Google I/O 2016: Assistant, Home, Allo, Duo, Android N, and More

[duffman9000]

I have two Echos in the house and hacked a Dot into my car. It's that good. It's also one of those things that's very very hard to understand its potential until you actually start using it.

Oh dear, a really easy way to use Amazon Prime lol. It's already paid for itself and there is no end in sight lol.

I haven't kept up with the original echo or Dot. Siri has brain washed me into thinking all Voice Assistants suck. No, Siri is the app that sucks. Everyone else is moving far far ahead and it's not even funny anymore.

 

[Andrei90]

Amazon: Alexa
Google: Home
Apple: ..........

That's been answered 5 years ago... Siri.

 

[MH01]

What do you guys think about the Android Wear?

I've used both. Both are fine, apple is more polished, and I enjoyed it more .

My biggest issue is resale value, it's horrible, I cannot even offload my apple watches for 50% price drop and that is mint condition. Buying apple products and getting good resale was a perk , I will not be getting the new watch cause of this.

At the same time I lost 50% on android wear, but that is £100, on the Apple Watch is £500

 

[hans1972]

Wait, how is that not cross platform?

To be cross platform only require you to support two platforms.

"use their services no matter what device you have"

That requires supporting a lot of platforms.

 

[69Mustang]

Messaging app, FaceTime/Skype type app and Amazon Echo like device is being innovative? Would you be saying the same thing if Apple had announced these exact same things at WWDC?

If Apple announced an Echo type device, people would go ape****. Having it be a hub for Homekit? It would be an instant success. The Siri equivalent to Google Assistant (with the assumption of major improvements to Siri)? Yes people would be saying it's innovative. With Apple's hardware/software integration, a product like that should be a no brainer. Heck, the ATV4 could have been that product. Msg/FT not so much. Individually, not everything is spectacular. Taken as a whole, there's some pretty neat stuff going on there.

 

[moogleii]

You don't understand precisely because you don't have one. The Echo is amazing because of its high quality microphone, instead of the 50 cent piece of junk Apple penny pinches into all its products.

Echo understands you, in a low voice, from all the way across the room. VUI never caught on before because no one likes to shout all the time, and have the words picked up wrong anyway.

Echo has amazing microphone and that is all the difference.

Give me a break with the vitriol (extra ironic considering Amazon's entire Fire lineup). Every tear down I've seen has generally shown high quality components, especially by the blog run by the EE guy, not just ifixit poking around visually looking at things. Sure, Apple overcharges for it, but that's a different issue (and no different than any other luxury industry). Not to mention, the Echo mic is built for a completely different use-case. I'm pretty sure it will be no different with the Home. I highly doubt average mobile phone mics will be comparable to it.

 

[flaw600]

One must keep in mind that these "free" services being given away by Google are not really free. Every microsecond that people spend using at least one Google service is an opportunity for them to collect more data. Combined with their research and advances into machine learning, which could act on that very data, and the future is looking to be a very interesting (and possibly scary) place. Apple's more conservative approach to their platforms and data handling may indeed win out in the long run. We'll have to see.

The thing is, most people seem perfectly fine allowing their data to be used. Apple fans tend not to be, but Google fans are usually pretty okay at the prospect. Interestingly, I'm an Apple fan who doesn't mind his data being used the way Google is using it.

 

[kdarling]

I don't understand this new obsession with these room devices with a speaker abs microphone that you can talk to. I think most people don't care about issuing commands to a speaker in their room. They can already do all that with their phone or tablet which is always on them.

Heck, for years, sci-fi has had people giving commands to an omnipresent computer... without needing a microphone equipped device in their hand.

Stark in his lab, talking to Jarvis.

Enterprise crew, talking to the ship's computer.

Astronauts talking with HAL in 2001.

The whole point is to be able to speak as if you're asking an assistant who's with you in the room, not talking to a device you have to carry around.

 

[Amazing Iceman]

One must keep in mind that these "free" services being given away by Google are not really free. Every microsecond that people spend using at least one Google service is an opportunity for them to collect more data. Combined with their research and advances into machine learning, which could act on that very data, and the future is looking to be a very interesting (and possibly scary) place. Apple's more conservative approach to their platforms and data handling may indeed win out in the long run. We'll have to see.

