What You Need to Know About the New Google Assistant Update

 

As if we weren’t short of surprises this year particularly from the tech industry, Google made an announcement that could very well be the most pleasant one so far this year. At the Google I/O conference 2018 held this week, CEO Sundar Pichai announced that the Google Assistant will be getting major updates. And the updates are major indeed with several AI based application that could make life a ‘breeze’ for all you couch potatoes out there. Anyway, let us have a look at the updates that are soon going to hit the market.

 

Google Duplex

Speaking of couch potatoes, here is an update that is for the ages which could make that expression a literal one soon. The Google Duplex is an AI tool that will be assisting you with real world tasks all accomplished through the phone without you having to move an inch. With the ability to understand natural speech and complex sentences, the google assistant can now book appointments, reservations or orders and should any complication arise it will place a call to have a conversation with the concerned person and get it done. Which, while on the surface seems swell and all, but in the ‘real world’ when have we ever convinced a snooty receptionist at a fully booked hotel to make room. Maybe, Google should add the Jedi mind trick as part of their update if they haven’t already. ‘These are not the reservations you’re looking for’. Anyway, without digressing further, the application has to be trained in such conversations to become accustomed to and eventually become adept at it. And Google stresses that the application can only carry out conversations based on such scenarios and not answer questions like ‘why won’t my girlfriend talk to me anymore? I only made an observation about her dress’. For that, you still have to go to Quora.com.

Enhanced Interface

Google is also planning on changing the interface of the Google assistant on both iOS and Android platforms to make it more informative and interactive. A certain degree of automation will be available in the interface as well with timeline-based snapshots, suggestions, summaries of activities etc. being part of the order. All your planner based details from various applications will also be integrated to the assistant. As announced earlier this year Google’s Smart Displays will also be launched later this year which will further enhance the experience.

Google Maps

Google maps will now be integrated with the Google Assistant AI to allow multitasking. Now you can access weather-related information, songs, send text messages and even podcasts for some reason according to news outlets. This raises an interesting question, what are Google’s policies on driving while speaking on the phone? Because, hands-free or not, talking on the phone is something that I assume is frowned upon all the world. As a matter of fact all over India that is an offense punishable by law. So, food for thought?

New Voices

One of the most highlighted features of this update are the 6 new male and female voices. And the most highlighted aspect of these voices is that they are ‘natural sounding’. So instead of that persistent and seemingly strict lady asking you to take a left turn at 100 meters, you get John Legend and no you won’t be getting ‘all of him’, just his voice. Hey, at least now we can have a soothing semi-baritone voice telling ‘All your base are now belong to us’ when the machines take over. And if you think I am exaggerating, John legend himself feels threatened by his AI self. That’s why he felt the need to tweet out ‘Real John Legend > AI John.’ Anyway, the new voices will be playing a huge role in achieving the goals that Google seeks to achieve through Google Duplex. Furthermore, you will no longer have to use the phrases ‘OK Google’ or ‘Hey Google’ to trigger a conversation with the assistant. The new update will enable the assistant to distinguish conversations with others from the ones you make with it. Which again is not necessarily a reassuring prospect.

To sum up the new updates seem to be targeted at enhancing user experience by a huge margin and resolving some of the most infuriating issues people have had over the years with various google assistant functions. As ambitious as it is, the project will take a while to incorporate all these functions and hopefully, it would change our lives for the better.  And the question in everyone’s mind now probably is what is going to happen with Siri?

 

 

 

The Favorite Search Engine

 

If you haven’t heard the name Google then you are definitely from another planet. Today Google is synonymous with the word “search”. Nowadays, plenty of people say “Google it” instead of “search it”. For a majority of the people, no other product or service is as important as Google. Founded in the year 1998 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin, it has rapidly evolved from a simple search engine at Stanford to a modern technological giant.

Today it is working on multiple products and services including driverless cars and providing internet by floating balloons in the sky. On the cusp of its 19^th anniversary, we provide you some interesting milestones of Google.

 

1) July 2000

Google establishes its monopoly by becoming the world’s largest search engine with an indexes capacity of around a billion. It dethrones the current reigning champion of search engines “Yahoo” from the top spot.

2) March 2004

Most people think that Gmail was launched with Google, but the truth is it was launched six years later in March 2004. Initially the service was invitation only as the release was a beta one. The general public had to wait another 3 years to experience its advanced features. Currently Gmail is the leader in email space while the followers are lagging way far behind.

 

 

3) June 2005

The year 2005 was a major milestone for Google as it released multiple products and services that proved to be a blockbuster in the coming years. The Landmark year had seen the release of Google Maps. With the help of Google Maps you can visit any part of the planet and be sure that you won’t get lost. It has made travelling fun and an exhilarating experience. Other products also launched in the same year were Google Earth, Talk and Video. It also purchased technology company Urchin which helped to create Google Analytics.

4) July 2005

“Android” the word synonymous with Smartphones today, was purchased by Google. Based on the Linux operating system it was basically designed for the touch screen devices. Today the majority of Smartphones and tablets have android as their operating system.

5) October 2008

Today most of us think YouTube as a product created by Google. But the truth is, it was purchased by Google in the year 2008. From then to now the video sharing site has seen enormous growth. Today it’s the biggest platform for video sharing leaving its competitors way far behind.

6) March 2012

Although there were many innovations and launches of products between 2008 and 2012, the launch of the Google Play store was the biggest significant event by Google in 2012. The play store has millions of apps in various categories such as games, education, entertainment, healthcare etc. It is single handedly responsible for more than a billion download of apps and installs.

7) September 2016

The year 2016 saw the launch of the smart messaging app “Allo” by Google. People were waiting for a messaging app from Google and it delivered on it. The app provides customizable emojis, stickers and doodles to make the chat interesting.

 

If we would put the whole list of products and services launched and offered by Google it would take plenty of pages to fill, as the innovation factory at Google continues to create exciting products year after year.

Got any other interesting Google milestone worth knowing about? Then share your views and let us know.