The Google Nest Hub is a useful device and, with its second generation, it’s also a great option for playing music. But lately, Google seems to have tweaked the Nest Hub and several other smart speakers to be considerably louder when playing at lower volume settings.

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The conversational aspects of generative AI and large language models (LLMs), like LaMDA, make it ripe for smart assistants. Google specifically mentioned Assistant two years ago as a product where it hopes to incorporate “better conversational features.” That has yet to happen, but the Google Assistant team is helping lead Bard development.

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As part of the LaMDA announcement in May of 2021, Google cited Assistant, Search, and Workspace as products where it hopes to “incorporat[e] better conversational features.” A new report today looks into Google’s reluctance to launch and incorporate LaMDA into products before OpenAI and Microsoft.

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The Google Assistant is currently having an issue, across phones and smart speakers, causing it to be unable to control smart home devices, instead simply replying “I don’t understand.”

Update: The issue now appears to have been resolved.

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Adding your Xbox to the Google Home app and connecting it to Google Assistant has some advantages. To get those, you’ll need to connect it. Here’s how.

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Google Assistant devices such as the Nest Hub and Nest Mini are handy for a lot of things, and many folks use them for music above all else. But if you’re trying to use radio stations from services such as Pandora via a Google Home routine or an Assistant command, you may have noticed that the functionality is partially broken.

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Google announced in October that the Assistant light mode is gone on Android phones and tablets, and reiterated today that “Assistant Uses Dark Mode By Default.”

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Back in September, Google confirmed our Insight that Google Tasks would replace Assistant Reminders in the “coming months.” We’re still waiting for this to launch five months later, but work is ongoing.

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In the coming months and years, Google will add AI-powered capabilities to its core apps that meaningfully change the experience. This initial wave of additions will share some similarities, and it will be interesting to see how the company brands them. Google will have a number of options, but Assistant seems fairly obvious for these AI features.

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The Polestar 2 is now able to access voice controls from your Google Assistant-powered devices including the Nest Hub, Nest Audio, and many more.

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There are plenty of useful commands to use on Google Assistant devices, with everything from setting timers to launching music. But for many lately, Google Assistant sleep timers for stopping music have been broken on devices such as the Nest Hub.

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There’s a growing number of Android Auto users who have noticed that Google Assistant is at least partially broken following the update to Android 13.

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Voice assistants have been getting a bit less attention over the past year compared to previous years, but it’s always fun to take a look at how they all compare with how we actually use them. To no one’s surprise, Google Assistant took the crown in a recent comparison, but it really shows the gap Assistant has over Siri, Bixby, and especially Amazon Alexa.

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Back in June, Google announced that third-party Assistant voice apps and Nest Hub games would be going away in 2023. Third-party developers, like Todoist, are starting to shut down their broader integration and go Android-only.

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The height of — what I deemed — an Assistant takeover was when “Google Assistant” got listed after Android in the “Operating System” section of the Pixel 3’s tech specs. A few years later, things have changed and the clear trend for Google Assistant in 2022 is one of retreat. 

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Given that kids like to use Assistant, Google is rolling out new parental controls, as well as new kid-friendly voices and Kids Dictionary.

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As the Google Home ramps up preview testing for its big redesign, Google is making more tweaks to the UI, but also apparently breaking existing Assistant routines for some users.

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Google is significantly upgrading Assistant’s podcast capabilities with more granular commands that let you search and play by episode, topic, and even guests.

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Google Assistant is using on-device “Personalized speech recognition” on the Pixel 7 and 7 Pro to get “better at recognizing your unique speaking style, words, and phrases.”

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If you’re not using dark mode on your Android device, you might notice that Google Assistant is using a dark theme regardless, and Google says that’s intentional.

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With recent updates to the Google Search app, Google has been steadily preparing redesigns of Discover and the Assistant for the Pixel Tablet.

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Over the past day, several Pixel Buds Pro owners have found that “Hey Google” has been disabled and that their Assistant headphones no longer pick up the hands-free hotword.