That's their motivation to 'innovate'.

 

[moogleii]

Pretty impressive keynote. I think WWDC is going to be disappointing. Google seems to be leaving them in the software dust.

 

[Casfin]

Wow, Google........At least, you are being innovative and catering to your customers actual needs and wants.....

Um, so is Apple. I mean, we all want thinner and more slippery phones. Right?

And billions over the globe have been clamouring for the removal of the headphone jack.

 

[Aston441]

Oh dear, a really easy way to use Amazon Prime lol. It's already paid for itself and there is no end in sight lol.

I haven't kept up with the original echo or Dot. Siri has brain washed me into thinking all Voice Assistants suck. No, Siri is the app that sucks. Everyone else is moving far far ahead and it's not even funny anymore.

That's really where Amazon will own the planet. I have no need to go out for anything anymore. I just tell Alexa what I want and it appears at my door.

 

[flaw600]

It can by charging for them, either directly or as part of a premium OS offering. I recognize that the incentives to improve those offerings are probably lower because the returns aren't as direct.

People aren't willing to pay. It separates the market and that's never a good idea.
[doublepost=1463606845][/doublepost]

Wishful thinking... Im still waiting for the day when i can grab my phone and use to touch ID to unlock my Mac... Like you said apple has all the pieces, they just need to put them together and with Tim Cook i doubt they ever will....

You can already do that via third party apps...

 

[shk718]

Google is setting the bar high for Apple at WWDC.

Siri needs to take a leap forward this year. Integration with AppleWatch and AppleTV could bring the benefits of a home assistant without the need for a separate device.

I'd like to be able to lift my wrist and ask Siri: "Show me my calendar on my AppleTV" or "Play Beats 1 in the Living Room". An updated AppleTV with a mic built in could also respond to Hey Siri from across the room. Apple has the pieces of the puzzle. They need to put it together.

I don't see Google "setting the bar high" . We've had Face time for years, we've had Message for years, Amazon did echo last year. I see this as more of a catch up year for Google than huge innovation.

As far as Apples services complaints. I've been using apple icloud pictures for several months now and love it. Every single picture i have is in the cloud and shows up on all of my devices. I take a picture on my phone and its automatically downloaded to everything else. I make an edit to a picture on my computer and can undo the edit using my phone. Works every time. I find apple mail as reliable as google mail.

 

[flaw600]

And thats where the problem is... We are left to third party apps to do something that should be OEM with every apple products.. I just bought a Samsung TV 4K the latest and used my girlfriend Galaxy S7E to control it from all over the house while at the same time i use her S7 to control a Samsung Cam that i have in my garage... Didn't even have to bother with third party apps... I just wish my iPhone 6SPlus could be more useful..

We have no idea how secure MacID is. It's entirely possible that it's not secure, which may be why you can't do it yet.
[doublepost=1463607186][/doublepost]

Yes, when I wake at night fumbling in the dark to find the Home button is so much easier than just seeing an always on clock face. You know, like we've had for decades.

Why you you need a clock face when you have the time digitally displayed on the lock screen?

 

[deputy_doofy]

"Google's algorithms for finding answers are simply superior, there's just no way around it."

Insane people actually argue againt this. Apple "search" is crap. Absolute crap.

Just the other day I was searching for "Monrovia" which is about 20 miles away from me in Southern California. Take a guess where Maps directed me. I had to file yet another damn bug and I'm tired of filing Map bugs.

I have found the algorithm of Apple's location services to be a complete mystery. If I say a street name or town, I'd expect the closest match to come up first and then work outward. Instead, I either get a "not found" type of response or a name match in another state. Yet, if I give a town or zip code, it finds it, which means it *has* the data. So, I blame it on ****** programming.

 

[bladerunner2000]

Remember that time when Apple used to make awesome computers? Yeah... those were the days.

 

[alex2792]

Fantastic new ideas and systems, really like the new features and integration plus the instant apps thing is REALLY cool. It's new voice assistant is really something else too!

I did say in another post, but it was VERY obvious Google does something Apple does not! It had several WOMEN front and centre on the stage, Apple should take a long hard look at it's boys club approach....

