CES 2018: Google Assistant starts rolling out to Android Auto users in the US this week

Feeling a bit confused? You aren’t alone. Apparently, the voice assistant on Android Auto only makes use of Google Voice search and not Google Assistant, which we’ve been using in our phones and other smart devices. It’s only this week that Google has begun rolling out the smart assistant to its Android Auto platform in the U.S first. What this means is you could get a more consistent experience using Assistant no matter what device or Android platform you’re using. It should also make it easier to do things like check the status of your car as well as control certain things like, say, locking doors. It’s already available for vehicles from BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Hyundai and coming soon to Kia and Fiat Chrysler.

Some of the upcoming features users can expect include “able to reserve a parking space with SpotHero or order your favorite handcrafted drink or food from Starbucks—all from the road.” But as Google says, these Actions are limited to voice-only features and should be kept as “voice interaction and sounds simple and not too jarring or distracting.”

Source: 9to5Google

LG to include Google Assistant and its own AI assistant into 2018 TV lineup

LG TVs are about to get smarter this 2018. The company plans to introduce both Google Assistant and its own “ThinQ” artificial intelligence brand into its upcoming OLED and Super UHD LCD televisions. The ThinQ AI can be used for more TV-specific, contextual tasks like asking it to search for a movie’s soundtrack or having it turn off the TV when you’re done watching a program. But then for some unspecified countries, users will also get Google Assistant to help turn the TV into a smart home hub of sorts and bring Google’s AI assistant right into the heart of your home. The Verge speculates that these TVs will still likely run webOS underneath for the interface. On top of this, LG is also introducing the new Alpha 9 image processor that provides better color performance, noise reduction, and support for 120fps high frame rate (HFR) content.

‘Hey Google’ hotword is rolling out to more smartphones

You’ve probably gotten used to saying “Ok Google” to wake Google Assistant on your device but that doesn’t mean it gets any less awkward to say. Google has been testing out the hotword “Hey Google” on phones since October on a handful of devices. Now, Google seems to be bringing this to more devices. A notification has been showing up for more people prompting them to re-setup the voice part of Google Assistant so your phone can recognize your voice when you say “Hey Google.” Once you do this, your device will respond to either Ok Google or Hey Google when you want to launch Google Assistant or Google Search. You can also head to Settings > Phone > Voice model within the Google app to check if you have access to the feature already.

Source: Android Police

Google Assistant finally makes its way to Android tablets and more phones

Google is slowly rolling out Google Assistant to more and more users. For those who have Android tablets running on Nougat or Marshmallow in the US, Assistant is coming to your device if you have the language set to English. Now, the update for Android phones is more important in a way that it reaches more users. Those with Android devices that still run on Lollipop in Canada, US, UK, India, and Singapore with the language set to English will get the feature. If you’re in the US, Mexico, or Spain and have the language set to Spanish, then you get access to the feature, too. Those in Italy, Germany, Korea, Japan, and Brazil also get the update. Once the Google Play Services update comes your way and you opt-in to use Assistant, the Assistant app icon will show up in your “All apps” list.