latest
Google Assistant is about to get less useful this month. Google is sunsetting its Duplex on the Web service which allowed customers to book tickets or make reservations through a streamlined Assistant-led interface that automatically integrated personal information from the user's Google account.
Google Assistant can't handle all your online shopping for you, but it's testing taking over the checkout process
A new 'fast checkout' feature that fills in details for you is live for one convoluted method of accessing Hot Topic
Last year, Google said it was "piloting" a program to allow the Assistant's Duplex feature to handle shopping, and now a public test of that feature has been spotted. It isn't live for us in our own testing, but some folks are seeing a new "fast checkout" Assistant prompt for a specific and convoluted workflow when purchasing content from Hot Topic online, which automatically fills payment and address fields during the checkout process.
Chrome is automating the most annoying part of dealing with a password breach
With a big new "change password" button that takes care of the process for you
Chrome has already been warning you for a while if the passwords you store with it are unsafe or reused from a data breach. It's handy, but it's also tedious: When you get that message, you have to manually go to whatever random site and change your password yourself. Proving that security doesn't have to waste your time, Google is now rolling out a new feature that can change those broken passwords for you with just a few taps.
Google Assistant can now find your iPhone
Plus "new" Routine features and Duplex-powered takeout order billing autofill
Read update
Google has just announced four "new" features for the Google Assistant, including some new Routine functionality, the ability to pay for takeout orders via a little Duplex magic, and a feature for lost iPhones. As usual, some of these are new-new, others are things Google's been silently testing for a while and which many of our readers may have already been using for some time.