google assistant | KitGuru https://www.kitguru.net KitGuru.net - Tech News | Hardware News | Hardware Reviews | IOS | Mobile | Gaming | Graphics Cards Sat, 28 Sep 2019 12:05:36 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.3 https://www.kitguru.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/cropped-KITGURU-Light-Background-SQUARE2-32x32.png google assistant | KitGuru https://www.kitguru.net 32 32 Xbox One users will have Google Assistant voice commands soon, with beta testing started https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/james-dawson/xbox-one-users-will-have-google-assistant-voice-commands-soon-with-beta-testing-started/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/james-dawson/xbox-one-users-will-have-google-assistant-voice-commands-soon-with-beta-testing-started/#respond Sat, 28 Sep 2019 12:05:36 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=427728 Microsoft has announced it will integrate Google Assistant into Xbox One, allowing voice-activated control over the console. Beta testing is kicking off soon, with a full launch expected this Autumn. Adding Google Assistant to Xbox One will allow users to voice activate features of the console, such as turning the console on and off, launching …

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Microsoft has announced it will integrate Google Assistant into Xbox One, allowing voice-activated control over the console. Beta testing is kicking off soon, with a full launch expected this Autumn.

Adding Google Assistant to Xbox One will allow users to voice activate features of the console, such as turning the console on and off, launching games and apps, capturing screenshots, recording game clips etc. Essentially, most of what you could previously do with a Kinect but from a device of your own choosing. The Xbox One also supports Amazon's Alexa.

Google Assistant can also be used to play and pause videos and adjust volume levels. A simple command such as “Hey Google, play Gears 5 on Xbox” will automatically turn on the console and launch the game so you won’t have to go through menus to launch a game.

The Google Assistant for Xbox Beta will only be available in English in regions where Google Assistant is supported. Google and Microsoft will be working together to add support for more languages before a broader release later this year. Google Assistant won’t need to be installed on the Xbox One itself; It will receive commands from other devices running the assistant.

Google Assistant for Xbox One can be activated from Google Assistant and Home-enabled devices, and the Google Assistant apps on iOS and Android by setting up a new device and searching for [beta] Xbox in the list. Xbox owners will then be able to name their console within Google assistant to allow commands to work.

To register for the beta you need to create a Google account (if you don’t already have one) and join the Google group to get access to the Google Assistant support for Xbox One. A full list of the voice commands can be found here.

KitGuru says: We thought we had seen the last of voice controls on the Xbox one when Microsoft ditched the Kinect. However, a return to voice control via third-party devices and digital assistants may prove more successful. 

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Google plans to ‘reduce’ how much audio it saves from devices for human review https://www.kitguru.net/channel/generaltech/matthew-wilson/google-plans-to-reduce-how-much-audio-it-saves-from-devices-for-human-review/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/generaltech/matthew-wilson/google-plans-to-reduce-how-much-audio-it-saves-from-devices-for-human-review/#respond Mon, 23 Sep 2019 17:55:58 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=427057 Over the course of this summer, one of the bigger tech controversies has been the outing of ‘human review’ programs at major companies like Google, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon and more. In an effort to improve digital assistants and voice recognition, devices were recording audio and sending it back to be listened to and graded. Some …

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Over the course of this summer, one of the bigger tech controversies has been the outing of ‘human review’ programs at major companies like Google, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon and more. In an effort to improve digital assistants and voice recognition, devices were recording audio and sending it back to be listened to and graded. Some people already anticipated that this was happening, but many were also caught off-guard.

Similarly to Apple, Google suspended its digital assistant human review program once people became more aware of it. However, the program will be coming back at some point, although new audio data retention policies will be in place. As The Verge reports, Google says that it will “vastly reduce the amount of audio data” it collects and stores. Google also promises to “delete the vast majority of audio data associated with your account” is it is older than a few months.

Google says that digital assistant audio collection has always been opt-in, but the process involved in assessing digital assistant performance wasn’t clear. When people spoke out about Apple’s program for Siri, contractors were hearing private conversations, doctors’ appointments and other moments that you likely don’t want someone else hearing.

Moving forward, the ‘Voice & Audio Activity’ setting will be more prominently displayed to Google Assistant users and will explicitly mention human review for audio data.

We don’t know specifically when these changes will be implemented, but it should be before the end of 2019.

KitGuru Says: I think one question that really needs to be answered is how long do these companies record you for after a digital assistant is activated? Beyond that, how long do they keep the data for?  Google says it will delete ‘the majority’ of audio data after a few months but what data is it keeping for longer than that?

