Although Google already has its own Siri-like AI app for Android called Google Now, which users activate with the phrase “OK, Google”, so far it has not seen anywhere near the popularity Siri has.
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In a research note he praised Google’s new Daydream virtual reality platform, but noted it’ll take time to become popular because the high bar for specifications means no devices can support it yet. It looked a lot like the latest version of Samsung’s Gear VR. Google released the Android N Developer Preview Beta today, a stable release that Google says is good enough for everyday devices.
Google is achieving huge gaming gains with the Vulkan engine and new just-in-time compiler. Android Instant Apps will let people consume app-based content (think Buzzfeed’s embedded videos) even when the Buzzfeed video app is not installed on their phone.
Google has revealed a new personal assistant for around the house that can control, run and organise your entire home using just your voice. You do not need to have all the features that an app can offer all the time, but there are times when you want to do more things or do them differently and this is where Android Instant Apps makes a big difference. So long as both the phone and the headset are Daydream-compatible, it’ll work.
The app maker needs to enable this feature, though.
Now Google is stepping up its VR game, too. Google has teamed up with a number of smartphone manufacturers, including Samsung, HTC and LG, to bring Daydream-ready phones to the masses. Google also said it has made a basic “reference design” for a virtual reality headset that will work with the Android operating system and shared that design with its partners.
In terms of its design, the Daydream controller looks nearly identical to the one that comes with the Oculus Rift – Facebook’s own virtual reality headset.
In a demonstration for some 7,000 attendees at its Google I/O conference in Mountain View, California, the Internet search giant showed how the controller could be used to flip digital pancakes, throw things, cast a virtual fishing line and fly a digital dragon.
The company is promising better graphic and battery performance. With more than 6,000 seats, the amphitheater could potentially accommodate a larger crowd than the San Francisco venue where Google held I/O in past years. Google plans to push Android Auto to carmakers and end users. It’s possible that this could pave the way for users to easily install Android apps on those platforms through the Chrome web browser.
Google-branded devices will get Android N first.
The success of the developer previews for phones and tablets has clearly not been lost on Google.
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A messaging app that incorporates Google’s new voice assistant?
