Google unveiled Wednesday a significant overhaul to its voice search functionality that makes it smarter and more intuitive. The revamped software also has a new name: “Google Assistant.”
Google Assistant understands language more naturally than standard Google voice search. For example, if a user asks who directed the film The Revenant, that person can follow up with a query like “Show me his awards.” The user doesn’t have to say the director’s name to get the correct answer.
Rather than just showing movie times when asking what’s playing tonight, Google Assistant can suggest movies and ask if the user would like to purchase tickets.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai described the technology as “giving each user their own individual Google” while introducing the overhaul on stage at the company’s I/O developer’s conference.
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