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Google has introduced new U.S. English voices for Assistant Actions, Female 3 and Male 3. The company suggests that developers use these voices as they are the highest quality options it has offered for the dialect to date.
Google Assistant will soon remember where you left a video or podcast across your speakers and displays
Actions developers, get ready to move up from DialogFlow
With Google I/O falling victim to a global pandemic this year, a whole round of developments on Google Assistant has gone unannounced. But the company has made up for that opportunity with a presentation at the Voice Global 2020 virtual summit, revealing new tools for developers and new expectations for consumers when they interact with smart displays and speakers going forward.
When it comes to privacy, smart speakers tread on a fine line between serving commands or playing content and listening in on everything you're doing. However, engineers at Security Research Labs have been able to cross that line using a series of building blocks that comprise Amazon Alexa's Skills as well as Google Assistant's Actions, making us aware of the ways some malevolent developers can capture our data.
The first beta of Android Q rolled out over a month ago, and although we've spent hours dissecting every feature it brings, from the bigger ones to the absolute smallest, there are still some surprises that we haven't discussed in detail yet. The most interesting — also the most hidden and difficult to reproduce — are some mysterious actions that surface for a few users in specific places, only to disappear and never be seen again. They are a sign of things to come though, even if they're not fully reproducible just yet.
Google has allowed developers to sell physical items from Assistant in the past, but now it's expanding that to digital goods and services. That means developers can sell things like subscriptions or in-game content via custom Actions without ever bouncing you out of Assistant. There are also improvements coming to Google sign-ins to make this process easier. And guess what? It's US-only to start. Shocking, I know.
Google Assistant has added a "Your Actions" shortcut at the bottom of the Explore tab that, when pressed, shows a handful of actions you have linked, with the option to view a full list. This is the first centralized location for this information; previously, it was hard to tell which services you'd linked to Assistant and which you hadn't.
Google's cute little AI camera, Clips, was made to take pictures at opportune times without human oversight. Previously, it was restricted to triggering at things like faces and poses. Now, though, Google has updated the device to recognize a few new scenarios you may want clips of, as well as pair with more than one phone to more easily share those clips with multiple people.
Google has been pushing out new updates to its self-named app with unusual vigor over the last few weeks. Despite an aggressive release schedule, there are still quite a few additions and clues about future changes. The latest update actually brings some visible changes if you look into Actions on Assistant; but more importantly, there are a handful of clues about future enhancements to Actions, the home screen widget, and more.
A beta update to the Google app has been making the rounds. As usual, there's not much new to see after installing this release, but many changes are awaiting Google to flip a switch before going live. Also following the usual pattern, there's a teardown of the APK that provides plenty of hints about what's to come. Version 7.24 reveals plans for a floating bubble with current sports scores that remains visible on top of other apps, an effect for the Google search box, a mysterious new project called Valyrian, assorted follow-ups for the Pixel Buds, home automation, and more.
Wouldn't it be great if upon waking up you could say "Ok Google, good morning" to have your lights and coffee machine turned on while the news is read to you? Similarly, when you go to bed, it would be great if you could say "goodnight" to have your lights dimmed and your security system activated. Well, soon™ you'll be able to, thanks to new multi-step actions that can be added to everyday 'routines.'
Tasker is one of the most popular apps out there for modders and tinkerers, and it recently got a big makeover. The version 5 update included a major visual overhaul, bringing it in line with the material design we see in most modern Android apps. If you've been looking to try Tasker out but have been put off by the price tag, now's the time to give it a go. It's down to 99 cents on the Play Store (89 pence in the UK), which is frankly a steal for such a feature-rich app.
Google added the handy "bell" icon to the YouTube app's channel screens last summer to make signing up for "new upload" notifications quick and painless. But until now, users could only watch the video immediately, or take a shortcut to settings to disable the notification.
We've recently seen plenty of rumors related to Google's future plans for its Search app, from automatically remembering where you parked to reminding you of things when you're with another person, to reminding you to pay bills, down to something as simple as setting a proper timer. Clearly, Google's got plenty of plans for what will happen inside Search. But today, we've got something a little different - this time, it relates to how Google's voice assistant will break out of Search, entering other Google apps to help you do more with your voice and perform more actions with Search in general. The hope is that eventually, these modular actions will apply to third-party apps as well, but that will depend on Google's willingness to open up the relevant APIs.
Jelly Bean Feature Closer Look: Expandable, Interactive, All-Around Enhanced Notifications
"Android has always put you in control when it comes to staying notified and connected. Now you can take action directly from the notifications
"Android has always put you in control when it comes to staying notified and connected. Now you can take action directly from the notifications shade," says Android's updated "What's New" page. Indeed, today's Jelly Bean announcement saw a number of improvements to the already handy notification system we've come to know and love in previous iterations of Android. Not only can the new notifications system display larger, richer notifications, developers can create actionable notification with interactive controls for telephony, music, and more.