Now that Google has made its move, all eyes are on Microsoft and Apple to see whether they will do the same.
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The device is synced to a virtual assistant app called Google Assistant. A few developers covered the tops of their heads with Google t-shirts and bandanas. However, unlike Google Home, Echo can play games such as Jeopardy and is able to interact with questions and answers, which nearly feel conversational. The Allo app will be released this summer for iPhones and Android phones. Only the parts you need get sent to your phone on an as-needed basis.
You can then ask Google Home to dictate your upcoming calendar appointments, the fastest route to work, and reply to any unread emails or text messages. It does things for you, like Bing has been talking about when they first launched, “task completion”, but something that actually can work. This assistant makes use of artificial intelligence in order to get any answer possible for users and to control their devices.
For now, the Assistant will also power two new Google products – Home and messaging apps Allo & Duo. You can search, book reservations or play a game.
The technology behind this new interface is built from Google Now, but it is more superior when it comes to natural language. Sounds a lot like Google Assistant brought to life with the added ability to control connected devices in your home. It will be the voice and brains inside Google Home.
With this announcement, Google becomes the second entrant in the personal digital assistant device space after Amazon.
Google Home is a small, white, button-free speaker which will sit anywhere in your home, connecting to all your Google accounts as well as services like Google Maps. That is a direct challenge to what is already the market leader in Amazon Echo.
Daydream addresses latency and other issues affecting playback on smartphones, according to Clay Bavor, Google’s vice president of virtual reality. That’s perhaps the one truly new thing Google announced Wednesday. Facebook is also making a big push in virtual reality with its Oculus headset, and Apple has indicated its interest in VR technology as well. But, by the time it is available for the home Echo will have surely advanced more, and Google now could be forever playing catch-up!
When the user says “OK, Google”, Home warned the user their flight was delayed by 30 minutes.
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Looking at all these features, you’d have to say that the real advantage Google has over Amazon in this department is access to Google Now’s AI which has proven itself to be one of, if not, the best out there at the moment.
