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Google Assistant on Pixel 8 ignores ‘umm’ & summarizes, Gboard gets multilingual voice typing

Google Assistant is debuting a handful of new features on the Pixel 8 and 8 Pro, including letting you speak in a more natural manner and article summarization.

At I/O 2022, Google previewed how Assistant can understand “umm,” long pauses, and self-corrections so as to ignore and not include them in your voice command/query. The company said it was working towards “more powerful speech and language models that can understand the nuances of human speech.”

This is now launching on the Pixel 8 and 8 Pro to let you speak more naturally. 

Google Assistant can now “Summarize” web articles on the Pixel 8 by generating bulleted key points. This works in Chrome but not inside apps, while you can provide feedback with a thumbs up/down.

You’ll also be able to ask Google to “Read aloud” articles with a neat UI that includes a timeline scrubber. You can adjust playback speed and translate the voice output, with this feature working entirely on your device. Android today offers something similar through the Reading Mode app, which requires a separate download.

Lastly, new At a Glance capabilities will surface travel updates, like train platforms and departure times, as well as event tickets with start times and locations (from Gmail).

Meanwhile, Gboard voice typing can now seamlessly switch between multiple languages. A badge in the top-right microphone will note the current one. 

Google is also making official the Proofread feature that corrects typos, grammatical errors, and other common mistakes while adding punctuation. It will appear as “Fix it” in the Gboard suggestions strip, or you can invoke it manually.

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Avatar for Abner Li Abner Li

Editor-in-chief. Interested in the minutiae of Google and Alphabet. Tips/talk: abner@9to5g.com

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