Today we're looking at a set of Halloween-related Google Assistant actions that are active as of this October, 2019. Google Assistant is the smart voice-activated system with which Google interacts with Android smartphone users. This system is also on iPhone, but not all actions may be available on all Google Assistant devices - we'll just have to check and see!
A select number of Android users over the past day have seen Google show them a pop-up with an image of a Google Home Mini. This pop-up - or block, rectangle, whatever you'd like to call it - included the following text. "Enjoy a gift for using the Google Assistant," said the Google note, with the one catch: "Just pay for shipping."
Google may not have won the living room yet, but it isn't ready to call time on Android TV. As the Google Assistant continues its spread through smart speakers and, more recently, smart displays, it's the biggest screen that the search giant has set its sights on. Now, fresh research shows just how important the TV is - and where connected TVs could leverage Google's strengths in the smart home.
Smart assistants have arguably become the centerpiece, figuratively and literally, of some people's modern lives but the way we've approached them causally belies the complexity of behind the voice technology they employ. That goes not only for voice and speech recognition but even for the voices that talk back to us in different tones and genders. Those voices have come a long from the robotic tones of their ancestors but some users would probably still prefer if these voices had some personality. And when it comes to personality, few are probably more qualified than celebrities like actress and writer Issa Rae who, surprise surprise, is making a cameo as a Google Assistant voice.
Today Google teased the next update for Google Assistant with a second celebrity voice. This new celebrity voice was announced to be made available in full on October 10, 2019 - this after the first celebrity voice in 2018. The first announcement of Celebrity Assistant voices was made all the way back at Google I/O 2018, then made live in April of 2019.
Google is adding voice control to move music and video between Google Home, Nest Hub, and Chromecast devices, with stream transfer being pushed out as an update from today. If you've ever started watching a video on YouTube on a Google Assistant-powered smart display but then wished you could transfer it to your TV, stream transfer should do the trick.
In the wake of Microsoft's surprise Android phone announcement, Google will be launching its take on what an Android smartphone should be. Almost everything about the Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL has been leaked already but those mostly focused on the hardware side of things. Software features are now starting to also come to light and one of the headlining features will unsurprisingly be Google Assistant. Coming along with "The New Assistant" is a new gesture that will make it more natural to call on the Assistant. Also unsurprisingly, it will not be available for all Pixel 4 owners on day one.
Google Assistant is admittedly an impressive piece of tech that combines many of Google's expertise into an easy-to-understand tool. But for all its power and convenience, Google Assistant itself isn't that easy to use, especially for certain classes of people. It primarily requires oral input and gives audio feedback, primarily in English though it has been expanding its linguistic wings. Still, for people with physical and cognitive handicaps, even those basic functions might be too difficult or cumbersome. That's where a new Action Blocks experiment comes in to provide a single virtual button to run even complex commands.
Audio company Marshall has taken the wraps off its latest pair of retro-styled wireless headphones, the Marshall Major III. The latest model brings a design very similar to the two iterations before it but adds one very key feature: support for Google Assistant. Users are able to summon the personal assistant by pressing the unique golden joystick button located on one of the earcups.
Duplex is one of Google's most interesting, and sometimes most worrying, products to be revealed in recent years. It combines a few key Google technologies, including Google Assistant, Search and Knowledge Graph, language processing, and, of course, machine learning. When it first came out, it was at the service of those trying to book restaurants or even services. Now Duplex is preparing to help smartphone users book movie tickets but, this time, without even saying a word.
Cord-cutting has become a trend in the past years as more and more tech-savvy users flock to their mobile devices for content. In response to the growing number of streaming services, cable and TV providers have stepped up their game to match what the likes of Netflix and Hulu offer in terms of features and innovations. That strategy has worked well for DISH who has, for the second year in a row, won J.D. Power's top spot in Customer Satisfaction.
Though Microsoft was at one point all-in with Cortana, lately it's been opening up its platforms - specifically Xbox - to more voice assistants. Last year, the company added Alexa compatibility to Xbox One, and soon, Google Assistant will be joining the fray as well. A beta is launching today for all Xbox users before rolling out on a broader scale later on down the road.