By will-buy
Google has augmented the Broadcast feature of Google Assistant, expanding its reach from one the place to find any device anywhere. The universal upgrade towards the feature belongs to a handful of new and improved elements for the voice assistant structured around family-friendly uses ahead of Mother’s Day.
Broadcast Broadens
The Broadcast feature was first introduced back in 2023 as a way for users to send a message from the Google smart speaker or display to every compatible device in the smart home network or to specific categories of devices inside the home. Subsequent updates have adjusted the feature, including grouping it under the Communicate tab with telephone calls and Google Meet appointments, but always kept it house-bound. Google has shattered that barrier now, with the choice to broadcast from the smart speaker or display to anyone inside a ‘Family’ group, including their smartphones with the previous devices. The household group can count up to six people, who cant then react to the message from those self same devices. Google specifically pitches the update like a great way for mothers to arrange and keep tabs on their own families.
“Moms everywhere can likely agree that this year (and more) has had us working overtime. As a mom of two who’s working from home, I know that’s how I’ve felt. Maybe that’s why I’m extra excited for Mother’s Day this season,” Google Assistant senior director of product management Lilian Rincon wrote in a blog post about the updates. “We're extending one of our most popular Assistant features, Broadcast, so that you can reach your loved ones wherever they're, plus they can respond from any device including using their phones.”
Bells and Whistles
Google also updated the household Bell feature launched last summer to set up proactive reminders throughout the day using words, not just alarm noises. The feature has been quite popular, using more than 20 million alerts set since last August, almost 19 many years of continuous alerts when combined, based on Rincon. Now, they are able to now be established to ring on several device at once, instead of just being assigned to just one smart speaker or display. The reminders can also speak in eight new languages, adding French, Japanese, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, German, Hindi, and Korean to the English default. While obviously useful in an international context, it’s very simple to assume the multilingual aspect being helpful for helping learn a language, if perhaps to remind a young child it’s time to do their French homework en Francais. Google Assistant added a number of new games and stories too. Notably, the voice assistant is adding new Harry Potter-related stories inside a partnership with Pottermore Publishing. Finally, Google Assistant is adding new instructional songs to its repertoire of handwashing mask-wearing it debuted last year.
“We had to add a few happy easter ! too. Use a timer on Mother's Day and find out what goes on! Since the handwashing song am popular, we created new ones to assist kids remain on task and do their chores. Try ‘Hey Google, Sing the cleaning up song,’ ‘Hey Google, Sing the go to sleep song’ or ‘Hey Google, Sing the brush your teeth song,'” Rincon wrote. “Hopefully this schedule provides you with a little A birthday inspiration – or even just a stress-free weekend.”
