Google Assistant begins to be known by the general public since new devices begin to offer it in their firmware. The official appearance of Bixby, Samsung's assistant, has been the starting gun for the battle of artificial intelligence on Android .
However, there is still a large portion of users who do not know exactly what Google Assistant consists of, and above all, what differentiates it from Google Now .
Google Assistant, at your service
Google Assistant is a service that acts as an intermediary between the user and the phone . In both spoken and written form, we can perform a large series of actions without having to enter the specific apps. We will not skip many steps like this.
Using the command "OK Google", we wake up the assistant and interact with him. From then on, we can check our mail or appointments, in addition to dictating messages . Google Assistant uses the location and the information consulted to create a user profile, and have suggestion capacity.
Integrated services
In addition to working with the Android firmware of the device that offers it, Google Assistant also interacts perfectly with other services and apps external to the mobile. For example, it has full compatibility with Google Home, Android TV, and Android Wear 2.0. That is, we can use the assistant to control aspects related to the smart home, manage our television or give orders from the smartwatch.
Google Allo, Google's latest messaging service, is also integrated with Google Assistant. In a shorter version, the wizard can be used to make inquiries during a conversation . You can ask for references of sites, orientations and even confirmations of current or historical facts.
Finally, although it is not official yet, but it is expected that Google Assistant can be used in Android Auto car software . In the same way as Siri with Apple Car, the Google assistant would allow us to control aspects of the phone from the car only with the voice.
Differences with Google Now
Some of you may think "well, it 's very similar to Google Now ". Indeed, it is an extension of the service, but it has some differences that we are going to point out:
Both Google Now and Google Assistant listen to our requests.
While Google Assistant is an exclusive service for Android and is integrated into the firmware of selected devices, Google Now is a non-exclusive app . By this we mean that it can be installed on any device, Android or iOS, without there having to be any model or brand requirement.
Google Now is in charge of listening to us and trying to offer us answers to our requests (Check mail, find an address). However, this assistant does not have the ability to dialogue . With Google Assistant, however, we can communicate with a naturalness quite close to human.
All the information that we pour into Google Now does not go beyond the specific conversation. However, with Google Assistant, every piece of information we share is learned to offer us better results in the future . For example, if we have chosen a type of restaurant, the next time we ask for advice on a place to eat, it will offer us restaurants of that type. And the same would happen with the reproduction of movies or music.
Finally, Google Now is not integrated into other apps , as Google Assistant is with Google Allo, Android TV or Android Wear 2.0. Google Now has access to data from Google Maps, YouTube, and other products, but does not offer full integration.
In short, Google Assistant includes the functions of Google Now, but goes further . Therefore, we believe it is quite probable that in the future the former will absorb the latter. It would not be unusual to find such a move when the new assistant is more widespread on the market.