Google Assistant now supports smart faucets and bathtubs

Whether you want the feature or not, it is here. Google Assistant can now work with bathtubs and faucets. For tubs, it's a relatively simple list of commands. You can ask these smart tubs to fill or drain for you. But you can't seem to adjust the temperature. Now, for faucets, there appears to be a bit more complication. The tap is presumed to have different "modes" with their settings because of the varied kinds of liquids and presets available. As 9to5Google points out, these modes could point out to temperature control or even water filters in kitchen faucets. 

Smart faucets and tubs are on their way. Brands like Kolher and Delta offer smart versions of their products, so it might not be far off for these devices to get Google Assistant support.

Source: Android Police

Tile trackers now support Google Assistant

Google Assistant now works with your Tile tracker. You can now link the Bluetooth gadget through the Google Home app, where you can set up Voice Match in Assistant and ask the voice helper to locate the trackers for you. But instead of adding a prefix like "Ask Tile" every time, using a simple sentence would work. You can tell Assistant to ring your keys, bag, or any item attached to your TILE device. It will work on any Assistant-capable device. But for the initial setup, you will require you to have the Tile app installed on your Android or iOS device.

Source: Engadget

Google Pixel 4’s ‘Raise to talk’ feature for Assistant could come to Canada ‘soon’

With the improvements being brought to Google Assistant, one of the new features Google Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL users can expect is a “Raise to talk” feature. It’s designed to activate Assistant in a more intuitive, fluid way. Basically, you could just lift the phone and immediately ask Assistant a question or issue a command. As long as the command or question is said directly after raising the device, Assistant will acknowledge it. Otherwise, the virtual assistant will ignore it.

It might raise some concerns about the lack of hotword activation and how it could just take in everything that’s being said. But with the new Google Assistant, speech recognition will be handled entirely on the device. The company shrunk its voice recognition and comprehension model from 100GB to just 0.5GB so that it can run on phones. This also allows you to issue back-to-back commands or questions without almost any latency.

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Microsoft Xbox One now supports Google Assistant

Google Assistant joins Amazon Alexa in the list of virtual assistants that can be used with the Microsoft Xbox One. You can use Google Assistant to turn your console on and off remotely, launch games, play or pause videos, and more. It's currently available in beta to all English Xbox One users.

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