Rivals Alert: Google Tug at Built-in "Assistant" in Pixel
BENGALURU: Indubitably, Alphabet’s Google is aiming for a much larger shift, the journey to which had already kicked off with the outbreak of Android software eight years ago that covers 85% of the world’s smartphone market.
The hardware experts and the Google Assistant enablers started sharing adjacent spaces in Google office around half a year ago for its first voice-activated phone, at California headquarters.
The trend today and hopefully in coming years would be reined by voice controlled devices. The technology is being developed to replace touch as the primary means of using a hand-held device. Apple already took a big leap and is continuously experimenting in that direction with the variety show.
Pixel's hardware and Assistant teams gather for happy hour every Friday and have already received a prototype for the camera on next year's phone, said Brian Rakowski, vice president of product for Google's Android operating system.
Their ambition: to make the company's voice-powered digital assistant better than rivals such as Apple's Siri and Microsoft Corp's Cortana.
"We really wanted the Assistant on the phone to feel like a natural extension of the ways you ask Google for information," Rakowski said in an interview.
Pixel, by Google, is the first phone to be rolled out featuring ‘Assistant’. Device ready ‘Assistant’ can be requisitioned by saying the words "OK Google" or pressing HOME button.
The blend of hardware and software would be doing all the magic here. There are certain specifications, such as properly placed down microphones, powerful processors, graphics and others that are pivotal for high-performance of Google Assistant.
The team wants users to get an experience that goes beyond everything and the rivals notably. The ‘Assistant’ will live only on Google products such as the Pixel, Google Home and the Google Allo app.
It is quite unsure whether Google will keep it that way, or go back to its original phone development strategy for Android phones. Anyway, the risk of offering a compromised experience is the least that Google can expect after pushing it on the other manufacturers' Android phone.
Executing the Assistant on some current Android handsets would be an uphill battle for Google, Rakowski said.
However, as we know, Google is coy about its plans, just as other big players.
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