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Ahead of its larger redesign heading out to the general public, the Google Home app is doing some work with routines, adding a new “Household” option for routines as well as expanding device triggers to more users.

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After upgrading most of the Nest Hub series, it seems Google’s Fuchsia team is looking to move on to supporting Google Assistant speakers like the Nest Audio and what looks to be a new speaker for 2023.

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Using voice commands to control smart home devices is very common, and something that Google Assistant is about to get better at through the use of AI.

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The Google Home app is set to see a major redesign in the coming months but, ahead of that, Google is opening up a whole new world of automation. This week, some Google Home app users are noticing support for device triggers on Assistant routines.

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October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and Google is using Assistant to help get the word out.

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In talking with Google and learning more about the Pixel Tablet, my biggest takeaway is that pulling double duty as an Assistant Smart Display will be its path to success. It all comes down to execution, which of course is harder said than done given that Google basically tried with Assistant Ambient Mode two years ago. Meanwhile, Apple is rumored to be right behind the Pixel Tablet and following the same strategy for the iPad.

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Earlier this week, Google told us that the Maps integration in Assistant Driving Mode is going away. The company’s confirmation following a “sunset” notice we discovered in the Google app turned out to be incorrect, and Google now tells us it is shutting down the entire Assistant Driving Mode Dashboard that was announced at I/O 2019.

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At Made by Google 2022, a number of Assistant announcements were made across all the new devices and form factors. Pixel phones are seeing updates to Assistant Voice Typing, At a Glance, Quick Phrases, Recorder, and more.

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In May of 2019, Google Assistant Driving Mode was announced to replace “Android Auto for Phone Screens.” The launch occurred slowly, with the previous experience not going away until this June. Assistant Driving Mode is now losing Google Maps integration and this noticeably changes the experience to the point where it’s no longer an Android Auto replacement. 

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As we’ve been expecting since June, Google is “simplifying [its] task management solutions by migrating Assistant and Calendar Reminders to Google Tasks.”

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Just last week, the Nest Hub Max was updated with another way to skip “Hey Google.” This currently only works for certain commands, but Google Assistant will eventually let you make custom Quick Phrases.

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After first debuting on the Pixel 6 last October, Quick Phrases are now available on the Nest Hub Max to skip the “Hey Google” hotword when issuing commands and asking questions to Assistant.

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With the Pixel 6 last October, Assistant debuted “Quick phrases” to skip the hotword for two specific actions, and you might soon be able to “silence” incoming calls.

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Over the past day, Pixel owners are encountering a bug that sees Google Assistant always open keyboard input over voice entry, while those users are also seeing “TNG” at the bottom-left corner of their screen.

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With Google Calendar set to lose Assistant Reminders, you’ll be forced to use the very basic and incredibly laggy UI that’s part of the Google app. It’s still bad, but Google recently rolled out some usability tweaks to Reminders and restored the dark mode.

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Just over a year ago, Google Assistant swapped out the “What’s on my screen?” button with a Lens-branded shortcut that could now be replaced by “Search this screen.”

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The first Samsung customers are beginning to receive the Galaxy Watch 5 and Watch 5 Pro, and Google has some “important” advice for those that are having trouble getting Assistant for Wear OS up and running.

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Wear OS 3 is finally on its way to other smartwatches, but its first new option is lacking a major feature. The Montblanc Summit 3 lacks support for Google Assistant entirely.

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The saga continues this week, as Google has just filed a new lawsuit against Sonos just months after an unfortunate ruling that saw Sonos win and force Google to disable or break features for many of its products.

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For quite some time now, Assistant has supported IFTTT, but Google is now warning people about “upcoming changes” to the third-party integration. Some functionality is being removed and all users need to set up IFTTT again.

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“Look and Talk” for the Nest Hub Max launched at I/O 2022, and Google has now detailed how exactly the camera-based, “Hey Google” replacement works. 

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Google Assistant smart speakers often only serve a couple of key purposes – to accept commands and play music. With Xiaomi’s new Google Assistant smart speaker, you also get the power to control your TV and other electronics through an IR transmitter.

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