Starting today (January 9), the Assistant can help you navigate Google Maps for Android and iOS. With just your voice, you'll be able to share your ETA with friends and family, reply to text messages, play music and podcasts, search for places along your route, add a new stop and auto-punctuate your message. The announcement was made at the ongoing consumer electronics show happening in Las Vegas.
'On Android, the Assistant works with messaging services from the following providers: SMS, WhatsApp, Messenger, Hangouts, Viber, Telegram, Android Messages and more. And when you’re driving, the Assistant automatically calculates your ETA from Google Maps if you want to send your arrival time to friends,' Google said in a blog post.
Just say 'Hey Google, take me home,' to open Google Maps and get help from your Assistant on your journey.
Google at CES 2019 also revealed a preview of Google Assistant Connect, a platform for device manufacturers to bring the Google Assistant into their products in an affordable and easy-to-implement way. Connect uses our existing smart home platform to expand to new device types while making device setup and discovery simple for people.
With Assistant Connect, developers can create more opportunities to bring different types of smart devices to the market. For example, a partner could create a simple and inexpensive e-ink display that continually projects the weather or your calendar, while using Assistant Connect to deliver content from your linked smart speaker.
Google will share more about the Assistant Connect and how device makers can gain access to the technology later this year.
The company in collaboration with Lenovo unveiled a new Smart Clock. With its 4-inch touchscreen, you can see alarm suggestions based on your daily routines, gently wake up with auto-adjusting screen brightness and animations and control your smart home devices. The Lenovo Smart Clock will be available later this year for $79. India availability is not yet confirmed.
'Later this year, the Assistant will work with even more popular media and entertainment devices, including TVs from Samsung. Our partners launching and showcasing Android TV devices with the Google Assistant include Sony, Hisense, Philips, TCL, Skyworth, Xiaomi, Haier, Changhong and JVC,' added Google.
Soon, users will be able to check in to their flight (starting first with domestic flights with United Airlines), save and retrieve your boarding pass, all with the Google Assistant on Android or iOS. Just say, 'Hey Google, check in to my flight' – there’s no need to remember your confirmation number. The Assistant will also proactively notify you when your flight is ready for check-in.
The check-in feature will be rolled with more airlines to more countries soon.
