Google and its smart appliances subsidiary, Nest, have taken some great pains mastering how a smart speaker with a display should interface with its owner.

In its manifest, it seems that heathered fabric remains a favorite choice for Google’s in-house product designer Ivy Rose. There are four colors, all of them muted and designed to blend in with home.

The Hub does not have a camera — no video chats on one hand, but consumers should have a better sense of privacy. The display has what’s called Ambient EQ, color and brightness tuning for different ambient lighting conditions. It turns off at night, depending on when users have set their Downtime, to save power.

Voice Match allows each individual family member to speak to the Hub, be recognized and have specific apps and results tailored just for them. 85 percent of Google users have signed onto the feature, so they’ll be able to get the family set up quick and easy.

For those who want a complete look at their smart appliances in their home, the Home View dashboard will allow users to toggle and control their lights, music system, thermostat, television, doorbell camera and more, all from one pane. The Google Home app for mobile will also take on Home View as well.

Google Photos will be a key part in delivering wallpaper to the Hub. Live Albums uses machine learning to create slideshows of owners’ best moments with family and friends while keeping out pictures of documents and blurry specimens.

The Google Store has pre-orders starting today for US$149. Retail outlets in the US, the UK and Australia will be stocked on October 12. Buy a Google Home Hub from now until the end of the year and get a free six-month subscription