CES 2020 officially kicked off this morning and Google has once again announced a bunch of new Google Assistant features. For the past couple of years, Google has used CES to show off the latest in Assistant technologies and they didn’t hold back this year.
There’s a lot to take in, so we’ve broken it down in the easiest consumable way, via bullets. Here’s what is coming to the Google Assistant related products over the next year:
- Faster setup of smart devices: If you are setting up a smart device through a manufacturer’s app, you may see a notification or “suggestion button” to finish setting up within Google Home and the Assistant. That process will help you easily complete setup without needing to re-enter account credentials.
- Scheduled Actions: Want to set your coffee maker to run at 6AM? Later this year, you’ll be able to say, “Hey Google, run the coffee maker at 6AM,” and it’ll do that. The feature is called Scheduled Actions.
- More appliances get support: Google said this morning that more than 20 new devices will become a part of Google Home this year, including AC units, air purifiers, bathtubs (lol), coffee makers, vacuums, and more.
- Smart Display sticky notes: Soon, you’ll be able to say to you smart display, “Hey Google, leave a note that says I already fed the dog” or something similar. Your smart display will then show a digital sticky note that everyone in your home can see. This will arrive “later this year.”
- Speed dial contacts on smart displays: Use your smart display to place frequent calls? Google is adding a feature “later this year” that will let you add speed dial contacts. That way, you can quickly call your brother by voice or by tapping on his contact on a smart display.
- Long-form readouts by Assistant: Google is planning to use the Assistant to read long articles or web pages to you with a command of “Hey Google, read this page.” They should be able to do this in 42 languages, plus it may eventually be able to auto-scroll as it reads and highlight text to show you where the Assistant is currently reading.
- Easily delete Assistant history: Google has continued to make it easier for you to delete your Assistant history, which means you can now use commands like “Hey Google, delete everything I said to you this week.” Google today is also acknowledging the command we pointed out a few weeks ago that lets you say “Hey Google that wasn’t for you,” to delete something Google may have mistakenly heard you say.
- Far-field Android TV support: Android TVs (starting with Hisense and TCL) are getting far-field mic support, so you’ll soon be able to talk to the Assistant through your TV like you would a smart speaker.
- Assistant coming to Samsung TVs: The Google Assistant is coming to Samsung’s new voice-enabled Smart TVs that are launching in 2020. That’s big!
See, Google had a lot to announce today for the Google Assistant. Which one will you use the most?
This post was last modified on January 7, 2020 10:01 am