Released last year, Google Assistant hasn’t really proven itself useful outside of checking the weather, searching Google, or setting an alarm using voice commands. So far it’s been limited to just basic features that are more than matched by other smart assistants like Amazon’s Alexa and Apple’s Siri. But Google is trying to change that.
Last month the company released an official SDK for Assistant, and today it’s announcing a host of new built-in functionality, as well as new third-party integrations, that will improve how intelligent and capable Assistant can be.
Minor improvements include the ability to physically type inquiries to Google Assistant using your smartphone’s keyboard if you’re out in a public place and don’t want to make a scene by talking to your device, improved language support including the addition of French, German, Portuguese, Italian, Spanish, and Korean, and Google transactions so purchases can be made all from within Assistant.