Google Assistant has now come to Android phones beyond Google’s own Pixel. It’s a significant change to how Google’s previously offered search on mobile devices. It’s also the latest in a wide variety of ways people can search with Google on Android. Below, how Google Assistant fits in with Google’s other search options on Android, as well as a refresher for tapping into Google on iPhone. Google Assistant is Google’s next generation way of searching with Google. Rather than providing links to websites, Google Assistant is designed to have conversations with you in order to complete tasks. Theoretically. As I’ll get to, Google has yet to deliver on that promise. Like Siri, Google Assistant can interact with your Android phone to do a variety of tasks, such as setting alarms or playing music. Like Siri, it can even handle some home automation devices. Google has a page explaining various types of actions here. Like Siri, you can ask Google … [Read more...] about Your guide to using Google Assistant and the Google search app on Android & iPhone
Chrome on android
Andy Rubin Out, Sundar Pichai In, To Run Android For Google
Andy Rubin, who has lead Google’s Android operating system efforts, will now be replaced by Sundar Pichai. Google says the move today will leave Rubin time to work on a “new chapter” with the company. Google shared the news on its official blog today, saying: Andy’s decided it’s time to hand over the reins and start a new chapter at Google. Andy, more moonshots please! Going forward, Sundar Pichai will lead Android, in addition to his existing work with Chrome and Apps. Sundar has a talent for creating products that are technically excellent yet easy to use—and he loves a big bet. One Mystery Solved: Reason For Move Still Unclear This helps clear up the mystery about why Rubin suddenly was dropped from doing a keynote at the SXSW conference on Sunday. He was quietly replaced at the last minute by Google search chief Amit Singhal. As for why Rubin is moving off Android, that really isn’t clear. Perhaps it is that Rubin is looking for a new … [Read more...] about Andy Rubin Out, Sundar Pichai In, To Run Android For Google
Google And Verizon Announce Sweeping Mobile Deal For Android
Google and Verizon have announced a sweeping deal to cooperate around the development of services and devices that use the Android mobile OS (maybe Chrome too) on the Verizon network. What this actually turns out to mean in practice remains to be seen — sweeping and “groundbreaking” deals with limited outcomes have been announced before — but it certainly means that in the US Verizon will be selling Android handsets. What’s striking about this announcement is that Google and Verizon at one time were trading relatively bitter accusations about the openness of mobile networks in the US, and Google bid against Verizon for 700MHz wireless spectrum. Google also unsuccessfully competed against Microsoft for the Verizon wireless “default” search business. In addition to being motivated by revenue guarantees offered by Microsoft, Verizon’s rejection of Google as mobile search and ads provider was seen as part of the lingering animus between the … [Read more...] about Google And Verizon Announce Sweeping Mobile Deal For Android
Reflections On Chrome OS From A Consumer Perspective
Google hosted something of a formal “status update” on Chrome the operating system in Mountain View on Thursday. There we discovered the company is open-sourcing the code. We also found out it’s intended as a netbook OS (for now) and that Google is working with several hardware partners to create a better netbook experience (full-sized keyboard, slightly larger screen). We also learned it’s intended to be a secondary or supplemental machine, not a primary computer. That positioning is very important. Google Product VP Sundar Pichai wouldn’t discuss the hardware partners involved with Chrome OS during that meeting but an earlier blog post indicates many of the usual suspects are already involved: “Acer, Adobe, ASUS, Freescale, Hewlett-Packard, Lenovo, Qualcomm, Texas Instruments, and Toshiba.” Since Thursday there’s been a steady debate on whether Chrome will succeed or fail. Much of the discussion in the room on Thursday was fairly … [Read more...] about Reflections On Chrome OS From A Consumer Perspective
Android News & Google TV Announced
It’s Day 2 of Google I/O, Google’s annual developers conference. The morning keynote gets underway at 8:30AM Pacific. What to expect? How about Google TV? An Android Tablet? TechCrunch found evidence that’s what we may be hearing about. We’ll see shortly. My liveblogging begins, below. Those at home can also watch live. I/O sessions are being broadcast here on YouTube. By the way, the keynote was originally scheduled for 9AM, but I was told it was moved up to 8:30AM. More room for surprises? Vic Gundotra is talking about his first day at Google, meeting Andy Rubin — who heads Google’s mobile operating system efforts — talking to him about why Google needed to get behind an open mobile operating system. Because among other reasons, why if one man controlled one operating system for everyone, with a 1984 slide that goes up behind him to applause, which has to be a dig at Apple and how much it seems to have changed since its classic 1984 … [Read more...] about Android News & Google TV Announced
No Google Search App On Android 2.1
