Heena Sharma Blog

  Google Assistant is now available on new Samsung smart TVs in the US and would roll out to more countries soon. According to Google, the Assistant will be available on Samsung 2020 smart TV models, including the 2020 8K and 4K QLED models, the 2020 Crystal UHD TVs, 2020 Frame and Serif sets, and 2020 Sero and Terrace models. On Samsung TVs, the users can press down on the remote control's mic button and can use the voice to ask Google to change channels, adjust the volume, control playback, open apps and all sorts of other things. The new Lenovo Smart Clock Essential with Google Assistant is also available at major retailers in the US like Best Buy and Walmart. Read More

  American technology giant Google’s Pixel 4a smartphone and Nest Audio smart speaker are coming to India on October 16. Both the devices will be available on Flipkart as Big Billion Days sale specials. Priced at Rs 31,999, the Pixel 4a will be available at an introductory price of Rs 29,999. The Nest Audio smart speaker will be available at special launch price of Rs 6,999 (MRP Rs 7,999). While the Pixel 4a is a Flipkart-exclusive, the Nest Audio will also be available soon at Reliance Retail and Tata Cliq store. Google Pixel 4a: Specifications and features The Google Pixel 4a sports a 5.81-inch OLED screen of fullHD+ resolution, stretched in a 19.5:9 aspect ratio. The screen has circular cut-out area on the top left side, accommodating its front camera. The display supports HDR and boasts Always-on feature. Powering the smartphone is Qualcomm Snapdragon 730G system-on-chip, paired with 6GB RAM and 128GB internal storage. The phone ships with Android 10 operating system, and ...

  Google has extended Assistant voice commands to Android apps and the users can now open and search their favourite apps with 'Hey Google wake word and make everyday tasks within an app much easier. Opening and searching within Android apps using "Hey Google" is now available to all Assistant-enabled Android phones. "Starting today, you can try doing more using your voice with more than 30 of the top apps on Google Play available in English globally, with more apps coming," Google said in a statement on Thursday. Google recently released Android 11, the latest version of the operating system. It has now made six new Google features for Android available even on older versions. With Google's Phone app, your Android device will stop spam callers for good and it'll tell you who's calling and why. Read More

  Xiaomi’s run for value-for-money products continues as the Chinese technology company forays into categories other than smartphones. After a successful showing in the smart television and smart fitness wearables space in India, the company has now entered the smart speaker segment with the launch of Mi Smart Speaker. The Mi Smart Speaker is a Google Assistant-powered device, with built-in Chromecast for easy content streaming. Besides being a smart speaker, it lets you manage and operate supported internet-of-things (IoT) products through voice commands. Priced at Rs 3,999, the Mi Smart Speaker is an entry-level voice-enabled speaker that promises audio quality better than Google’s and Amazon’s budget smart speakers. But does it live up to its name and promise? Let’s find out: The Mi Smart Speaker is a lot bigger and heavier than its palm-sized peers from Amazon and Google. Its big stature, however, gives it space to accommodate a 2.5-inch audio driver, which is the biggest...

  Google is hosting an event tonight where the American technology giant is likely to launch Pixel smartphones , Chromecast dongle, and a Nest smart speaker. Named 'Launch Night In’, the event will start at 11:30 pm (IST) and it will livestream on YouTube and an event’s homepage here. Pixel 4a 5G and Pixel 5 Google announced the Pixel 4a 5G and Pixel 5 in August at the launch of Pixel 4a. The company, however, leave the specifications and features information of the two smartphones undisclosed for the launch event, which is likely to be the tonight’s event. The Pixel 4a 5G is expected to be similar to the Pixel 4a but with 5G network support. If similar to the Pixel 4a, the 5G model will sport a 5.81-inch OLED screen of fullHD+ resolution. The display will supports HDR and Always-on feature. The phone would feature advanced Google Assistant, which will let you send text messages and allow controlling apps through voice commands. It will also get Google Recorder app, which su...

