Assistant is Google’s personal assistant that is capable of answering questions, performing automated tasks, and more.
On Android and iOS, you can point Google Lens at a street sign or document to have it translated and read aloud. Google is now bringing Lens to smart feature phones running KaiOS in India.
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For the past several months, Google has been testing a more compact Assistant UI that takes some visual queues from the Pixel 4. The marquee change is how results don’t take up the entire screen. The company is now testing another Google Assistant design that brings the light bar to non-Pixel phones.
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Truly wireless earbuds are everywhere, and for the most part, you’ll get a similar experience from the vast majority of them. Today, though, LG has launched its Tone Free earbuds in the United States with a unique cleaning feature.
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It looks as though a weird bug means that Google Assistant Reminders might be broken for lots of people out there right now.
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Assistant’s Snapshot feed is the spiritual successor to Google Now. Since rolling out in March, Google Assistant has added more capabilities with Podcasts and recipes being the latest to join Snapshot.
Google just sent us a picture of the new Nest-branded smart speaker. See above..and much more below.
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Last month we exclusively reported that Google had a sequel incoming to its original Google Home speaker, this time with Nest branding in tow. Today, a regulatory authority in Japan has leaked this new “Nest Speaker,” revealing its brand new design.
In lieu of Google I/O 2020 (Google opted not to hold a virtual event this year), the various arms of the company that would have otherwise had announcements at the event are trying to hold virtual conferences. That continued this week with the “Hey Google” Smart Home Virtual Summit. The big news was Google bringing Home/Away triggers to Assistant Routines with ‘presence detection’, but another minor tidbit surfaced: a new “Works with Hey Google” brand we hadn’t seen yet. Let’s overanalyze this, shall we?
Having a digital assistant on your phone can be handy, but whether it’s a concern of privacy or just something you don’t want to use, you can always turn them off. Here’s how to turn off Google Assistant on Android phones, Chromebooks, and even smart speakers.
At a primarily developer-focused Smart Home Virtual Summit, Google today recapped its recent work in the space and announced more tools. Another focus was on expanding the capability of Google Assistant Routines through “presence detection” and other new features.
Earlier this year, the Google Assistant gained public support for a variety of media devices including TVs and remotes. Today, Google is following that up by openly allowing developers to connect the Google Assistant to speakers, soundbars, streaming boxes, and more.
Google Assistant has long dominated the voice assistant field, despite a huge head start from Apple’s Siri. With the new release of iOS 14, Apple tried to close that gap a bit with a bunch of improvements to Siri, but it’s clear that, even with that, Google Assistant still has quite the lead.
Nearly every Made by Google product released in the last few years includes a way to invoke the Google Assistant, and the Stadia Controller is no different. The Stadia Controller’s Google Assistant button has suddenly become far more useful, as you can now use it while playing your games.
Google next week is hosting a “Hey Google” Smart Home Virtual Summit in lieu of the annual I/O conference. Aimed at the Assistant developer community, there will be a keynote and partner panel.
Video calls are booming in 2020, and dedicated home devices are particularly suited for casual conversations. Smart Displays, including the Nest Hub Max, are now adding support for Google Duo and Google Meet group calling.
One handy trick Google Assistant offers is the ability to use your various Google Home and other speakers as a PA system through your home. Dinner ready? You can send a message to the whole home to let the entire family know. Now, Google is improving on Assistant’s broadcasting feature by enabling broadcasts to a specific room.
After an extensive wait, Google is now rolling out a fix for an issue that prevented users from utilizing the Assistant fully when connected to Android Auto.
Google Duplex’s flashiest capability lets it book appointments on your behalf. However, Google is also leveraging the Duplex conversation technology to update store hours, and now check inventory.
Besides on-device processing, the revamped layout is a key part of the Pixel 4’s new Assistant. A more compact Google Assistant redesign that’s been in testing for all other Android devices now looks to be rolling out to some beta users.
Back in March, Google rather quietly rolled out Assistant Snapshot as a Google Now-esque replacement that brings together weather, calendar events, reminders, and other relevant, proactive information. Google Assistant now looks to be testing a second, visually-similar feed called “Updates for you.”
Google Assistant is one of the best ways to control your various smart home products, Philips Hue included. If you’re still using a Philips Hue v1 bridge, though, Google Assistant is cutting off support in the next few days.
Over the past 24 hours, those within the Google Home ecosystem have reported that their C by GE light bulbs are not turning on. There’s fortunately a quick fix that does not require resetting the fixtures manually.
Since the launch of the original Pixelbook, Google has been pushing for the Assistant to play a larger role in Chrome OS. Their latest push will use an on-device version of the Google Assistant to handle “the most common queries” directly on your Chrome OS device.
Like Android, Google Assistant is also a platform for third-party developers creating apps. Google today is making it easier to build Assistant Actions with new development tools and core platform features, like Continuous Match Mode.