Google Assistant

Nest has been one of the most popular brands for smart home products over the past few years, and Google is starting to take control of the various products now. However, that might have a negative effect on sales as residential builders are reportedly no longer using Nest products as a result.

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If you primarily use a Google Voice number, there are a few little roadblocks you’ve got to put up with. However, one of those is going away, as the latest Google Voice update for iOS adds better support for Siri.
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With the launch of Android 10 last week, Google teased night-friendly looks for Gmail and Maps. A dark theme for Google Assistant and Search is now beginning to roll out for some users.

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Google’s collection of smart home devices are arguably the company’s most successful products, especially in the case of the Google Home Mini. Today at its media event in New York City, Google announced an updated version of that product in the Google Nest Mini and we’ve had a chance to get our hands on it.

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Google’s first generation of Pixel Buds proved a decent offering, but they paled in comparison to the likes of Apple’s AirPods. Now, Google has announced a new take on its smart earbuds with the Pixel Buds (2nd gen).

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Google’s Pixel Buds haven’t gotten a ton of attention since their debut back in 2017, but it seems a new update is being prepared. In the past 24 hours, a new option to enable “Hey Google” hotword support has appeared for Pixel Buds users, but unfortunately, it’s not working.

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At I/O 2018, Google noted how celebrity voices are a top Assistant feature request. Following Amazon last month bringing its first voice to Echo, Google Assistant today is getting its second with Issa Rae.

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Celebrity Assistant voices were announced at I/O 2018 and the first one rolled out in April. At the time, Google specified that John Legend would only be available for a limited time. Another Assistant celebrity voice is now being teased and set to be announced tomorrow.

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Google has a whole ecosystem of home Assistant devices from Smart Displays and speakers to Chromecast-connected TVs. With a new “Stream transfer” feature today, all three categories will work better to move playing media from room to room.

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Since exclusively showing the “new Google Assistant” in action on Wednesday, one common question we’ve been asked is about availability. Unsurprisingly, the next-generation Assistant will launch first on the Pixel 4 in the US, but it’s also “coming soon” to three other countries.

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Earlier this week, we exclusively detailed the Pixel 4’s “new Google Assistant” that can seamlessly handle back-to-back commands and partially works offline. The Made by Google flagships could feature an interesting way to launch that next-generation Assistant: raise to talk.

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Google Assistant has a lot of third-party capabilities called Actions. To aid discoverability, Google has long offered a browsable Explore page, and there’s now an updated card in Assistant’s Updates feed.

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Back in July, we spotted Assistant replacing the old “Voice search” capability in the Google app. There have been more reports of that occurring recently, with new Google app help videos suggesting that’s still on track.

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Google Assistant’s new Driving Mode has yet to arrive on devices, but some early hints within the Google app are pointing to support for NFC quick launch of the new feature.

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The first Pixel 4 tease from Google actually came during the I/O 2019 keynote. A “next generation Assistant” was demoed from a case-covered device, and officially teased as launching on the “next Pixel phones.” We now have an exclusive first look at the “new Google Assistant” that will debut on the Pixel 4.

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Underpinning Assistant are voice interactions that make day-to-day tasks more natural. Google is now bringing that same level of convenience to those with accessibility needs through Actions Blocks.

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Quite a lot of people have privacy concerns over using voice assistants such as Google Assistant, especially given some recent stories. Now, Google wants to give users more control over their voice data from Assistant with the ability to delete that data anytime with an easy voice command.

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People today associate Google Duplex with Assistant making phone calls on their behalf. For the company, it’s the umbrella term for training AI to accomplish tasks and save you time. Announced at I/O 2019, Google Duplex on the web is now in testing.

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Some Android users have been reporting a crashing issue with Google Assistant over the past couple of days that hasn’t been patched by Google just yet. If you’re affected, there is a temporary fix.

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