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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. ALSO READ:  Coronavirus LIVE: Certainly not in community transmission, says Govt While making a coronavirus-related search (eg. “ coronavirus  testing”) on Search and  Google  Assistant, users will now see a ‘Testing’ tab on the search results page providing a list of nearby testing labs along ...

Until now, you could tell Google Assistant to show you web results for a search term. Now, you can tell the digital assistant to even read out web articles from a browser. As part of the latest update, if you say, "Hey Google, read it" or "Hey Google, read this page," and it will read aloud the content of the web page. It will also scroll the page automatically and highlight words are they're being read to help you follow along, the official blog explains. You can choose the reading speed and voice. Google Assistant can also trigger the browser to read aloud in 42 languages.

US-based search engine giant Google has finally released the Android Auto for phone screens, what it promised back in May at I/O 2019. The app is now live in the Play Store, it is basically the same as the previous app but just adds an icon that is slightly different and it is only compatible with Android 10 on certain devices. "This app lets you use Android Auto on your phone screen with a phone running Android 10. If you have Android 10 and an Android Auto compatible car, you can project to your car display without downloading this app. Simply plug in your phone to get started," the company noted recently. "Android Auto is your smart driving companion that helps you stay focused, connected, and entertained with the Google Assistant. With a simplified interface, large buttons, and powerful voice actions, Android Auto is designed to make it easier to use apps that you love from your phone while you're on the road," the company added. Read Complete A...

US based search giant Google on Thursday announced a major update for Assistant users in India where one can now make Assistant talk in Hindi by just asking "Ok Google, Hindi bolo or "Talk to me in Hindi. Besides Hindi and English, users will also be able to find content in Marathi, Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, Bengali, Gujarati and Malayalam. The new update comes to the Google Assistant a day after Amazon announced that Alexa will support Hindi and Hinglish conversations. "For many Indians, voice is increasingly becoming their preferred way to search, and today Hindi has become the second-most used Assistant language globally -- after English," Manuel Bronstein, Vice President, Product Management, Google said in a statement. The feature will be accessible on all Android, Android Go and KaiOs devices. Google also introduced a refreshed design for Google Search in India that will highlight queries in local languages. Read Complete Article

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 Complete Article

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.

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 cal...

In a reported bid to enter the hardware product market, Facebook is planning to launch a home video chat product titled "Portal" in May that will compete with Amazon's Echo Show and Google Assistant-enabled touchscreens. According to a report by online news network Cheddar on Wednesday, "Portal" will be the first finished hardware product from Facebook's secretive Building 8 lab and may see the light of the day in May -- the time when Facebook organises its annual F8 developer conference. The report claimed that Facebook plans to sell the device for $499 through pop-up stores as well as online. "Portal" is seen as a competition to Amazon Echo Show and four Google Assistant-powered smart speakers that were launched at CES 2018 this week. The four new smart displays include devices made by Sony, Samsung-owned JBL, LG and Lenovo. These devices feature a touchscreen that can be used to display visual information to accompany i...

Google has announced the revamping of its 'Google Home' device, giving it a new look, along with minor tweaks made in terms of software, all towards facilitating seamless operations for users. In a bid to make it easier to find content online, Google announced that the app would recommend content from one's streaming services, and opens up the search functionality for greater diversification of search. Further, making the app more intuitive, the key navigation buttons have been moved to the bottom, reports The Verge. Furthermore, Android users can now use the app to project movie trailers onto a connected TV, while continuing to browse content on their phones. Music buffs can also play with new sound settings, to adjust bass and treble on Google Assistant-enabled speakers, like the Google Home Mini. Among other updates, Google recently installed an update enabling users with Google Assistant to broadcast messages via Google Home, thus helping the latter dou...