  To ensure productivity along with enough self-care in between, Google has introduced a new Workday routine that makes Google Assistant help you stretch, walk and drink water as you work from home. Available in English, the new workday routine automatically reminds you of all the small and big things to do throughout your work day - from staying on top of your calendar to taking a break away from the desk. After you enable the routine in the Assistant settings on your Android or iOS device, you can start with a pre-set routine. For example, at 2 p.m., Google Assistant might suggest going for a walk, and then to grab a glass of water at 3 p.m. "At 4:45 p.m., you'll be reminded to start wrapping things up. Assistant will also regularly share the time with you throughout the day, so that you don't lose track of upcoming meetings," said Alice Liang, Product Manager at Google. Read More

Google on Friday launched a feature on Google Search, Assistant, and Maps to help users find information related to Covid-19 testing centers near them in India. The technology giant is working with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the government's crowdsourcing platform MyGov to provide users with information on authorised testing labs. The new feature is available in English and eight other languages in India -- Hindi, Bengali, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, Marathi, and Gujarati. Finding reliable information regarding testing centres has been a big issue pointed out by people who want to get tested for Covid-19. Read More

Lenovo today launched Google Assistant-enabled Smart Clock and Lenovo Smart Display, marking its debut in smart home product portfolio in India. The Smart Clock starts from Rs 5,999 while Smart Display starts at Rs 14,999. Both the devices will go on sale from early September 2019. The announcement came after Google's Nest Hub smart display speaker was launched in India for Rs 9,999. Lenovo Smart Clock comes with the 4-inch IPS touch screen and can be used to control the smart home and listen to music. The Smart Display can be also be used for video calling using Google Duo among other features. Lenovo Smart Clock Precied at Rs 5, 999, Lenovo’s Smart Clock comes with voice and touch control on a 4 inch IPS screen, and can be used to set alarms, set calendar entries, dim the lights, weather information, music, audiobooks, podcasts and radio. The smart clock also works with Google Chromecast. Read More Article Source -> Business Standard

Google is rolling out a major Chrome OS update for the month of August that includes new features like improved media playback, an updated camera app for the Pixelbook, and more. For media controls, one can now open system menu and see all the tabs or apps on Chromebook that are playing audio tracks and control them from one place, wrote Google in a blog-post on Thursday. Google has also included an updated camera app for the Pixelbook and select Chromebook machines. Additionally, Google has updated the Camera app UI for navigating between new modes, like square mode and portrait mode. A "Clear all" button has also arrived for notifications. With this, one can now check and clear notifications from Play Store apps on Chromebook and dismiss notifications with the "Clear all" button. Read More Article Source -> Business Standard

On a recent afternoon at the Lao Thai Kitchen restaurant, the telephone rang and the caller ID read “ Google Assistant .” Jimmy Tran, a waiter, answered the phone. The caller was a man with an Irish accent hoping to book a dinner reservation for two on the weekend. This was no ordinary booking. It came through Google Duplex, a free service that uses artificial intelligence to call restaurants and — mimicking a human voice — speak on our behalf to book a table. The feature, which had a limited release about a year ago, recently became available to a larger number of Android devices and iPhones. The voice of the Irish man sounded eerily human. When asked whether he was a robot, the caller immediately replied, “No, I’m not a robot,” and laughed. “ It sounded very real,” Tran said in an interview after hanging up the call with Google. “It was perfectly human.” Google later confirmed, to our disappointment, that the caller had been telling the truth: He was a person working in a ...

At its annual developer conference Google I/O, the company said these six options, which feature both male and female voices, would be rolled out later this year. Technology News  :  Making the competition in  Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered assistants space tougher, Google on Tuesday announced that people will soon have a choice of choosing from six voices, including one of musician John Legend, to talk to “Google Assistant”.At its annual developer conference Google I/O, the company said these six options, which feature both male and female voices, would be rolled out later this year.Company CEO Sundar Pichai said that Google has been working on newer and more life-like version of its spoken AI that features a natural voice that is “closer to how humans speak.” The improvements include more natural pauses “that have meaning” and other subtleties to help create a “more natural dialogue” with Assistant. This new version of the Assistant is built on a tech ...