Let’s be honest, 2020 has been one helluva year …and not in a good way. More than any other year in recent memory, we’re all eagerly awaiting the countdown to 2021 to put the last twelve months in the rearview mirror. So, to help us all celebrate the new year, Google has added a new trick to its Google Home smart home kit, which includes the likes of the Google Nest Mini, Google Home Max, and Google Nest Hub.
We won’t ruin all of the lyrics, but it features Google wishing for a better 2021 for us all, as well as reminding everyone that Google Assistant is available for “all your search needs.” The entire tune is in 8-bit audio, so the song has a very retro feel to it.
This matches pretty well with the slightly robotic tone of the Google Assistant voice.
Google has customised the song to work in regions across the world. So, those in the United States will hear the track sung with an American accent, while anyone in Blighty who uses the magic works will hear a version set to the same tune – but sung with a local accent. It’s clear that Google has gone to a lot of work to make this work for those stuck inside celebrating the arrival of 2021.
Unfortunately, not all regions worldwide support the full experience. Users have taken to social media to report that Google Assistant will read out the lyrics – not sing them in-time with the music – when set to French or Spanish, for example.
As far as we know, Amazon has not composed an original song for its rival assistant Alexa to herald the new year.
