Google poised to roll out arsenal of services, gadgets

For those on budgets, Google has some love for you, too: Google is trying again with a version of Android for cheaper devices.

The event will happen on Wednesday during Google’s annual conference where thousands of computer programmers will be present.

Google executives covered much ground in the opening keynote, which lasted over two and a half hours in total.

The tech giant also announced that Google Assistant is now available on the iPhone for the first time.

Maybe the most immediate news about Google Assistant came when Scott announced that Assistant would be available on iOS today.

Users of Google Assistant also have the flexibility of entering queries via voice search or by manually typing them, whereas Siri only recognizes voice commands. That may also be when the iOS app rolls out to further countries. Even Android Wear is about to get cozy with the Google Assistant. The Pixel devices were the first to get this feature, but now almost all Android devices have the ability to use Google Assistant.

For example, opening an email containing an invitation to dinner might trigger a prompt to reply “I’m in”.

Google Assistant is getting a feature those of us who have been using it have always wanted: the ability to type requests into the digital assistant.

Lens – and its underlying technology – could turn your photos into an incredibly valuable source of data for Google. Soon, we’ll be able to enjoy more third party apps and service integrations. Just make sure you have all the data on your current operating system backed-up. It will reportedly launch later this summer, and it’s bringing exciting features like picture-in-picture support and enhanced performance and stability through software. The Play Store that will be packed in with the Android Go, will offer users suggestions as to what applications they can install on their device. This feature is not limited to videos, and it may be able to run games and other apps as well. Android O also touts better battery efficiency and Google is providing that through Android Vitals, which focuses on optimising battery life, startup time, graphic rendering time, and stability.

Android Go is an optimized version of Android that’s created to be used on less-powerful, cheap phones. Google has been working on pushing the system to work without the need for a smart device.

This year has been no different, and alongside improvements to Google Home and innovations in VR, Google execs revealed more about Android O, which is coming “later this summer”.