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Samsung considers working with Google to improve its lacklustre Bixby assistant https://www.kitguru.net/channel/generaltech/damien-cox/samsung-considers-working-with-google-to-improve-its-lacklustre-bixby-assistant/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/generaltech/damien-cox/samsung-considers-working-with-google-to-improve-its-lacklustre-bixby-assistant/#respond Tue, 04 Sep 2018 13:57:24 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=385675 The development Bixby hasn’t been all sunshine and rainbows, entering the market late, struggling to grasp the English language and only able to access resources that were distinctly lacking in comparison to rivals. It seems that Samsung is reassessing its strategy towards its voice assistant, going as far as to explore collaboration with Google. Although …

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The development Bixby hasn’t been all sunshine and rainbows, entering the market late, struggling to grasp the English language and only able to access resources that were distinctly lacking in comparison to rivals. It seems that Samsung is reassessing its strategy towards its voice assistant, going as far as to explore collaboration with Google.

Although Samsung has seemingly changed its stance on the once “unmarketable” Bixby speaker by announcing the Galaxy Home last month, the sentiment of its struggles against Amazon’s Echo, Apple’s HomePod and Google’s Home devices still ring true for its proprietary voice assistant. In an attempt to shed light on Samsung’s new direction approaching the market, consumer electronics CEO Hyun Suk Kim revealed to the Korea Herald that the firm is looking to enter a partnership with Google in order to boost its services.

“Samsung is developing its own voice assistant, Bixby, but we could consider various [forms] of collaboration with Google in the field. For example, we would call up Bixby, but it could lead us to one of Google's services, like Google Map,” explains Kim. “Each company has areas they particularly excel in, and collaboration is essential for perfect voice control. Samsung is a company that sells around 500 million units of devices worldwide every year, and we can use this as our bargaining power to negotiate the level of cooperation with AI leaders like Google.”

As it stands, this is all figurative with a deal yet to emerge between the two companies. Of course, pairing up with one of the two primary market leaders is sure to strengthen Samsung’s arguably dull efforts so far, however, depending on the services Bixby does adopt, it might struggle to differentiate itself from Google Assistant. This poses a handful of problems when considering Samsung’s smartphones already come with Google Assistant baked in, thanks to its Android operating system.

KitGuru Says: Not only was Bixby late to the party, but with Samsung not having big data similar to Google’s search and Amazon’s shopping, it was always going to be an uphill battle for the firm. Have you found Bixby useful?

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IFA 2018: LG shows off 8K OLED, Nano Cell technology, ThinQ AI and more https://www.kitguru.net/channel/generaltech/matthew-wilson/ifa-2018-lg-shows-off-8k-oled-nano-cell-technology-thinq-ai-and-more/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/generaltech/matthew-wilson/ifa-2018-lg-shows-off-8k-oled-nano-cell-technology-thinq-ai-and-more/#respond Thu, 30 Aug 2018 11:49:34 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=384908 We had the chance to swing by the LG booth at IFA this morning to catch a glimpse of what the future has in store for us. There was plenty of talk about 8K TVs, with LG showing off the world's first 88-inch 8K OLED, but the company has a few other interesting upgrades worthy …

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We had the chance to swing by the LG booth at IFA this morning to catch a glimpse of what the future has in store for us. There was plenty of talk about 8K TVs, with LG showing off the world's first 88-inch 8K OLED, but the company has a few other interesting upgrades worthy of note. This includes development on Nano Cell Displays, an all new intelligent processor for better image quality and Google Assistant smart features.

We'll start off with LG's new Nano Cell Display developments. LG has been working on this for a while and its main selling point is better viewing angles. Nano Cell Displays are enhanced LCD panels with LED backlighting. This allows for Full Array Local Dimming for true blacks and enhanced whites. Most importantly, the flagship feature of Nano Cell technology is that it can be viewed from almost any angle without diminishing the experience, preserving the wide colour gamut.

LG also began talking about its new Alpha 9 Intelligent Processor. This is the chip inside of the TV that handles image processing. The newly upgraded chip uses a quad-step process to reduce gain and banding noise, paving the way for sharper images with greater depth analysis. At IFA, and LG rep informed us that this chip also provides colour accuracy that is “7.3 times more sophisticated” than previous TVs. It also allows the TV to maintain a silky smooth 120/100 frames per second, indicating that true high refresh rate TVs could be on the way. All of LG's OLED TVs will run this new chip, including the prototype 88″ 8K display.

ThinQ AI is a little less exciting to us but could be of interest to others. Essentially, LG has partnered with Google to include Google Assistant features in its TVs. The particular example we saw was the ability to have the TV look up travel possibilities for locations you see on TV, whether you are watching a movie or a TV show.

This is the big one. We've known for some time that TV makers are already hard at work on future 8K TVs. LG has also been perfecting its flexible/curved OLED technology, which was on full display at the LG Canyon experience at IFA this year. A wall of curved OLED displays were present, showing just how far flexible panels have come over the years.

