Google announced today that Google Assistant will start rolling out to devices running Android 6.0 (Marshmallow) and 7.0 (Nougat) later this week. Previously, the Assistant was only available on Google’s Pixel phones, Home personal assistant, Allo messaging app and Android wear devices.
Google is at the forefront of machine and deep-learning based natural language processing which they have used to power their vaunted speech recognition system. Google Assistant leverages this research to enable two-way, context-sensitive, conversational interactions between the user and the device.
The Assistant syncs across devices and apps like Allo and Google Calendar and it allows voice-control of enabled smart-home devices. On mobile devices the Assistant can be launched by saying “OK Google” or with a long press of the Home button.
The timing of Google’s announcement is a bit curious. LG officially announced their new LG G6 at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona today. Buzz preceding the official unveiling has trumpeted the LG G6 as the first non-Pixel phone to have the Assistant. LG didn’t announce a release date but they’re going to have to get it out fast if they still want to be first because Google announced that
The Google Assistant will begin rolling out this week to English users in the U.S., followed by English in Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom, as well as German speakers in Germany. We’ll continue to add more languages over the coming year.
Google also said that visitors to the Android Global Village in Barcelona this week can try out the Assistant on phones from HTC, Huawei, Samsung and Sony.
Kevin Murnane covers science, technology and video games for Forbes. You can find more of his writing at The Info Monkey and Tuned In To Cycling. Follow on Twitter@TheInfoMonkey.
