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You can now control HBO Now and Spotify Free with Google Home

You can now control HBO Now and Spotify Free with Google Home

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Bluetooth audio is also supported

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Up until now, Google has been racing to improve the featured integrations for its Home smart speaker, all in order to catch up to Amazon’s Echo. Right now, you can control a handful of services like Netflix and Spotify Premium with a voice command, but not much else. Today at I/O, Google is adding actions for HBO Now, CBS All Access, and others, while also throwing support for Bluetooth audio into the mix.

The new partnerships mean that users can say “OK Google” and ask the device to play shows like The Wire or The Good Fight. Google is also adding support for SoundCloud and Deezer to flesh out its support for music streaming services beyond just Spotify and Google Play Music.

Support for Bluetooth is probably the most surprising addition here, though. The Home shipped without the ability to play audio via Bluetooth, but an update changes that, meaning you can now connect any Bluetooth-enabled audio device to the speaker.

The gap between the Home and the Echo is really starting to shrink.