MWC 2019: Google Assistant comes to Android Messages, brings voice typing, Actions to KaiOS running feature phones

Highlights: Google Assistant will be integrated into Google Messages in the coming months. The feature will allow users to ask a question and the answer will populate the text field. The smart assistant will also enable voice-typing in KaiOS-powered feature phones. At MWC 2019, that formally kicked off in Barcelona on Monday, Google announced that its smart assistant is going to be integrated into Android Messages “over the coming months.” The Google Assistant button might appear when you’re using the Messages app to text someone, perhaps in the smart replies section. If you tap on the button, you can ask it a question, and the answer will be populated in the text field. The feature, for now, is limited to the English language. Google also clarified it’s not reading your texts while doing so. It said that the only information that’s sent to the company’s servers is the question you ask Google Assistant within the app. The company calls it “suggestion chips” and they are generated using local analysis of what you are typing. For instance, if someone asks you to go to a restaurant with them, Google will show a pizza emoji and a ‘yes’, along with a button that searches for the restaurant. Tapping on the suggestion and the Assistant box will show a card with the information about the restaurant and options and one can send the results back to the person they are chatting with. It’s not clear how the Assistant Card will look to the user receiving it. The feature comes after Google formally shut down its messaging app Allo that came with Google Assistant integration. The app is slated to shut down in March and after that, Google’s Android Messages will be the company’s primary texting app for consumers. The Messages app supports SMS, MMS and RCS. Google also announced that voice typing will be available via Google Assistant on devices running on KaiOS, which is an operating system made for smart feature phones. Google claimed there was a 7x increase in the use of Google Assistant among feature phone users in India, Indonesia, Mexico and Brazil in 2018. The speech-to-text feature will allow feature phone users to populate a text field using nothing but their voice. You need to hold down the Assistant button to type. At the same time, Google also announced it’s bringing Android 9 Pie Actions to Android Go Edition as well as KaiOS. Developers will be able to offer third-party Google Assistant applets in feature phones and entry-level phones. The company even launched an entry-level phone simulator for testing. Related Reads: Here's how the Nokia 9 PureView uses five cameras in tandem to create a single shot with crazy amount of detail All the foldable smartphones announced so far at MWC 2019

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