I've been trying to find out this as well, hopefully we're only waiting days and not months!
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Google I/O 2017: Assistant on iOS, Bluetooth Streaming on Google Home, and Easy Sharing With Photos
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Yeah hopefully ! We have google home in the U.K. so I don't see why we can't get the google assistant on the iPhone
The funny thing is that even as a Gmail user, aside from Maps I don't really use any Google apps on my phone/iPad as I don't use any of their other services.
Microsoft are far more essential to me personally as I can't get by without OneDrive/MS Office on my devices. Microsoft have also done a really good job with their apps as they are highly polished. From what I've seen of Google's fragmented collection of apps is that they only offer basic functionality. I think the only Google apps that really stands out is the Google search app & Maps. The rest are all meh.
It's not a gimmick, it makes using the product night and day easier. SSO will expand, but Apple is at the will of content providers and their lawyers/accountants on that one. International content access is a real bitch because the laws are different all over the world....and content providers don't seem to be good at doing anything other than getting in the way of their own future.
Even without googles assistant app, I still go to google on my iPhone to get a good answer, which Siri cannot most of the time. Having the app will be no different for me anyway than opening and clicking on the app.
Google's AI learning is definitely the best, but as an iphone user, not sure what the purpose of this is. If this could replace Siri, it would be amazing, but the fact that I have to open an app to use it doesn't help much.
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"A watched iPhone never boils" Ugh
Perhaps you're more impressed with tangible products. Android O wasn't a big part of the keynote. Instead they were focusing on how they're going to use Machine Learning to improve all their products. They discussed using machine learning to improve detection of disease in the eye, and cancers. They used machine learning to design new networks. This is actually pretty amazing, exciting stuff. The same technology powering Google Lens is going to potentially help save lives one day.
So I have to disagree, I think this was one of their most impressive keynotes in a long time.
From a pure product standpoint, Google Photos which is arguably one of their best products right now, continues to get better. The new sharing aspects are exactly what a family would want.
I think until you have one, it's hard to imagine its utility. (Same is true for Echo). I'm an early adopter, so I have both a Home and Echo, and I also have home automation. My wife rolled her eyes when I got these but now she regularly uses them to turn lights on/off, adjust thermostat, check the weather, check traffic. It's nice being able to get an answer quickly without needing your phone to do it. (Echo is in the kitchen, Home is in the living room). I also use Home for those same things and for throwing music onto the sound system in the living room and my 2 year old and I use it to play animal noises and alphabet and other fun things (it's nice that some learning is purely audio, not visual).
I am a huge fan of tech but it's really nice to not carry my phone with me everywhere in the house because of these devices.
I'm not sure where you got that image from, but I just did it now on my phone:
As you'll notice, it was particularly helpful since it doesn't know where my garage is (maybe mine is not attached to my home), it gives a little map and GPS data.
There's an easy way to get around that and get it installed if you're in Canada. Follow the step by step posted HERE.Unfortunately looks like assistant isn't available in Canada. Too bad I wanted to try it out
I did this last night and got it installed no problem. Works great too.
im sure it will. they wouldn't be creating a siri home speaker if it wasn't being improved
So then you agree, there's no benefit. Going to google.com and using dictation would do the exact same thing.
i downloaded the google assist app and have been comparing it to SIRI. Google is way ahead with information (when is the next episode of Arrow on?, who is the president?, who is his wife? , who are his children? - all of these google was able to answer and SIRI wasn't). For getting things done I think they're about the same (reminders, texting, making phone calls. SIRI is better because its hands free but, Apple has got to up its game with data information.
That's an iOS limitation enforced by Tim Cook to take away the freedom of choosing your own default apps.
which one do you like better? home or echo?Perhaps you're more impressed with tangible products. Android O wasn't a big part of the keynote. Instead they were focusing on how they're going to use Machine Learning to improve all their products. They discussed using machine learning to improve detection of disease in the eye, and cancers. They used machine learning to design new networks. This is actually pretty amazing, exciting stuff. The same technology powering Google Lens is going to potentially help save lives one day.
So I have to disagree, I think this was one of their most impressive keynotes in a long time.
From a pure product standpoint, Google Photos which is arguably one of their best products right now, continues to get better. The new sharing aspects are exactly what a family would want.
I think until you have one, it's hard to imagine its utility. (Same is true for Echo). I'm an early adopter, so I have both a Home and Echo, and I also have home automation. My wife rolled her eyes when I got these but now she regularly uses them to turn lights on/off, adjust thermostat, check the weather, check traffic. It's nice being able to get an answer quickly without needing your phone to do it. (Echo is in the kitchen, Home is in the living room). I also use Home for those same things and for throwing music onto the sound system in the living room and my 2 year old and I use it to play animal noises and alphabet and other fun things (it's nice that some learning is purely audio, not visual).
I am a huge fan of tech but it's really nice to not carry my phone with me everywhere in the house because of these devices.
