazon Echo? Let's find out.