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In October 2016 I received my Google Home from the Google Store.  I quickly unpacked it, got it setup using the Home app on my Nexus 6P and began issuing it random commands as I tried to learn the limits of the device.  And in that process, I found out there were quite a few.  As I put in my review of the device in November,

Can I without any doubt recommend Google Home? No, not yet at least. There is a lot of growing room to happen with this device and Google Assistant within it. Do I think I will change my view in 6 months? Almost certainly. By that time, Google and other developers will have leveraged the platform and APIs available to integrate more apps and more services.

So here we are, six months later almost to the day.  Has it improved?  Undoubtedly and it is continuing to improve.

What I expect to happen has to a large degree, with dozens of new services now available for Google Home along with better smart home integration.  It feels far more complete than it did back in October, partly because of these new services but partly because Google Assistant, built into Home, has gotten smarter too.  It is continually learning both on how I use it but also behind-the-scenes as Google tweaks it.

Can I recommend Google Home now?  Yes, without question and here is why.

Today’s Deal over at Amazon is a great one if you are needing to pick up an external power pack for your devices.  Today you can pick up the Anker PowerCore 10400 for $19.99, a savings of 60% off the regular $49 price tag.  As the name suggests, this power pack has a 10,400 mAh battery in it so you can easily charge most devices three times before having to recharge it.  It has two USB-A connectors so you can use it with really anything out there:  MicroUSB, USB-C (A to C cable) and an Apple Lightening cable.  It is designed to work with any device and get you powered up and going again.  It also is in a small package.  This pack is slightly larger than a deck of playing cards so you won’t have a big, bulky battery to carry around with you.

More news today regarding Android Pay.  In addition to adding banks here in the US, Google and PayPal have announced a new collaboration effort which will bring PayPal to Android Pay as a payment option.  The new effort was announced today and when it rolls out to users in the coming weeks, you will now have the option to link your account to Android Pay as a payment option when you use the service at a retailer.

The announcement came from PayPal this morning and is a big win for people (like me) who use both services to pay for things both online and in retail locations.

Coming soon, consumers in the U.S. will be able to use PayPal in Android Pay at retailers from Walgreens to Dunkin’ Donuts. This partnership will enable our customers to pay across even more contexts, and will extend PayPal’s mobile leadership and reach as consumers become more comfortable shopping and buying on their mobile devices.

The new service isn’t available just yet.  According to the post from Google, you can expect it to come to both the PayPal and the Android pay app via updates in the coming weeks.

Building on the addition of over a dozen new banks earlier this month, Android Pay has added support for five more banks here in the United States.  The update brings the total 18 new banks & financial institutions adding support for the tap-to-pay service in April alone and adds to the over 150 new banks added in 2017.  As with the update earlier this month, this round of supporting banks are mostly credit unions and smaller institutions.  They include:

• Barksdale Federal Credit Union
• Florence Savings Bank
• J.S.C. Federal Credit Union
• O Bee Credit Union
• Security State Bank of Hibbing

If you are a customer or member of one of these credit unions or banks, you can now add your bank-backed credit and debit cards to Android Pay to use them where it is accepted.