Google recently revealed it will be releasing Google Assistant onto all Android devices with an operating system of Android 6 or newer. The release date is not exact yet but it is known it will be sometime in 2017. This is an exceptionally good idea for both Google and Android, because it will make Androids smarter and much more competitive with other similar smartphones. Google Assistant being on all Android devices will also make Androids more competitive with ios systems, and will even help Google to generate more income in advertisement revenue.
With Google Assistant being standard on all phones, Google will be able to do far more data mining, giving advertisers a more targeted audience and therefore giving Google more revenue from advertisers. This is great news for consumers who will benefit from this new feature that Google hopes will be every person’s virtual assistant.
Google Assistant
Google Assistant is a big deal. For iPhone loyalists who may not know what Google Assistant is, it is basically a non-Apple version of Siri, which is a voice activated search feature that seems somewhat like artificial intelligence because it can carry a conversation with a person. A person can ask the app for directions, make reservations, or tell it passwords, combinations, or keywords they can ask for at a later date.
This allows for the app to be a more accessible way to keep valuable private information when a person may need help remembering the combo to their personal safe. The fact that this will now come standard on so many devices means every phone with the application could now theoretically compete very well with Apple phones.
Key features
Some of the key features of the Google Assistant is the ability to get reminders based on the things the app knows a person likes. The application will notice if a person is constantly looking up the Denver Broncos scores and will start to send relevant information about the Broncos football games in the form of phone notifications.
The assistant feature that will now be on all Android phones making it easier than ever to use this functionality without having to first download it from the Google Play store.
Data mining
This type of feature can be very useful on a phone, but the key to a good product like this is the efficient collection of huge amounts of data. Data mining techniques can be used to learn all sorts of things that make it easier to live our life, but little nuances matter. For example, learning that people who visit frequently to an area with an active nightlife and lots of bars like to call a taxi or an Uber is one level of understanding. All of these little insights, and much more, can be extracted from the day to day data stored on our phone.
The more data Google has access to, the better their recommendations will be.
However, the more data Google has access to, the more a customer should worry about their privacy and personal information. A cyber attack or simply misusing the data could have real impacts if Google Assistant has collected information about where you work or spend your free time. The potential impact of that kind of event could be catastrophic if Google has all of your information. To be clear, Google has many security protocols in place and even stores some information in ways so that they can’t see who it came from. So far, consumers have been willing to take that risk in exchange for added convenience by Google Assistant, and there is no sign of that stopping anytime soon.
