Assistant is Google’s personal assistant that is capable of answering questions, performing automated tasks, and more.
Google Assistant Stories July 15
Over the past several Google app releases, we’ve been tracking a Google Assistant Ambient Mode. With the latest beta on Friday, we now have our first early look at the always-on display feature.
Google Assistant Stories July 13
Smart speakers are used in many households for controlling smart lighting products. Currently, one of the most popular smart lighting options, Philips Hue, can’t be connected to Google Assistant due to a bug, but thankfully, both companies are at least aware of the problem that takes away the ability for Google Home to control the smart lights.
Google Assistant Stories July 11
It emerged yesterday that Google hires people to transcribe Assistant queries from Home and other smart devices. The company today described the practice as “critical” to bringing Assistant to other languages, while promising an investigation into the leak of customer data.
A report from a Belgian network, VRT, has uncovered how Google is using human subcontractors to help transcribe and improve its Assistant speech-recognition systems around the globe and how this could be a privacy concern (via BoingBoing).
Google Assistant Stories July 10
Gestures are the clear focus of Android Q Beta 5, and Google Assistant sees a lot of attention in this update as well. One subtle change Android Q makes is to show new instructive prompts when a user starts to open the Assistant either with a gesture or the Pixel’s Active Edge feature.
When Android Q’s fully gestural navigation system first debuted, one of the things we didn’t know was how Google intended to have us launch Assistant. That later became clear, and now in Android Q Beta 5, Google is making it more obvious how to launch Assistant with a couple of gesture “handles.”
