Items tagged with google assistant
We’ve been hearing talks about a Google-branded, display-equipped smart home device powered by the Google Assistant for several months. The rumors really started heating up once companies like Lenovo released its own Smart Display Google Assistant-based device (read the HotHardware review here). Now, we’re getting a look at what are allegedly the first images of Google’s upcoming product courtesy of MySmartPrice. The device is called the Google Home Hub and features a 7-inch touch screen. As far as appearances are concerned, it looks a Google Home...
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We all know someone who uses their smartphone a little too often, whether it's a relentless barrage of selfies sent through Snapchat or an inability to log off social media in general. To combat this, Google introduced its Digital Wellbeing initiative at its most recent I/O event. It mostly consists of providing tools for users to monitor how much time they spend on their phones and watching YouTube videos, and some of the features are headed to Google Home and the Google Assistant. "We’re dedicated to building technology that is truly helpful for everyone. We’re creating tools and...
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The Lenovo Smart display is the first in an assault of Google Assistant-enabled devices set to hit the market this year. They will take on Amazon's Echo Show in a battle for smart home assistant technology, with not only a set of ears, but also a set of eyes and a display face to complete the experience. Priced at $249.99 for a 10-inch version and $199.99 for an 8-inch variant, with identical hardware specs except for the display, these are a new breed of smart home devices that have the potential to give Google and its OEM partners a leg-up on Amazon. Since they're part of the "Android...
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Way back in January at the Consumer Electronics Show, Lenovo announced its Smart Display family. The Smart Displays take the concept of the Google Home or Google Home Mini and add a touch screen into the mix. Lenovo and Google announced today that the Smart Display will be available in U.S. retail locations and online stores starting this weekend. The Lenovo Smart Display is available in two screen sizes: 8-inches or 10-inches with HD resolutions. Looking at the devices, you wouldn't be out of line to say that it's a Google Assistant-backed alternative to the Amazon Echo Show. Given...
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New research into the effectiveness and accuracy of Amazon's Echo and Google's Home smart speakers powered by Alexa and Google Now, respectively, shows that the digital assistants have some difficulty understanding and responding to users with accents. This includes regional dialects, but especially people who speak English as a second language. The disparity was brought up by The Washington Post, which shared an anecdote involving a Vancouver resident who was raised in Columbia and has a light Spanish accent. When she would ask Alexa to perform menial tasks, the digital assistant would trip over...
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DISH has become the very first major pay-tv company to offer users compatibility with Google Assistant. The compatibility launches today for the Hopper, Hopper Duo, Joey, and Wally set-top boxes. The cool part about this compatibility is that you don’t need to go out and buy additional hardware. While Google Home devices are supported, so are most Android phones and iPhones with the Google Assistant app installed. "Since we first introduced voice control technology, we've seen our customers really embrace the hands-free TV experience," said Niraj Desai, DISH vice president of product...
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Do you want to have a more natural conversation with your AI voice assistant? If saying wake words like "OK, Google" over and over again seem to robotic and stilted for you, Google is pushing out an update that it first announced at Google I/O called Continued Conversation. Continued Conversation will all you to invoke "OK, Google" or "Hey, Google" just once by voice, and then you'll be able to ask repeated questions without having to break out the wake words again. For example, you could say "Hey, Google, how far is it from Richmond, Virginia to Asheville, North Carolina"; "What's the temperature...
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Xbox One Leaked Software Build Hints At Cortana, Amazon Alexa And Google Assistant Voice Integration
Virtual assistants like Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant have been growing in popularity in recent years as more and more devices gain support for the assistants. This growth is coming despite some significant privacy issues with Alexa recently, notably when the Amazon Alexa device recorded a private conversation and sent it to a random contact on the device. Amazon came back with a convoluted answer as to how that breach of privacy happened and vowed to make it so this couldn't happen again. The image below shows a screenshot claimed to be of a coming Xbox One build that offers users the ability...
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It looks as though Google is turning the corner with regards to its positioning in the growing AI smart speaker market. Ever since Google Home was first introduced in late 2016, it has played second fiddle to the dominant Amazon Echo family (which originally launched in late 2014). However, new sales numbers coming in this week from Canalys claim that Google Home sales have surpassed the Amazon Echo for the first time. Canalys' numbers are for Q1 2018, during which Google reportedly shipped 3.2 million Google Home devices. Amazon, on the other hand, sold 2.5 million Echo devices during the same...
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Xiaomi is on the verge of launching its initial public offering (IPO), and the company is also looking to extend its reach into the U.S. market. No, we’re not talking about Xiaomi’s smartphones, which are incredibly popular in its home market of China, but smart home products. At Google I/O 2018, Xiaomi announced that it will introduce a family of smart home devices that will integrate fully with the Google Assistant. The Mi LED Smart Bulb plugs into to a standard light socket and can be configured to output nearly any color that you prefer (over 16 million colors are supported). With...
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For many people, digital assistants have become a party of daily life—you might have Siri set a reminder for an upcoming appointment on your iPhone, or tell Alexa to order more laundry detergent from Amazon. These AI (artificial intelligence) assistants are becoming more capable by the day as well. But can they be used for nefarious purposes? Perhaps so, and it could happen right under your nose—over the past couple of years, researchers have demonstrated that Apple's Siri, Amazon's Alexa, and Google's Assistant can each receive 'hidden' commands that are undetectable to the human ear....
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Due to the fact that we cover technology on a daily basis, we can see its gradual progression over time, which means that we don't often see such a huge leap in capabilities that simply leaves us slack-jawed. However, that jaw-dropping moment happened today at Google I/O. Google CEO Sundar Pichai was on stage talking about the advances that have been made with its Google Duplex AI system. Google Duplex is capable of carrying on natural, realistic conversations in a [limited] real world settings to help free you from more mundane tasks, such as booking an oil change for...
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Harman has announced that JBL and Google are working together to develop the JBL Link Bar. At a glance, the Link Bar looks just like any other soundbar you might sit on the entertainment center near the TV, but this sound bar has some other cool features that are firsts for the market. Google talked the device up ahead of the Google I/O developer conference in California this week. This is the first soundbar in the industry that is powered by Android TV and has Google Assistant integration. The big deal with this device is that it allows folks with a perfectly good TV or a home theater projector...
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Google has announced that it has added new features to Google Assistant on Wear OS that will make it more useful for smartwatch users. One of the new features is smart suggestions that allow users to choose from contextually relevant follow-up questions or responses to continue the conversation they start with Google Assistant. When users ask the assistant about the weather, they are shown the weather and can then tap on a suggestion to see the extended forecast for the weekend. Google Assistant can also allow users to hear the answers to their questions. An example is when a user is listening...
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