Everything Google Announced At CES 2020 For Google Assistant

Much like the previous CES event, this year, Google announced a slew of new updates for Google Assistant.

Google seems to have slimmed down its appearance at CES 2020 but compared to that of other company, its presentation was still pretty big. Last year, the tech giant went as far as building a whole amusement park but this year, the scale is limited to a 2-story booth everyone must past if they wish to enter the Las Vegas Convention Center.

Like in 2019, Google spends most of its effort promoting Google Assistant, its virtual AI-powered helper. So here is everything new about it:

Webpage Reading

Folks who want to read an article but afraid of being distracted by the webpage’s social sharing buttons or complex navigation now have a new solution for that. With a simple command “Hey Google, read this page,” Google Assistant will make use of its neural network to give you a realistic-feeling reading with the relevant texts only. And it goes without saying that the webpage reading feature is for users of Android only.

Google said that it plans to add highlight and auto-scroll function too but we may have to wait a little longer for those.

Scheduled Actions

Google finally adds a long-awaited feature called scheduled actions for Google Assistant. What it does is to allow users to command an action to happen later at a time they want. For example, what they can do now includes “Hey Google, turn off the light at 10 PM.” This sounds like something the virtual helper has to be able to do a long time ago but we have no idea what kept Google from adding it.

Sticky Notes

Those who want to send a message to everyone as soon as they walk in the door might want to write it on a Post-it and pin the note where it is the most visible. That same idea fuels Google’s latest addition, which allows users to leave a note on the lock screen of the smart display.

Speed Dial

The Sticky Notes’ addition is meant to do the job of the Post-it on the front door, the new speed dial function will do the job of the list of emergency numbers you leave somewhere in the house for the kids or the maids.

The list is now on smart displays and users can call any number featured in it by giving a voice command or tapping.

More Businesses Using Interpreter Mode

The interpreter mode was introduced last year also at the CES event. It allows two people to converse even when they speak two different languages. According to Google, more businesses have shown their commitment to make use of the feature this year, including HSBC banks, American Airlines, and several hotels in Qatar, Japan, Sans Francisco, Vegas, and Los Angeles.

Erasing What Google Assistant Heard By Accident

Theoretically, Google is not supposed to listen or record anything without you saying “Hey Google…” but it does not always work like that. Sometimes something on TV or in your conversation might catch Google Assistant’s attention and you only realize that the helper has been listening when it said: “Sorry, I can’t help with that.”

To help you when these incidents happen, now you can say “Hey Google, that wasn’t for you” to have it erased the last thing it heard you say.

All of these upgrades are meant to make Google Assistant a more useful helper around the house. However, we have no idea when they are going to be rolled out. Google only said a vague timeline of “later this year.”