‘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 hopes to help you out with your travel plans with new app updates

Google is making it easier for you to work out your last-minute travel plans this holiday season with an update coming to its suite of travel-related apps and services. First up is Google Flights. It makes use of its machine learning capabilities to let you know when is the best time to book a flight. When you select where you want to go, you can opt to have the apt let you know things like “price won’t drop further” or “prices are less than normal.” Now, if you want to search hotels, you can get similar information. Google will let you know if a room costs higher or if the surrounding area is busy because of a local event. You can even get the option to receive email alerts for when price fluctuates. Lastly, the Google Trips app, now has a new Discounts section. This’ll show you deals on everything from tickets, attractions, tours, and activities in the areas you plan to visit. The flight and hotel price tracking is rolling out worldwide, while the Discounts tab is coming to Trips app in English, French, Italian, Portuguese, German, and Spanish.

Source: Android Authority

Google no longer gives you results from another country when you change its domains

If you wanted to look for relevant search results from another country on Google, you just needed to change the country code top level domain (for example, google.co.uk for England). Now if you do that, the results you’ll get will still be based on your location, regardless which domain you use. Google made the switch claiming one out of five searches are usually related to a user’s current location and they wanted to give these users easier access to the things they want to know.

But if you want to look through another country’s domain for your results, you can do so by tapping on the Google.com link at the bottom right of your desktop browser or scroll down on your phone. It’s also accessible through Settings and going to “Search settings” option to pick your new location. This change, though, won’t affect how they handle legal requirements for different national laws. So, for example, if a certain result is hidden in your country because of laws like EU’s “right to be forgotten,” then these would stay hidden.

Source: Android Police

Google Feed comes to Android phones around the globe

Your Google search app is bringing you the news you want to see with Google Feed now making its way around the world. First launched in the US in July, the feature brings you news related to your search history and other online activity. It is available first on Android devices and will later come to iOS, desktop, and Google’s mobile search site. To use the feature you just need to head to your search app. You’ll see the news cards containing the stories there as well as sports- and music-related updates, travel information, recipes, and the like. You can tweak this to suit your changing preferences by tapping on the three dots in the upper right corner to hide a particular story or customize the feed itself. Google promises it filters out misleading and fake news, making sure you get fact-checked stories and those that come from different perspectives, even if you’re seeing stories related to your interests.

Source: Mashable