gzt: Personally I have a lot of trust in the way Google does things.

ianganderton:

 

I trust that their privacy is non existant! Their entire business model is around leveraging data to deliver effective highly advertising to who ever pays for it [full_stop]

 

 

 

Data is the new "Gold" right....

I dunno, Im split, Ive read the privacy policies and they are not much different to trusting Facebook etc. But the other side is, this does potentially provide data on peoples living, housing and use cases rather easily with more intrusion than say Facebook.

The real burner is the home automation data. Im sure this is configurable though, just like using Android you can limit your data sharing/privacy.

I guess what people should be asking, is Samsung as trustable for home automation privacy as other home automation products.....?

On another note, Im struggling to find information on the Hub2 CPU and Ram etc. The Max CPU is pretty weak, its clearly designed for a trimmed down OS, cant expect too much for the money, but would like to know how many years its likely to last. The Hub 2 though for the money on special is nearly not worth worrying about it is so cheap haha.

TeaLeaf:

I dunno, Im split, Ive read the privacy policies and they are not much different to trusting Facebook etc. But the other side is, this does potentially provide data on peoples living, housing and use cases rather easily with more intrusion than say Facebook.

TeaLeaf:

 

ianganderton:

 

I trust that their privacy is non existant! Their entire business model is around leveraging data to deliver effective highly advertising to who ever pays for it [full_stop]

 

 

 

 

Data is the new "Gold" right....

 

I dunno, Im split, Ive read the privacy policies and they are not much different to trusting Facebook etc. But the other side is, this does potentially provide data on peoples living, housing and use cases rather easily with more intrusion than say Facebook.

 

The real burner is the home automation data. Im sure this is configurable though, just like using Android you can limit your data sharing/privacy.

 

I guess what people should be asking, is Samsung as trustable for home automation privacy as other home automation products.....?

 

On another note, Im struggling to find information on the Hub2 CPU and Ram etc. The Max CPU is pretty weak, its clearly designed for a trimmed down OS, cant expect too much for the money, but would like to know how many years its likely to last. The Hub 2 though for the money on special is nearly not worth worrying about it is so cheap haha.

 

My Ex had a significant role in machine learning and AI with a major corporation. She operated at a reasonably strategic level and it was obvious privacy does not follow the money.

Companies that monetise data (Alphabet and Meta) pay lip service only to privacy and personal data, they are all about selling other people advertising that targets you as acurately and effectively as possible.

Companies that primarily make their cash out of things like devices (e.g. Apple) don't sell your data/privacy. Its in their interest to help you protect it. 

It's a good bit of kit and I was tempted to grab a couple when I saw them for $79 over Christmas, which is a stonkingly good price. But I already have three, (along with 5 non-screen voice speakers) and was struggling to find a use case that justified buying any more.

I have one in the bedroom which controls lights, fans and heat etc as well as acting as an alarm clock etc, and one in my office for general use. But the one that gets the most use is the one in the kitchen - it: streams media from my server while I cook, streams Spotify while I cook, adds stuff to the shopping list when my hands are busy, and sets timers for everything that is cooking. As well as being handy for imperial-> metric conversions etc. Being able to do all of this without using my hands or touching anything (eg while preparing raw chicken) is fantastically useful.

ianganderton: Companies that monetise data (Alphabet and Meta) pay lip service only to privacy and personal data, they are all about selling other people advertising that targets you as acurately and effectively as possible.

The audio quality of the Max vs the standard-sized Hub is significantly better - IMO the latter's ok for background music or radio and in a smallish room, but the Max is definitely needed if you're after ok sound. That said, either of them works well as an interface for viewing/controlling music playing via Chromecast (eg Chromecast Audio or a system with CC built in). We have a Max in the kitchen and I'll listen to talk-based radio on it, but I will tend to use it to control music on a set of Audioengine speakers. 

At $79 it's certainly worth starting out with a standard-sized Hub and seeing how that goes; even if you end up not liking it, you'll not take much of a hit if you end up selling it. The Max is considerably more expensive, and IME is pretty flaky - ours has always had problems with 5Gz WiFi (never managed to get it connected to this), and since it transitioned to its new OS (Fuschia) last year it's developed a habit of frequently rebooting for no particular reason. All that said, I'd not go back to to standard one in the kitchen - that's perfect for the bedroom and makes a fantastic clock radio.

I may need to get a Nest but for an obscure reason: we have a dumb TV with a ChromeCast dongle hanging off it. In the same room we have a nice Bluetooth speaker. However when casting to the TV (Netflix, SkySportNow etc) there's no way to direct the audio to the BT speaker so I'm stuck with the crappy TV sound. Some web articles say that the Google Home app setup for the ChromeCast allows linking a BT speaker but the menu item they suggest doesn't exist.

Reading between the lines elsewhere I get the impression that if there's a Nest hub in the mix, it can connect a BT speaker. Does that allow the casted programme's audio to be played on the BT speaker?

johno1234:

I may need to get a Nest but for an obscure reason: we have a dumb TV with a ChromeCast dongle hanging off it. In the same room we have a nice Bluetooth speaker. However when casting to the TV (Netflix, SkySportNow etc) there's no way to direct the audio to the BT speaker so I'm stuck with the crappy TV sound. Some web articles say that the Google Home app setup for the ChromeCast allows linking a BT speaker but the menu item they suggest doesn't exist.

Reading between the lines elsewhere I get the impression that if there's a Nest hub in the mix, it can connect a BT speaker. Does that allow the casted programme's audio to be played on the BT speaker?