Google’s chatbot tech is coming to a range of Android 6.0 and 7.0 phones, no OS upgrade required.
BARCELONA—”OK Google” just got a lot chattier.
At Mobile World Congress here today, Google announced that it’s bringing its Assistant chatbot to phones from HTC, Huawei, LG, Samsung, and Sony running Android Marshmallow and Nougat, including the new LG G6.
Until now, the Assistant was only available on the Google Pixel phones, Google Home, and Android Wear watches, and in the little-used Google Allo app. The new move lets the Assistant enhance the default “OK Google” voice commands and the Google Now feature in most Android phones, turning them more conversational and contextual. For instance, you can now ask for “pictures of sunsets.”
We reviewed the Assistant as part of our Google Allo app review. In the review, Max Eddy said:
Ask the Google Assistant what it can do, and it returns several cards showing the breadth of its powers. Finding movies and restaurants are the most obvious abilities, but the Assistant can also translate, get you sports scores, tell you the weather, and trigger actions on your device, such as setting an alarm. You can also play games with the Google Assistant. I tried one where it gave a description for an emoji and I tried to guess the answer, which is much harder than it sounds.
All that said, there are some real limitations to what you can do with the Assistant. For example, I started asking it questions about travel, and it suggested I ask it to help me catch a ride. I did, and it simply returned Google search results for “catch a ride.” Requesting a ride via Lyft informed me that the command was something the Assistant had yet to learn.
The update should roll out this week in the US via Google Play Services, Google said; it isn’t an OS update, so it won’t be held up by manufacturers or carriers. It’ll be followed by launches in the UK, Canada, Australia, and Germany, Google said.
Eventually, it will come to all phones running Marshmallow and Nougat with 1.5GB or greater of RAM, Google Play Services, and a 720p or better screen, Google said.