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Review | Is the Google Nest Hub Max a clever, convenient assistant or a breach of your privacy?
- Google has updated its AI smart speaker, but its new face-tracking technology will be seen by many as too intrusive
- Its wide-angle lens scans the room for your face and tracks your hand movements; living with it embodied the cognitive dissonance of being a gadget guy in 2019
Reading Time:4 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
With the new Nest Hub Max, a smart speaker with a screen, Google is adding an eye to its talking artificial intelligence. When I flash my palm at the device, a camera spots me and immediately pauses my music. Talk to the hand, robot!
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When I walk by, the Google Assistant greets me on its screen, “Good afternoon, Geoffrey.”
This wizardry is made possible by facial recognition. The US$230 Nest Hub Max offers a glimpse of how this controversial tech might be used in our homes – if people aren’t too turned off by the privacy implications.
Living with Google’s latest creation for a few days embodied the cognitive dissonance of being a gadget guy in 2019. You can appreciate the fun and wonder of new technology that you also know brings new concerns. I kept wondering if any of these camera functions make it worth bringing face surveillance inside my home? Despite some laudable privacy protection from Google, my family never got to a yes.
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The Hub Max is a larger, 10-inch version of Google’s popular Nest Hub countertop computer, which people (including me) use as a digital picture frame, speaker, kitchen TV and smart home controller. It’s a solid upgrade for those functions, with a sharp screen and impressive sound for such a small box.
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