Google also announced Allo – a new messaging app that also comes complete with the Google assistant, so you can interact with it directly in your chats, either one-on-one or with friends.
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As part of an onslaught of upcoming products, Google will implant a more personable form of artificial intelligence into an Internet-connected device called Home, which echoes the Echo, Amazon.com’s trendy smart-home speaker.
Over the past couple of months, and especially over the last week, there have been rumors that Google was working on a true Android-powered Virtual Reality platform and a standalone headset. Manufacturers including Samsung, HTC and Huawei will have smartphones capable of handling it this fall, according to Google. Once you answer, Duo seamlessly transitions you right into the call.
Best of all, both Allo and Duo are based on your phone number, so you can communicate with anyone regardless of whether they’re on Android or iOS.
You simply call out “OK”.
Google is building on advances in machine learning and artificial intelligence to transform established services such as online search into two-way conversations in which users can chat easily with software that understands what they want. Google’s app has a feature called Knock Knock, which shows you a live video feed of the person calling before you pickup. “It’s a Google for you, by you”, Pichai wrote in a blog post.
A versatile, ambient experience that extends across various devices in your life is how Google thinks of the assistant. On Google Home, the assistant will help you find the music you want to listen to or the temperature you want your home to be.
Allo’s other features include the ability to doodle over photos like you can on Snapchat.
“Amazon, Facebook, Apple, and others are all heading towards the virtual agent”, Forrester Research analyst Julie A. Ask told The New York Times.
Although Google has already revealed what we can expect from the next version of Android, there’s one crucial piece of information missing: its name.
The tech giant has unveiled its competitor to Apple and the Amazon Echo at its I/O developer conference in California.
Besides VR support, the Android N update for phones and tablets will get under-the-hood performance boosts for things like graphics.
Google’s smartwatches will get the smart replies featured in Allo. It also turns off the lights, hails Uber rides and keeps adding new tasks as programmers build more apps for it.
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Among the improvements, Android Wear 2.0 will detect when you’re starting to exercise and automatically fire up an app such as Strava. For instance, an app that tracks meals consumed could sync with an exercise app to see if you’re burning enough calories.