While LG is showing off its 88″ 8K OLED prototype here at IFA, according to LG's Ken Hong, “8K is still a ways down the road”. Hong describes the jump as “miles better than 4K” and we were told that most, if not all, 8K panels will still utilise LCD technology. LG has a head start in that department with the first pure OLED at 8K resolution, resulting in 33 million pixels all capable of being individually controlled.

LG's 88-inch 8K OLED is primarily made to show that the technology is viable and also perhaps to upstage Samsung, which arrived at IFA this year with its first 85-inch 8K QLED TV. Hong mentioned at IFA that 8K could feasibly hit the market “as early as next year”, but content would be hard to find as production companies wait for increased demand. Meanwhile, consumers will wait for more content before purchasing, thus creating a lengthy cycle.

KitGuru Says: LG's Nano Cell displays look particularly interesting to me, but I would also like to see some true 120Hz TVs at some point too. Are any of you currently shopping around for a new TV?

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Sonos releases AI-powered home speaker with Sonos One https://www.kitguru.net/channel/generaltech/damien-cox/sonos-releases-ai-powered-home-speaker-with-sonos-one/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/generaltech/damien-cox/sonos-releases-ai-powered-home-speaker-with-sonos-one/#respond Thu, 05 Oct 2017 15:18:39 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=349325 Google’s Home Mini isn’t the only competition that the Apple HomePod will be facing this month, with Sonos debuting its Alexa and Google-powered Sonos One. Amazon’s Alexa is also set to arrive to existing Sonos speaker owners that will work in sync with nearby Amazon Echos and Echo Dots. The launch of the Sonos One …

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Google’s Home Mini isn’t the only competition that the Apple HomePod will be facing this month, with Sonos debuting its Alexa and Google-powered Sonos One. Amazon’s Alexa is also set to arrive to existing Sonos speaker owners that will work in sync with nearby Amazon Echos and Echo Dots.

The launch of the Sonos One seems to be a direct response to Apple using the company in the marketing of its HomePod earlier in the year, criticising previous Sonos devices for its lack of voice-controlled power directly from the device, forcing the use of an application.

The Sonos One follows in the footsteps of Google Home, Amazon Echo and Apple’s HomePod with its voice-activated commands through the use of Amazon’s Alexa AI built in at launch, with Google Assistant arriving next year.

At launch, the device boasts over 80 streaming services for music and audio playback and with the support of Amazon and Google at its side, users will be able to access a plethora of information and data surrounding weather, travel, news, entertainment, personal scheduling and control other smart devices around the house.

Being an audio specialist, Sonos touts that its Sonos One improves where many other AI-powered home devices fail – the sound quality of the speakers and microphones.

“We live in a golden age of streaming entertainment. But so much of this great content is being pushed through smart speakers that aren't designed with sound quality in mind,” states Patrick Spence, CEO of Sonos. “With our open approach to collaboration, agnostic approach to voice services, the strength of our many innovative partners, and a sound platform designed for the whole home, we're helping people listen more and listen better.”

Sonos’ new speaker houses two Class-D digital amplifiers, one-mid woofer and one tweeter, alongside a six mic array with adaptive noise suppression built into the device to ensure that the speaker can work in noisier and crowded environments.

The Sonos One is available to preorder ahead of its 24th October in the UK, retailing for £199. This comes ahead of Apple’s HomePod release which lands in December.

KitGuru Says: With the market for home speakers growing exponentially, and rather quickly, I’m surprised I’ve not given in and bought one yet. Do you own an AI-powered speaker? Do you plan to invest in one soon?

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Google to showcase Majel late next month https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/blair-mcclelland/google-to-showcase-majel-late-next-month/ https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/blair-mcclelland/google-to-showcase-majel-late-next-month/#respond Mon, 21 May 2012 08:32:35 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=91670 Majel has long been rumoured as the search giant's rival to Apple's Siri personal assistant service. It should become available on Android smartphones later this year – most likely in the last quarter. According to reports it will officially (and unoriginally) be known as “Assistant”. While Google has obviously not spent much time on the name, the …

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Majel has long been rumoured as the search giant's rival to Apple's Siri personal assistant service. It should become available on Android smartphones later this year – most likely in the last quarter. According to reports it will officially (and unoriginally) be known as “Assistant”. While Google has obviously not spent much time on the name, the personal assisntant service has been in testing since last year and a showcasing at Google I/O late in June is bound to happen.

Now that's a proper personal assistant

Majel, or Google Assistant will no doubt tap into the recently launched Knowledge Graph service which essentially combines Google's vast knowledge into a collection of objects and how they are all connected to one another. Think of it as similar to Wolfram Alpha, another knowledge database that recently caused embarrassment for Apple.

Aside, Samsung's S-Voice application leaked over the weekend and we've played with it a little bit. So far it seems to pick up my Kiwi accent pretty well. Instructions and a download mirror can be found here.

KitGuru says: We still feel like fools talking to our phones, so real life usefulness? Limited.

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