Android “fragmentation” is back in the news this week, thanks to the Angry Birds game needing to release two different versions for Android. But I have a better one: Google itself needing to make two different versions of the Google Search app. Where’s Google Search? For about three months, I’ve been using the Motorola Droid 2 phone on Verizon. It’s an awesome phone, and I’ll be sad to see it go, when I finally send the review unit back next week. And yes, I’ll have a review of it to come. To quell my loss, a review unit of the Samsung Fascinate — one of its Galaxy S class phones — arrived this week. I’ve long wanted to try this phone, but I’ve been put-off by what I call the Bingification of it. That’s how Verizon has stripped Google off as the default search provider, because of its deal with Bing. Don’t get me wrong. Bing’s a great search engine. But I’ve gotten very used to Google Voice … [Read more...] about No Google Search App On Android 2.1
The Google Chrome OS Cr-48 Notebook
Chrome, Chromium & What Is The Cr-48? Before I dive in, some background about the computer. Let's start with Chrome. That's Google's web browser, which was launched back in September 2008. If you're unfamiliar with it, it's a browser just like Internet Explorer or Firefox. Google released its own browser saying it hoped that it would help keep the web browser space competitive and better able to handle increasingly sophisticated software programs and applications that run within the browser itself. For example, in the "old days" of personal computers, you had software that you installed to do word processing (say Word), or to do email (say Outlook), or to do photo editing (such as Photoshop). As the internet emerged, you also had web browser software that let you view web sites. As the internet evolved, programs and services written to work within your web browser emerged. These days, it's possible to do word processing, email, photo editing and much more all from within a web … [Read more...] about The Google Chrome OS Cr-48 Notebook
Google’s Impressive “Conversational Search” Goes Live On Chrome
The “conversational search” that Google demonstrated at last week’s Google I/O conference is now available to users of its Chrome browser, and it’s a significant leap in how we use search engines. I’m 17 years now into writing about search, and I’ve seen all types of things that have promised to revolutionize the space, especially products that trot out words like “natural language” and “semantic search” but fail to deliver. Conversational search has natural language, semantic search and more built into it, and while it’s far from perfect, this really is one of those significant changes that makes even a “seen it all” person like me sit up and take notice. What Google is doing is hard, and yet when it works, it feels natural, easy, like it should be. Let’s do some examples, and then I’ll cover some of the “under the hood” stuff and how to get it, at the end. Speak Your Search Gets … [Read more...] about Google’s Impressive “Conversational Search” Goes Live On Chrome
Google Announces “Purchases On Google” For Buying Straight From PLAs And Other Mobile Shopping Updates
The much-anticipated buy button in Google search ads is finally here. Called Purchases On Google, it turns out the new feature isn’t a button at all. “Buy on Google” messaging will appear in eligible product listing ads on both iOS and Android smartphones. Purchases on Google is launching in a very limited pilot with select retailers. When consumers click on Purchases On Google-enabled ads, they’ll be taken to a page hosted by Google where they can make a purchase using payment criteria stored with Google. The orders are then passed through to the retailer for fulfillment and any customer service follow up. Check out our full coverage where you’ll find many more details about Purchases On Google on our sister site Marketing Land. Google also announced several of other updates to mobile PLAs: New Mobile Shopping Ad Formats For Voice Search When consumers use voice search to find products, Google is starting to show new ad formats that include rankings and … [Read more...] about Google Announces “Purchases On Google” For Buying Straight From PLAs And Other Mobile Shopping Updates
Google’s AMP project: what will be the impact on publishers?
Last Wednesday, Google announced the rollout of Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP), a new project that will have long-lasting consequences for content publishers and search marketers. It’s a logical extension of Google’s growing mobile-first approach toward serving content, meant to help users find information with less friction. It’s no secret that Google has been pushing content publishers to increase site speed for improved user experience. Combined with Google’s efforts to keep users within its ecosystem, AMP addresses both points with an elegant solution. Explain AMP like I’m a five year-old (with a basic understanding of search marketing) AMP allows content publishers to streamline content templates with an open-source framework named AMP HTML. It is meant to simplify cumbersome HTML, CSS and JavaScript elements, resulting in a stripped down page that only includes the most vital content (text, images, videos, and of course, site ads). Websites that … [Read more...] about Google’s AMP project: what will be the impact on publishers?