Courts launches hub for smart homes of tomorrow
Courts launches smart home hub at Tampines flagship store with Google Home devices
Courts launched a new smart home experiential hub at its flagship Courts Megastore in Tampines last Friday.
The hub allows shoppers to get first-hand experience using Google Home devices and compatible products, from speakers to smart vacuum robots, in a home setting.
With a simple "Okay/Hey Google", shoppers can control various household devices, like the television, vacuum cleaner and even a kettle.
Besides the experiential hub at the Tampines megastore, there are zones at seven other Courts outlets - including Courts Orchard, Causeway Point, Nex and Jurong Point - where shoppers can do the same.
Said Courts Singapore's chief executive officer Ben Tan : "We believe that as Singapore progresses in its Smart Nation journey, consumers increasingly seek connectivity in their everyday interactions.
"With the rise in popularity of voice-activated speakers coupled with affordable price-points, we believe that 2018 could be the year that we see smart homes taking off."
The Google Home and Google Home Mini are new members of the #MadebyGoogle hardware family that were announced late last year.
They feature the voice-based Google Assistant helper software that can answer more than 200 million questions.
The devices have been localised to understand Singlish and other local contexts and nuances.
For example, users can listen to local radio stations, play the latest news from local news providers, or access local services, like public transportation chatbot Bus Uncle, the National Library Board or Singapore Airlines.
Both the Google Home and Google Home Mini are available in all Courts stores here and on its website.
As part of the launch, Courts had a one-day only offer of a free Google Chromecast for the first 100 customers who bought a Google Home at its flagship megastore at Tampines.
The Google Chromecast is a streaming media player worth $65 that plays content from the Internet on television.
Mr Tan Wei, 31, was one of those who queued outside the megastore early for a Google Home.
The construction manager, who arrived at 9.30am, half an hour before the store opened, and was fourth in the queue, said: "I read the reviews online when it came out in other countries last year. It seemed really cool with great functions and has the biggest database and search engine."
IT engineer Derrick Xiang, 39, was third in line and had arrived 10 minutes earlier.
Like Mr Tan, he was attracted by the reviews he read online.
"I am excited to get the Google Home because of the Google assistant and voice control," he said.
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