Ahead of the biggest mobile related show of the year, Mobile World Congress, Google has announced that the Assistant is expanding with support for more devices, more than 30 new languages and functional updates including Routines.
Languages
The support for more languages will appear over the coming months, with Assistant soon to support more than 30 new languages starting with Danish, Dutch, Hindi, Indonesian, Norwegian, Swedish and Thai. The support will be available in Assistant on both Android and iPhones and Google will expand language support over the coming months.
The language support will also expand so you can speak multiple languages to your Assistant, making way for multi-lingual speakers to address the Assistant in the language they feel comfortable with at that moment – say, French at work and English at home, or any other combination. The multilingual support will start with English, French and German with Google adding support for more languages soon.
With Australia a multicultural and hence multilingual society, this is great news.
More Phones
Google has also announced the Assistant Mobile OEM program which is going to bring the Assistant to more phones, but with deeper integration. We’ve seen previously with LG and the V30 where they were able to key in commands to key commands in Assistant, Google said specifically that they will bring new integrations to Sony, LG and Xiaomi phones soon, including using built-in AI chips as well. Google will utilise their natural language and conversational interfaces in Assistant to help OEMs to build this in.
Google is also going to be working with Mobile Carriers to bring Assistant support and bring insight and control to their services. Customers will be able to use the Assistant to find out about their plan, add services, get support and more. Initial partners include Sprint, Koodo, Telus and Vodafone with more coming soon.
Better features
Google is also bringing two new features to Assistant, the looooong awaited Routines which was announced last year, and Location based reminders.
- Routines: We first announced Routines last year, which help you get multiple things done with just a single command. In the coming weeks in the U.S., you’ll be able to use six routines that help with your morning, commutes to and from work, and evening at home. For example, say “Hey Google, I’m home” and the Assistant on your Google Home or phone can turn on the lights, share any home reminders, play your favorite music and more, all with just four words.
- Location-based reminders: You can already set reminders based on a location with the Assistant on your phone. In the coming weeks, you’ll also be able to set them with your speaker. Want to make sure you pick up the milk at the grocery store? All you have to do is ask the Assistant on your smart speaker, like Google Home—and when you get to the store, the Assistant on your phone will remind you.
There’s a lot more coming from Assistant and it will be exciting to see what else Google has planned.
