#Google’s Nest Hub video displays offering more recommendations

Google’s Nest Hub video displays are getting a new look today, adding more recommendation features to help people with their day.

Most use cases for the display units revolve around people using them to play music via voice commands or operate their smart home. Google execs say they wanted to showcase different things people could do by showcasing them in discovery, and to offer more personalized recommendations on music to listen to, videos to watch and news to read.

Beyond the Google Nest Hub and Hub Max, the Google Assistant lives on other displays made by others, including the Lenovo Smart Display.

The display units had always had a “Your Day” feature which showed you scheduled appointments and the like in the morning. Now, Google is adding a second dose for the afternoon and evening, “so that the recommendations you see changes as your day does.” Beyond appointments, the Google Assistant will suggest music to listen to, videos to watch, and the like.

Another new addition: multiple accounts in one place. Instead of having to switch back and forth between personal and work accounts, you can set up multiple accounts on the devices to have all your meetings and events displayed in one place.

“For example, on your Google Nest Hub Max, you can now quickly tap or ask to join your next meeting (“Hey, Google, join my next meeting”), whether it’s a personal yoga class or a conference call.”

Google has added a dark theme to adapt to the different times of the day, relaxing sound effects (ocean waves and the like) to fall asleep to and a new sunrise alarm that gets brighter 30 minutes before the alarm goes off.

The Google displays are going to be more versatile by the end of the year, for folks who spend their days on video meetings. Beyond offering access via Google’s Meet and Duo video apps, Google is adding support for Zoom, the No. 1 video meeting service “later this year.”

The new features are rolling out to users and will be fully available within a few weeks, Google says.

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