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The new, more intelligent software also focuses on understanding context to answer queries and has been built into the existing Google software that appears on modern smartphones. It will launch in autumn this year.
Elsewhere at the conference, Google unveiled improvements to its Android mobile-operating system, including a feature that allows users to get the speed and features of apps without having to download the apps themselves. A similar headset, the Gear VR, made by Samsung and powered by Facebook’s Oculus subsidiary, costs $100.
But the Google Assistant integration is the real selling point of Allo.
It has full Google Voice search, which can tell you how the traffic is or how many calories are in an avocado.
There’s also an in-app assistant that users can chat to.
That feature, called Instant Apps, might have been the biggest breakthrough that Google announced Wednesday at its annual developers conference held in an amphitheater located a few blocks from its Mountain View, California, headquarters.
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. “Duo calls are in crisp HD video (up to 720p) and audio”, Google said. Like Allo, Duo will offer end-to-end encryption, Kay said.
For Google Home, the Google Assistant merges with Chromecast and smart home devices to control televisions, thermostats and other products.
Not an Echo killer, but not a clone either But even with these unknowns, it’s clear that Home is a pretty bold bet for Google – one that has the potential to tie all the company has been doing in the home together, while also adding all the smarts Google has already been providing on your phone.
Notably, Amazon has sold more than a million “Echo” devices at a price of $180, and each of the voice-based assistants makes the owner go for Amazon products and services the next time.
On top are a series of microphones to pick up your voice requests, based on this Google Home can play music, provide information based on requests and act as hub to control numerous other devices around your home. The product is expected to launch before the end of the year. Google did not say how much the device will cost, but it did reveal plans to release it later this year. It will be possible to quickly reply to messages from their notifications, and it will have a VR mode under the Daydream project.
New updates also include Vulkan graphics API, which lets developers “squeeze in more effects per frame while still maintaining a high frame rate”, Dave Burke, vice president of engineering at Android, said.
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Google also unveiled a smartphone messaging application infused with artificial intelligence as it moves to stay in tune with busy mobile Internet lifestyles. The platform will only work on new phones with special sensors and screens.
