Google Assistant spreads to third-party speakers and more

By Eric Abent/Aug. 30, 2017 10:35 am EST

On the same day that we learn about a Cortana and Alexa team up, Google has also announced big things for Google Assistant. The number of devices that support Google Assistant will soon be expanding, giving you more options for interacting with it. The list of new devices includes both speakers and appliances, and it sounds like what's being announced today is just the tip of the iceberg.

In a new post to the Google Blog, Google Assistant Senior Director Abhi Taneja tells us what we can expect for the AI in the coming days and weeks. Though Google Assistant is for now limited to mostly Google Home, Android, Google services like Allo, and iPhone, we'll soon see it expand to third-party speakers. The first three speakers confirmed for this roll out are the Zolo Mojo from Anker, Mobvoi's TicHome Mini, and the GA10 by Panasonic.

Many people who use Google Assistant regularly probably already have a Google Home, but offering options for newcomers to the ecosystem certainly isn't a bad thing. Taneja says that Google Assistant will function "just about the same" across these third-party speakers as it does elsewhere, so don't expect any major differences if you're jumping from Google Home or Android. These three speakers will be launching later this year, and we should expect to see more speakers announced at IFA 2017 this week.

We also discovered today that Google Assistant will soon be coming to a variety of appliances. Thus far, Google has only named LG as a supporting manufacturer, but we can expect to see Google Assistant arrive on all sorts of things, like vacuums, dryers, and washing machines. This is particularly interesting functionality, because not only will you be able to do things like start wash cycles through voice commands, but you can also ask if your laundry is done.

So, Google Assistant is about to get a pretty major expansion in terms of supporting devices. More news on this is coming up this week, so stay tuned for additional coverage from IFA 2017!