Google to push AI to iPhone, homes, cars
Google is expected to flesh out plans for Google Assistant on
Apple devices, in homes appliances, and a new Android car infotainment system
Google's artificial intelligen ce software is already inside
Android phones, smart speakers and watches. At the Google IO conference this
week, the Alphabet unit plans to bring it to at least three more places:
iPhones, coffee tables and kitchens.
The Mountain View, Californiabased company is set to announce a
version of its AI-powered assistant for Apple's iPhone as soon as Wednesday,
according to a person familiar with the matter.
Google's voice-based Assistant, unveiled at last year's IO and
released later in the year, competes with Apple's Siri and Amazon's Alexa. It
is set to land on the iPhone as a free, standalone app that can be downloaded
from Apple's App Store, according to the person. It would arrive first in the
US, but Google is working on adding support for other countries in the future.
Like the Assistant on Google's own Pixel smartphones, the iPhone
version will take commands via voice, the person said. The difference is that
it won't come pre-installed on the iPhone, a potential barrier to wide
adoption. Still, the Assistant app will integrate with other Google apps on the
iPhone so a user could ask to see a video and it will begin playing via
YouTube.
Google's AI will show up in other new products this week. The
company's popular Photos app will be upgraded with a feature for creating
physical coffee table photo books, according to the person familiar.
Last year, Google upgraded the AI software supporting Photos so
the service could automatically create albums by combining related images.
Users will be able to order physical, printed books of pictures
from the Photos app to be shipped to their homes, the person said. Google plans
to offer multiple types of book materials for the service, with one option cos
ting $10 per book, the person added.
Apple, in the past, offered a similar service for its photos
application on Mac computers, but the company discontinued the feature about a
year ago.
Google is another big rival for Shutterfly, which offers a
digital photo storage service, photo books and calendars. When Amazon launched
a competing offering last year, Shutterfly shares slumped more than 10 percent
in a day.
Google is also integrating its Assistant into GE home appliances
such as refrigerators, dishwashers, ovens, washers and dryers. Users will be
able to ask the Assistant how many pods are left in the dishwasher, tell it to
pre-heat the oven, or ask if the laundry is clean.
News website Android Police earlier reported that Google's
Assistant will be coming to the iPhone. A Google spokeswoman declined to comment.
Google is also placing Android inside cars a bid to cement its
core service in the auto industry as more technology sweeps in.
Ahead of IO, Google is showing off its next step in automotive
software: an Android version of touchscreen car consoles and infotainment
systems. It will host popular applications, like Google Maps and Spotify, but
also control car features like seat positioning and temperature. The system
also embeds the Assistant in cars for the first time.
At IO, Google will show off live demonstrations of the operating
system running on the Audi Q8 and Volvo V90 SUVs. Patrick Brady, a vice
president of engineering for Android, said the system will make its way to Audi
and Volvo's entire fleets, along with other manufacturers.
This isn't Google's first stab at software for cars. In 2014,
the tech giant introduced Android Auto, a system that lets people project
content from their Android smartphones to their car's screen. Brady said
Android Auto now runs on 300 car models.
The new system plunges deeper, taking over the underlying
software on the car. A driver doesn't need to plug in an Android phone to run
it. It also adds some features, like 3D mapping and satellite images, that
Android Auto lacks.Brady said this fusion of apps and controls inside a car is
necessary.
Apple, which currently offers the CarPlay product that's similar
in practice to Android Auto, is also working on its own car operating system to
power its self-driving software. Brady said that CarPlay could run on top of
cars with the embedded Android system.
Each Android software car partner will have the ability to
customise the controls, interface, and applications pre-loaded into the
operating system, the company said. For now, Brady said Google is not
pre-installing a slate of its own apps, as it does with Android phones. Android
for the car might eventually extend to items like speedometers and backseat
screens.
Yet Google executives said the software will not reach to
instruments critical to car safety it's keeping YouTube off the screen, for
instance, given the risk to distracting drivers.
The new car feature also hints at Google's long-term ambitions
to spread its artificial intelligence service to every corner of consumer's
lives. For example, a user in a compatible car could ask the Assistant to turn
on the lights at home before arriving, Brady said. That assumes car owners have
compatible smart home hardware.
Google said it's working on bringing the voice assistant to
Android Auto. Apple's CarPlay system is already compatible with Siri for
sending text messages and navigation, but unlike Android's new system, Apple's
cannot control car functions like temperature.
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