Google Assistant

If you have a Google Home device and you happen to live in Arizona, you may have noticed a weird issue when asking for the time. It seems that while Google Assistant is giving these users the correct time, they're getting it for the wrong time zone. Users report being given the correct time for the East Coast despite being in Arizona; users from other states haven't reported the same problem. Unfortunately, there's no fix at the moment.

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It might surprise some people but almost a quarter of Canada call French their second tongue. That makes it a bit tricky to roll out products in this major market that have to straddle not only English but also French, specifically French Canadian. Google, however, as sufficiently overcome that hurdle and, starting today, users in the French-speaking quarters of the country can comfortably talk with Google Home in French. Oh, and they can buy the smart speaker too.

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One of Android’s biggest problems, next to security exploits, is its fragmentation. Never mind the dizzying array of Android versions available in the market, fragmentation means that not all devices, even relatively recent ones, will sport the same features. Take for example Google’s new favorite pet Google Assistant, which is only available for Android 6.0 Marshmallow onward. Android 5.0, a.k.a. Lollipop, still commands a third of the market but remains Assistant-less. Fortunately, it’s not that hard to actually get Google Assistant on your Lollipop device, provided you’re willing to make some concessions. And you don’t even need to root your phone to do it.

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With the reveal of the Essential Phone, Android cofounder Andy Rubin announced the Essential Home. This is a device - part of an ecosystem of devices in the future - which runs a smart home. While the company hasn't said so directly, this device looks to take on already existing systems like Amazon Echo with Alexa and Google's assistant in Google Home.

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Google Assistant's arrival on Android TV has long been heralded by Google itself. But, thanks to some juicy partnership, the first and so far only Android TV device to enjoy that was the new NVIDIA SHIELD. Soon, however, it will be joined by other devices, including the Nexus Player, as Google finally rolls out the feature. It won't be alone, however, as Google will also be giving Android TV a small facelift.

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The folks at Google responsible for lighting fires in the bellies of developers have revealed a program called the Google Actions Challenge. In this challenge, developers are asked to create mind-blowing apps that make use of Google Assistant in its newest incarnation. These apps will be new - and must be new as in not submitted before May 17 of 2017.

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It seems that voice-controlled personal assistants are all the rage these days. Microsoft and Harman Kardon just revealed the Invoke Cortana speaker, Amazon put a screen on the Echo and called it a a Show, and Google just gave the Assistant more smarts, more features, and more places to be on. But one of the inherent drawbacks of relying on voice as a medium is that no one really speaks the language in the same way. Yes, we're talking about accents, which has tripped up many personal assistants. Years after their initial debut, how far have these AI-powered agents come along? The folks over at WIRED made some rather comical tests to find out.

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Google is turning the Google Assistant into a personal bank teller for sending and receiving payments, potentially lighting a fire underneath Venmo and Square Cash. Set to roll out as an update over the next few months, it'll allow for direct person-to-person transactions, like when you need to settle up a split check for dinner. The news comes as Google expands Android Pay to a number of new markets.

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As of today, Google Assistant has gotten an upgrade which will change the game for a whole lot of Android users. The change is small - not even a change at all for some - but giant for those that don't like to speak aloud in public places. Or in their homes - or anywhere else, for that matter. The latest update to Google Assistant allows the feature to be used with a keyboard instead of with the user's own voice.

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Google is launching a new Android Assistant App Directory, aiming to make Google Assistant-compatible apps easier to find as well as allow users to more seamlessly integrate their favorite apps with the AI. The new directory will serve as a highlight to the conversational services which use chat rather than traditional UIs, with Google telling I/O 2017 attendees that it believes this will significantly boost discoverability. However, it'll also allow those already taking advantage of the Assistant to streamline interactions with their most commonly-used services.

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Google's keynote presentation for I/O 2017 has come and gone, and in the span of about two hours, Google covered a lot of stuff. The keynote today included announcements for services like Android, Google Photos, and Google Assistant, but it also had its share of new reveals as well. If you weren't around for the keynote, then have a look at our refresher here for everything you missed.

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Users can now buy items from companies directly via Google Assistant on their mobile device, it has been announced, enabling consumers to, for example, order their favorite meal using simple voice commands and taps. Google's personal assistant works with the company's own payments system, the combination of which handles the ordering and payment process without requiring users to deal with third-party sites. This is made possible via Actions on the Google Platform, which are something akin to competing product Alexa's 'skills,' including support for transactions.

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