Yes, they must also diversify by ONLY hiring executives of a mixed africa,mexican,irish,polish,russian,japanese,chinese,malaysian,saudi arabian,iranian,mongolian,native american ancestry!

 

[SHNXX]

Yes, they must also diversify by ONLY hiring executives of a mixed africa,mexican,irish,polish,russian,japanese,chinese,malaysian,saudi arabian,iranian,mongolian,native american ancestry!

remember, it's not about talent or merits. it's about diversity.

 

[Le Big Mac]

I'll take the free service, thanks.

Strokes/folks! IMO better to have services that compete on multiple dimensions, including whether it's paid or data/advertising supported.

 

[flaw600]

"Google's algorithms for finding answers are simply superior, there's just no way around it."

Insane people actually argue againt this. Apple "search" is crap. Absolute crap.

Just the other day I was searching for "Monrovia" which is about 20 miles away from me in Southern California. Take a guess where Maps directed me. I had to file yet another damn bug and I'm tired of filing Map bugs.

You realize that Google Maps was crap for years after launch, right? Like it was seriously a POC. But it got better. Apple Maps is already a whole lot better. Honestly, if Apple Maps had transit directions for my area I'd never need to use Google Maps again. Incidentally, Google Maps has failed my family far more than Apple Maps.
[doublepost=1463607619][/doublepost]

You don't understand precisely because you don't have one. The Echo is amazing because of its high quality microphone, instead of the 50 cent piece of junk Apple penny pinches into all its products.

Echo understands you, in a low voice, from all the way across the room. VUI never caught on before because no one likes to shout all the time, and have the words picked up wrong anyway.

Echo has amazing microphone and that is all the difference.

I have an Echo. I never use it. It is utterly useless to me. It got used for a week and now it just sits next to the TV gathering dust. It has a very niche audience which is why in its current iteration it will never become popular.
[doublepost=1463607821][/doublepost]

If Apple announced an Echo type device, people would go ape****. Having it be a hub for Homekit? It would be an instant success. The Siri equivalent to Google Assistant (with the assumption of major improvements to Siri)? Yes people would be saying it's innovative. With Apple's hardware/software integration, a product like that should be a no brainer. Heck, the ATV4 could have been that product. Msg/FT not so much. Individually, not everything is spectacular. Taken as a whole, there's some pretty neat stuff going on there.

The Apple TV is a hub for HomeKit. Moreover, rumors suggest that there will be a dedicated HomeKit app

 

[DigitalCK]

That's been answered 5 years ago... Siri.

Siri isn't a device.

 

[KALLT]

I don't understand this new obsession with these room devices with a speaker abs microphone that you can talk to. I think most people don't care about issuing commands to a speaker in their room.

It is just the big hype at the moment: Internet of Things and virtual reality. Coincidentally two things which I do not care about at all in the current environment. The way in which Google creeps into every part of your life really creeps me out. I think that Apple is also on track in the former area, but just with a different and more conservative attitude. All that Apple needs to do is improve the foundation of Siri and HomeKit, which they are rumoured to do anyway.

iOS and OS X are still maturer products with fewer caveats than the competition’s, particularly in the data-collection department. Apple is also the only major tech company that has a major establishment in all relevant platforms so far (laptop/desktop, tablets, smartphones, watch and TV). Microsoft lacks in the mobile space, Google in the desktop space. I am looking forward to some great enhancements to these systems as well as exciting APIs for Siri.

 

[SteveLV702]

Android N?? 95% people still can't get Android M (Marshmallow)...

 

[bpeeps]

This is real innovation!
Google leaving Apple in the dust!
Tim Cook is too busy pandering to communist China to actually innovate!
Cook is is busy in India trying to save the company instead of innovating like Google!
Apple spent too much time on watch bands to innovate!
Cook is going to be fired!
Steve Jobs would have never let this happen!
Apple still offers 16GB!
Switching to Android and Google services!
Apple is falling behind!
Apple is doomed!
Apple is too busy wasting time on an electric car to innovate!

You forgot to ask where the MacBooks were. And BIGGER BATTERY PLEASE.