Assistant is Google’s personal assistant that is capable of answering questions, performing automated tasks, and more.
Assistant-powered smart speakers are everywhere now and you can buy them in quite a few different form factors. The most compelling, though, has been the small and affordable Google Home Mini, and now it’s going to be even more affordable through the end of the year.
Google Assistant is capable of a lot of cool tricks, but it’s still limited in some areas. Now, as Android Police points out, Google is adding some welcome functionality to Assistant speakers.
Over the weekend, several Pixel and Pixel 2 owners noticed that Google Lens was now available on their devices. Today, Google officially announced the rollout of visual search assistant and that it would be talking place over the coming weeks.
For the past few teardowns of the Google app, we’ve spotted a Calendar setting among Google Assistant’s list of services. This control is now beginning to rollout and allows users to manage Google Calendar, but only on Google Home speakers.
Back in October, several Googlers noted that Google Lens would be coming to Assistant “in the next few weeks.” On Friday evening, the first users have spotted the visual search feature up and running on their Pixel and Pixel 2 phones.
Google has been working hard over the past year to push Google Assistant in as many places as possible. Between smart speakers, basically every phone on the market, and even laptops, the Assistant is in a ton of places. Recently, it’s been extending to headphones, and just in time for the Pixel 2 to ditch the headphone jack, Google has debuted the first earbuds with Assistant built-in, the Pixel Buds.
Google Assistant can do a lot of powerful things, and thanks to new gestures, it’s easier to get to than ever on the Pixel 2. Now, Google has quietly added a way to make troubleshooting your Pixel 2 easier with the help of the Assistant.
With last week’s redesign, the Google Assistant gained an updated interface on Android. Today, a refreshed look that we previously activated is also coming to the Explore tab, along with a number of other changes to improve both Assistant app discovery and functionality.
Launched at I/O 2017, Actions on Google is continuing its international expansion with the addition of Canadian English. Starting today, Canadian users will get access to Assistant apps and a directory optimized for the country, while developers will now be able to localize their apps.
Google Assistant’s arrival on Android TV definitely has fans of the platform excited, but its rollout has definitely been a little slower than we had hoped. So far, it’s been limited to just a handful of devices, but now it’s expanding to the original Android TV device — Google’s Nexus Player.
With every new update to the Google app, we’re learning more about Assistant Routines that can string together commands. Version 7.16 also details an expansion to the podcast functionality and feedback/training for Lens and the Feed. In terms of visible changes, Assistant for tablets is hinted at, while the Feed’s bottom bar sees a partial redesign.
Google Assistant finally made its way to Android TV in the past few weeks, and as it expands, developers are making updates to add integration. Now, Plex is playing nicely with Assistant.
A month ago, version 7.14 of the Google app included the first references to Google Assistant for tablets. That functionality is likely nearing a launch as the latest beta of the Google app now lists Assistant as available for the category of larger devices.
One of the cooler features announced at this year’s October 4th event was a broadcast feature that turned Google Home into an intercom-like system. Today, that feature is finally rolling out to Assistant devices, including phones and speakers.
Google’s first set of wireless, Assistant built-in headphones has finally hit the market this week with the Pixel Buds. Units are on their way to early buyers and the product is finally available on the Google Store again.
The question on everyone’s minds, though, is if they are worth the $159 price point. I’ll be answering that in my final review later this week, but for now, let’s go over my first 24 hours with the Buds.
Following this morning’s rollout of the rounded redesign to the Feed and Search, Google Assistant is now gaining that new interface. Widely rolling out this evening, it features a brighter background and rounded interface elements.
Google has been trying to get Assistant in just about every part of your digital life, and its latest expansion has been to headphones. Following the Bose Qc35 II’s intro to Assistant Built-in headphones, Google debuted the Pixel Buds at its October 4th event. Now we’ve got a pair on hand, so let’s see what’s in the box and how to set them up.
Google likes to highlight what it calls “Experiments” from third-party developers that leverage Chrome, Android, AI, or virtual reality. The site is today adding a new category called “Voice Experiments” that showcases conversations applied to games and storytelling on platforms like Google Home.
Google Assistant finally made its debut on Android TV a few weeks back on the Nvidia Shield TV, but its expansion hasn’t continued much in the time since. Today, however, Sony has finally announced that Google Assistant is starting to roll out to its various Android TVs.
Alongside yesterday’s rollout of music recognition, Google Assistant is also adding a feature long found in Allo to the main Android and iOS version. Subscriptions provide useful recurring alerts and were one of Google Allo’s most useful Assistant features.
In most instances, the Google Home and Home Mini are perfect little speakers that you can set in the corner of a room and forget about. But in the bedroom, it can be useful to have the functionality of the Google Assistant in a speaker that also shows the time. With the Insignia Voice Speaker, you get all of that with a price tag lower than the Google Home, even when it’s on sale…
The Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL launched with a very neat offline music recognition feature, with Google noting at the October 4th event that general recognition features would be coming soon to Assistant on other devices. Today, that feature is beginning to rollout.
Google Home and Google Assistant are awesome ways to control your smart home, but picking products that work with it was a pain at launch. Thankfully, the list has expanded greatly over time, and now Google has a page dedicated to showing you what works with Home.
Update: Today’s Android rollout also includes Spanish in the U.S. and Mexico, as well as Italian in Italy. It will be coming to the iOS app later this year.
The Google Assistant is launching in Spain today with support for Spanish. Launched in Google Allo back in May, Assistant will soon be available on recent Android devices in the country.
