Google Assistant

Earlier this month, the Play Store added a built-in feature to make donations to charitable organizations right from Android. At the same time, Google Assistant quietly added an even simpler way to contribute to good causes with just your voice on all your smart devices.

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If CES 2019 proves anything like last year, we’re going to see a whole lot of Google Assistant at the show. Kicking things off this morning, just a couple of weeks ahead of the annual show, LG is showing off a new collection of high-end soundbars with Google Assistant built-in.

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Christmas time is here and one of the most treasured aspects is about to kickoff when St. Nick leaves the North Pole to deliver presents around the world. Since 2004, the Google Santa Tracker has followed that journey and this year is no different. Google has added more features over time, like fun educational games and even the ability to Call Santa.

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The Google Home Hub is one of the best Smart Display options on the market, albeit there are very few options. It might not have a camera, however, oddly, makes it one of the best options available especially as you have fewer privacy concerns.
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Over the years, Home Alone has become a staple Christmas movie, and Google is taking advantage of that nostalgia with a hilarious new ad. “Home Alone Again” features Macaulay Culkin reprising his role of Kevin McCallister, but this time in a smart home powered by Google Assistant.

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It’s hard for anyone to argue against Google Assistant being the best voice assistant at answering queries. Assistant has proven time after time that it’s superior. Recently though, one test found that the gap between Assistant, Siri, and Alexa is starting to close quite a bit.

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The NBA All-Star Game is an annual exhibition match where fans get to pick the players. For the 2019 competition, Google is playing an exclusive role in the voting process that heavily promotes Google Assistant and Search.

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One area where Google applied machine learning is flight delay predictions in Search. After launching earlier this year on the web, Google Assistant will now show predicted flight delays and soon provide proactive notification alerts on your phone.

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Over the past couple of months, Google has been rolling out several updates to the Assistant interface. This week, it seems the company is testing another new UI change for Google Assistant on Android, this time with a condensed size and bottom bar.

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At I/O 2018, Google introduced six new voices for Assistant based on DeepMind’s WaveNet. This allowed users to customize voice interaction on Android phones, Google Home, and now Smart Displays. Google Assistant today is gaining an Australian-accented and British-accented voice for even more customization.

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As smart speakers proliferate and enter people’s homes, voice as a platform continues to develop and mature. Google is now exploring the “future of audio news” on Assistant with Google News and publications around the world. Asking for news on phones or Google Home will become more personalized and better at delivering updates throughout the day.

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Back at I/O 2018, Google announced that Assistant was coming to Google Maps. Specifically, a visually compact and less disruptive version would appear when getting directions. This navigation-optimized Google Assistant is now rolling out in Google Maps for Android.

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The weather is a very popular question that people search for and frequently ask Google Assistant on Home, Smart Displays, Android, and other devices. However, this particular query is currently experiencing some issues this morning and not providing back any results.

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Recently, Google updated their Family Link program with Chromebook support, to help families supervise Chromebook usage. However, this initial Chrome OS version of Family Link did not allow child accounts to use the (initially Pixelbook exclusive) Google Assistant features. This will soon be changing according to a newly discovered code change.

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With the holiday season underway, Google is announcing a slew of new features for Assistant speakers and Smart Displays. This includes the Pretty Please feature for families announced at I/O 2018, Assistant notes and lists integration, Broadcast Replies, and visual lyrics for the Home Hub.

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Google has enlisted the help of a whole host of prominent YouTube stars to highlight the benefits of the Google Assistant Routines feature. The videos include some of the biggest names on the website including Todrick Hall, TheSorryGirls, Jackie Aina, Lele Pons, Katrina Garcia, and The Action Lab.
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Lenovo delivered the first Google Assistant smart display to market, but the Google Home Hub recently debuted with a lot of extra functions and features. Now, a new update heading out to the Lenovo Smart Display is adding more functionality to the Home Hub, as well as new cooking features, and more.

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The biggest “wow moment” of Google I/O earlier this year was the reveal of Google Duplex. The feature instantly impressed the crowd and brought up tons of intriguing questions. Now, it’s finally starting to roll out, at least to Pixel owners in select cities.

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Perhaps like many of you, I’ve had to embrace the world of Bluetooth headphones and earbuds much sooner than I would’ve liked. Mobvoi makes some superb Wear OS smartwatches, but the IndieGoGo-backed TicPods Free finally give Android users a solid alternative to Apple AirPods.

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