I'm not sure where you got that image from, but I just did it now on my phone:
As you'll notice, it was particularly helpful since it doesn't know where my garage is (maybe mine is not attached to my home), it gives a little map and GPS data.
Actually Siri can launch it. The app name is Assistant, not Google Assistant, so "Hey Siri, Open Assistant" works.
I like Echo's ability to pick up my voice better than Google's, although Google uses software to work those 2 microphones the Home has, using 8 just works better. I like Home more but it's because it integrates with Chromecast, my Google data (calendar) and Google services best (Google Music). However the Echo does work well with Amazon purchasing, so if you do that more than use Google's services, then I think you would be happy with either one.
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Honestly, if you were able to use Google Now, it feels like AI. Knowing what I need when I need it is pretty amazing.
But a lot of the basic searches people do (how tall is Hugh Jackman) certainly doesn't use AI. That's not what Google was showing in the IO though. The IO highlighted using machine learning and AI to make things like sorting photos or understanding what you see (a restaurant, a pathology slide, a picture of a retina) smarter and more accurate.
This, and Google Now aren't full blown AIs but this is how you start to build an AI. As mentioned before, Apple uses machine learning within a device but for privacy reasons doesn't share across devices/services. Google sees machine learning as something that's behind ALL its services (filtering spam, automatically finding pictures it thinks you will want to share with your best friend, surfacing a conversation from your e-mail at the right place/time), and so it bleeds across all its different services. I point this out because I honestly believe letting the machine learning learn from all the different services at once will help it advance further and faster.
IF you ask it to open a webpage it probably can only open in Safari. Some important default actions like calling, opening pages, and apparently playing music, are done by apps that come with iOS. (As you may know, Android let's one choose default everything, including dialers, browsers, and music player).
As technology catches up and equalises all of these companies have to decide what to do with it.
Microsoft - One Drive, Office 365, Cross platform apps, Affordable, storage in Terrabytes, collaboration.
Google - Cross platform apps, Integrated Data and machine learning, AI, Youtube, Developer APIs, Collaboration, sharing, affordable storage and user/family integration. Google assistant with learning and immense user base.
Apple - Highly designed hardware, Integrated Software, unbeatable app availability, Great gaming, IOS, Mac OS are both excellent, Expensive storage solutions, locked out family sharing in iCloud, poor collaboration, poor cross platform ecosystem. Expensive devices with low memory capacity and low user expandability.
Amazon should also be included here. Though I don't think they can compete on integrated tech, their services in media along with Alexa are very popular.
Apple appear to be well behind, especially when it comes to data, AI, and services. Personally, I think Apple Music is great, and I prefer it to spotify, but honestly, it's now the only thing, apart from maybe MACOS that is keeping it Apple for me.
That's an easy thing to change.
It starts with iCloud. iCloud is awful, and it's expensive when it comes to storage costs. Family sharing, like a lot of Apple's recent 'Pro' hardware, is neutered and set up to 'nickel and dime' iCloud users.
Simple example:
Microsoft Office 365 Family : 1TB Cloud Storage PER MEMBER, Office Suite per user, Shared Folders much like Dropbox so I can share anything I like much like a central server. This is easy collaboration. £7.99 per month
Apple iCloud - 1 TB Storage £6.99 per user, (or £2.49 each for 200GB). I can share the contents of a folder, but the person I share to can't collaborate, I can share apps, but I can't share storage space, and I can't share a central photo library. Apple Music costs £14.99 if I want to share it.
Apple need to cut down their storage prices, or at least make it possible to share storage - photo libraries (for example) could be opened up to be a central library that you choose to share folders or not.
Meanwhile, the hardware is going up in price all the time, which would be fine if there weren't equally capable and in some cases, more capable devices and services available from elsewhere. Siri is awful and largely unusable, at least here in the UK. Home integration and a Siri Speaker is going to have to go a long way to prove itself. "Hey SIRI, log me out, and then log my wife in, and then upgrade her storage plan so I can see a picture she took of me when we were on holiday, then log me out and stream a home movie to my Apple TV, so we can watch it as a family".
If an iPhone (next special edition, Steve Jobs thought of it long before he came up with an iPod, etc) eventually costs twice as much as a Google phone (ok - I'm exaggerating), is being prettier enough? The reality distortion field will eventually cripple their actual tech, and people will (might) stop buying...
Apple need to look at their services, and what is good for their actual customers. All the while telling people that they just do [what everybody else is already doing] better, when in reality they're just doing it later, and more expensively, just with an Apple logo on it.
Suggestion:
£15 gets you -
Family sharing/Family account
Email addresses/individual and multiple login (to the one account) Apple Music
iCloud with proper family integration, including shared cloud storage at 1TB.
Any further Storage is charged.
SIRI is given a kick and told to behave.
Central Photo Library with automated sharing.
A little bit of AI would be a good idea.