by admin | May 25, 2021 | Branding, Business, Investing, Markets, Networking, Online Marketing, SMEs, Technology
San Francisco : Google has partnered Chinese technology company Lenovo to manufacture a new category of devices called “Smart Displays” which are interactive screens for smart home devices with Google Assistant.
“With the Google Assistant built in, the Lenovo Smart Display brings you the best of Google services, including Maps, YouTube, Calendar, Duo and Photos, in a visual and helpful way,” Chris Turkstra, Product Management Director, Google Assistant wrote in a blog post on Thursday.
With the interactive touch-and-voice combination, “Smart Display” would enable users to multitask and control their smart home devices with simple voice commands and touch gestures.
With “Smart Display,” Google is also offering three free months of YouTube Premium service for new subscribers.
“Your Assistant can even help you prepare a great meal on ‘Smart Displays’ with step-by-step hands-free guidance on screen. Of course, you can set timers and play music while you cook,” Turkstra added.
The “Lenovo Smart Display” is first being made available in the US in two display sizes– the 8-inch HD version for $199.99 and the 10-inch Full-HD version for $249.99.
“We’ll expand the Smart Display options with other partners, including JBL and LG. While there are over 1 million actions already available for the Assistant, we’re excited to see what developers will design for ‘Smart Displays’ too,” said Turkstra.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Markets, Technology
By Sourabh Kulesh,
New Delhi : “OK Google, wake me up at 8 a.m. and book an appointment with the hair stylist at 10 a.m.,” went the instruction to Google Home — the voice-activated speaker powered by Google Assistant.
“Sure, your alarm is set for 8 a.m. and the appointment has been fixed for 10 a.m.,” came the instant reply from Google Assistant — the new lady in my home who, according to senior company executives, has received over 4.5 lakh marriage proposals from India.
Following the launch of “Amazon Echo” smart speaker in India last year, Google has now brought its “Home” speaker range to the country.
Google Home and Home Mini speakers — priced at Rs 9,999 and Rs 4,499, respectively — can help people with their commute, play their favourite songs and videos, plan their daily schedule and lots more.
Let’s see how Google Home fares in the Indian context.
The speaker is capable of understanding the thick Indian accent thanks to two microphones on either side of the LED lights that light up when the device recognises the opening “OK Google” voice command.
The two microphones utilise the neural beam forming technique to enable accurate voice recognition.
The curves of the device resemble a wine glass. The lower part holds the speakers and the upper part is the main body with the touch-sensitive top.
When the volume is increased or decreased, the device responds with the shimmering ivory-coloured light ring.
Google has trained the Assistant in English and has promised Hindi support later this year.
“Play ‘Firestone’ by KYGO,” went another voice command and lo! the device checked the Google Play music subscription — the company is giving six-month free Google Play music subscription when you buy the device — and instantly played the song.
The device also works with music streaming platforms like Saavn and Gaana. The music output was good for a medium-sized room.
“OK, Google, play Arijit Singh songs.” She returned with the hit number “Enna sona kyun rab ne banaya”.
If you want to chat or listen to her in an another room, pair another Home device or a Bluetooth speaker with Chromecast support. Another option is to attach a Chromecast Audio device to a speaker.
Google Assistant told us the correct score of Delhi Daredevils while it chased the Mumbai Indians’ total in one of the IPL matches.
However, to a question on happenings in Syria, she played a 30-second news bulletin from BBC News.
Google has simulated hundreds of thousands of noisy environments and applied Machine Learning (ML) to recognise patterns that allow it to filter and separate speech from noise.
Google Assistant understands several languages and can translates sentences into Spanish, French and more.
Not only multimedia, Google Home can also control smart devices such as connected Internet of Things (IoT) device “Philips Hue” in your drawing room.
We set up Google Home to control a light bulb which was connected via “Philips Hue”. We asked the device to dim, turn off and turn on the light and got the desired results.
What didn’t work?
While playing music, Google Home at times did not receive the command in one go. We had to raise our voice twice or sometimes thrice to get the command through the noisy environment.
One important takeaway: Never keep your Google Assistant-enabled smartphone near Home device as the voice command does wake up Assistant in the smartphone too and could ruin the whole experience.
Conclusion: At this price point, Google Home is a good choice as it saves time while performing some key daily tasks for you. It is not the replacement of your better half yet, but does help you with daily chores. Take it home.
(Sourabh Kulesh can be contacted at sourabh.k@ians.in)
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Markets, Social Media, Technology
New Delhi : Google on Thursday rolled out Hindi support for its virtual assistant Google. The Assistant in Hindi will be available on Android phones 6.0+ (Marshmallow and above) and will soon come to Android 5.0 Lollipop, iPhones as well as Android Oreo (Go edition) devices.
Google Assistant is already available in Hindi in the instant-messaging platform Allo and in a special version on Reliance Jio feature phones.
“In order to make it even more useful to Indians over time, developers and businesses can now build Actions for the Hindi Assistant through the developer platform Actions on Google,” said Purvi Shah, Technical Programme Manager, Assistant.
“Once an action is built, you can just say “Ok Google, talk to” and access the service or content straight through your Google Assistant,” she added.
To try it out, just touch and hold the Home button or say “Ok Google” on eligible smartphones and your personal Google Assistant will be ready to help.
To access the Hindi Google Assistant, set your device language to Hindi and update your Google Search app to the latest version.
Google Assistant will be available in more than 30 languages by the end of this year.
“The Assistant is already available in eight languages, and by the end of the year it will be available in more than 30 languages, reaching 95 per cent of all eligible Android phones worldwide,” Nick Fox, Vice President of Product, Google wrote in a recent blog post.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Branding, Corporate, Corporate Buzz, Marketing Basics, Markets, Networking, Technology
Bengaluru : HDFC Bank’s Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based chatbot ‘Eva’ will now work with Google Assistant on millions of Android devices, the company announced on Wednesday.
‘Eva’ — built for HDFC Bank by Bengaluru-based Senseforth AI Research — claims to have answered more than five million user queries with more than 85 per cent accuracy.
“The Google Assistant rollout will make the bank’s services accessible to even more customers right on their phones,” Nitin Chugh, Country Head – Digital Banking, HDFC Bank, said in a statement.
Users can just say “Ok Google, talk to HDFC Bank” to their Google Assistant to interact with ‘Eva’.
“Our AI-driven chatbots with text messaging and voice interactions will help bring millions of non tech-savvy customers into the fold of digital economy,” added Ritesh Radhakrishnan , CTO and co-Founder, Senseforth.
‘Eva’ currently handles over 50,000 semantic variations for thousands of banking related intents, tracks and analyses everyday customer issues and gains a deeper understanding of their behaviour patterns
“We’re excited that HDFC’s aEva’ chatbot now works with the Google Assistant, where millions will now have access to banking-related information,” said Monisha Varadan, Strategic Partner Development Manager, Google.
—IANS