Google has aimed at making its digital assistant for Pixel phones much better than the competitor, Siri and Cortana of Apple and Microsoft Corp respectively.
According to Rakowski, the company wanted the smartphone Assistant to become natural extension of ways in which people get information from Google.
A Big Shift
Six months back, hardware workers and those working on the Google Assistant started collaborating to hammer out the last details of the first Pixel phone. Eight years back, Google had created a minor smartphone revolution when it first gave away the Android software for allowing mobile phone makers in the rest of the world do their bit with the software. Android now runs as an operating system for more than 85% of the world’s mobile smart phones. However, the new arrangement six months ago showed that a major shift was under way.
New Approach
Though Android holds sway over the majority of smartphones in the world today, voice control is threatening to take the place of touch, in smartphones and other hand held devices. Google is, therefore, experimenting and trying out a brand new approach, trying to integrate hardware and software.
Hardware and Software Teams
The hardware and software and software teams have gathered together and already have the prototype for 2017’s smartphone camera, according to Brian Rakowski, the VP of products for the Android OS.
Empowering the Google Assistant
The ambition of the team is to make the digital assistant better than Siri andCortana, the rivals in Apple and Microsoft respectively. The fusion of the hardware with the software is essential for this goal. If you want to create a powerful assistant, you need a good microphone and this has to be combined with a state of the art processor for crunching extensive data. An app alone is not sufficient. The two teams worked together in case of graphics appearing when users call on the Google Assistant. They settled on the flurry of colored dots, which provides a whimsical feel offering more life to the phone home button, according to Rakowski.
Integration of Google Assistant
The Assistant has been integrated in the Pixel phones. According to Charles Jolley, the CE of Ozlo, which also offers the digital assistant named Ozlo, the integration is a clever move, as Google need not negotiate with another handset manufacturer, as they can tighten it to the extent they need. In order to offer the optimum experience to users, the Google Assistant will be present only on Google phones, namely the Pixel, at least for the present.
Long Term Strategy
This is the strategy for the short term, but it is not clear whether the company will continue to keep the Assistant for the Pixel phones. They might return to their original strategy of pushing the new Assistant feature to several other smartphones that run on Android. However, in this case, there is a risk of offering an experience of a lower quality on other manufacturers’ phones, when compared to Pixel phones.