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The Google Home Max was announced last October and went on sale in December, just in time for last year's holiday season. Since then, the pricey smart speaker has mostly kept steady at its $399 launch price, but now a number of retailers are knocking $50 off that number, bringing it down about 12% to $349. Supplies are scarce at some of these places, and this price may not be around for too long.

[Deal Alert] Google Home Max down to $349 ($50 off) at Google Store, Best Buy, Target, and more was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

This might come as a surprise to some of you, but Google's Home products aren't available in very many countries. In fact, availability is actually fairly restricted, especially on the Home Max. Until May, the biggest Home speaker was only available in the US, though Canada and Australia have since joined the list. Now, the Home Max is arriving in the UK, France, and Germany.

It looks like Google's starting to roll more of its products out to the UK, France, and Germany; earlier this month, its photo books arrived in those three countries.

Google Home Max available in UK, France, and Germany starting today was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

Controlling smart home devices by voice can feel almost like magic. If you've got a Google Home and compatible connected lights, all you have to do is ask, and bam, illumination. Up until recently, any command involving smart lights translated to "do this to every light in the house;" not particularly intuitive. But lately, such commands have started applying to only the lights in the room you're currently in.

This is something a lot of users (including us) have been asking for for a while now.

Google Home now understands room context, only adjusts nearby lights was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

Google Home Max, the biggest, loudest speaker you can get from Google, launched late last year. The good ol' U-S-of-A remained the only place you could get one until this May, when it became available in Canada. This month, the Max will be available in a third country (and a second continent!): it goes on sale in Australia on August 9.

As is tradition down under, the Home Max will be a little more expensive than it is elsewhere: 549 dollarydoos, which translates to $406 USD.

Google Home Max goes on sale in Australia for $549 AUD on August 9 was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

Multiple calendar support on Google Home has been available since last November, but the feature has been very limited. You couldn't choose your birthday or holiday calendars, ones created from a G Suite account, or imported calendars from URLs/iCal. That last part has recently changed, even though the support page hasn't caught up to it yet.

If you head over to your Calendar section in the Google Home app (under More settings), you should find a list of all your personal and shared calendars, plus the ones you've imported via a URL or iCal.

Google Home can now read your imported and iCal calendars was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

The Google Store just had a nearly site-wide sale last month, but Google has decided it's already time for another one. The deals are a bit different this time around, though, with highlights including the Home Mini for just $34 ($15 off), the Clips camera for $169 ($80 off), the Pixel 2 XL for $749 ($100 off), and several other Home and Chromecast deals.

Here's everything on the Google Store that is currently discounted, consolidated into an easier-to-read bulleted list:

• Pixel 2 XL: $749 ($100 off)
• Clips: $169 ($80 off)
• Home Mini: $34 ($15 off)
• Home Max: two for $648 ($15o off)
• Home: one for $99 ($30 off), two for $158 ($100 off)
• Daydream View: $49 ($50 off)
• Chromecast Ultra: $54 ($15 off)
• Chromecast Audio: $25 ($10 off)

However, the Google Store isn't the only retailer offering discounts on Google products.

[Deal Alert] Google Store running sale including Home Mini for $34 ($15 off), Clips for $169 ($80 off), and various other discounts was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

• Update 1: 2018/06/27 3:25pm PDT
  The Made by Google Twitter account is reporting that a fix is rolling out over the next 6 hours. Those that may still be affected shouldn't have long to

Last night many people, including some of us here at Android Police, started running into problems with their Google Home and Chromecast devices. Content could not be cast to either, and many Google Homes and other Assistant-powered hardware were unable to accept commands.

[Update: Fix rolling out] Having Google Home or Chromecast problems? Widespread outages reported, still ongoing for some was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

Last night many people, including some of us here at Android Police, started running into problems with their Google Home and Chromecast devices. Content could not be cast to either, and many Google Homes and other Assistant-powered hardware were unable to accept commands. For some, the issue may be ongoing. 

Hey there, thanks for reaching out ― we're already aware of this and are working on it. We'll keep you posted once we get a fix.

Having Google Home or Chromecast problems? Widespread outages reported, still ongoing for some was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

Google spent a lot of time at I/O last month talking about Google Assistant. There was that wild Duplex demo, "pretty please" mode for kids, and Continued Conversations. The latter feature saves you from saying the trigger phrase for every single command, and it's starting to roll out today. However, not everyone will have access just yet.

Continued Conversation is off by default, so you'll need to dig into the Assistant settings to change it.

Continued Conversation for Google Assistant starts rolling out today was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

Google Homes and Chromecasts around the world will be quietly updated in the coming weeks with a patch for a rather serious issue. According to security researcher Craig Young from Tripwire, these devices have a vulnerability that could allow an attacker to find your geographic location if you have a Home or Chromecast on your network. That's a big problem, and Google almost didn't believe Young's bug report.

The issue is that Home and Chromecasts don't require authentication for commands that come over your local network.

Google Home and Chromecast can leak your location, but a fix is on the way was written by the awesome team at Android Police.