When Google Assistant, Google’s response to Siri, was launched in the Pixel smartphones, the company did not have elaborative plans to expand it to other non-Pixel devices. However, recent leaks suggested that it may be coming to other smartphones as well.
In a blog post by Google, the company elaborated its plans to release the Assistant to other phones, running Android 7.0 Nougat and Android 6.0 Marshmallow. Starting this week, the company will be rolling it out to the smartphones running on these OSes.
“Whether you need to know how to say “nice to meet you” in Korean or just a simple reminder to do laundry when you get home, your Assistant can help. With the Google Assistant on Android phones, you have your own personal, helpful Google right in your pocket,” the blog post read.
To use the Google Assistant on non-Pixel smartphones, you just have to long press the home button or say ‘Ok Google’. You can ask your phone any question and Assistant will bring you the information from the vast repository it has.
The Google Assistant will begin rolling out this week to English users in the U.S., followed by English in Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom, as well as German speakers in Germany. More languages will get added over this year and other countries will also get this service very soon.
Google Assistant came to Android Wear 2.0 – via new smartwatches – just a few weeks ago and, the Assistant is also coming to TVs and cars. With this update, hundreds of millions of Android users will now be able to try out the Google Assistant.
Assistant faces stiff competition from Amazon Alexa, Apple Siri and Microsoft Cortana, however, Google uses its algorithms to provide the best search results from its infinitely huge database. Google must standardise Assistant across all its smartphones first, to take on Siri because Apple makes sure all its phones get the same features.
Another problem with Google’s implementation is that it might not be a default service on such smartphones. Huawei is going to integrate Amazon Alexa in its phones, which means Assistant will take a backseat, completely destroying Google’s vision. Google needs to make an aggressive move if it wants to license its software to phone manufacturers.
Source: Google
