‘Hey Google’ Can Now Trigger The Google Assistant
In what appears to be a direct shot at Amazon’s Alexa, the Google Assistant can now be triggered by saying ‘Hey Google’. In the past, the only hotword that would activate the Google Assistant was OK Google, but now a new hotword has been added to the mix.
In the past, Hey Google was a hotword that used to trigger Google Home devices but not the assistant on your phone. However, now the Google Assistant on your Android smartphone too, would be able to wake up when you say the magic words.
It was reported a couple of weeks ago that lines of code featuring the hotword ‘Hey Google’ were spotted in the code for the Google app. However today, reports have emerged stating that there are some smartphones which have already begun to react and respond to this command. This is still a spotty feature as some users reported that it was working for a while and does not work anymore while it is working fine for the others.
However it is expected that Google is soon going to make it official and announce it. The Hey Google hotword is clearly Google’s attempt to take a shot at Amazon’s Alexa which powers their Echo devices and fires up when you say Hey Alexa.
In addition to this, it is also being reported that once the Hey Google hotword goes live on your phone, you would be prompted by the assistant to re-train it for recognizing your voice for both – OK Google and the new hotword.
This is an interesting addition to Google’s AI powered Google Asisstant. The company is perhaps trying to make the conversation more convenient as OK Google sounded quite mechanical and non-conversational compared to Hey Google which is more ‘natural’. Google might have its reasons, but this is an interesting update from the company.
Source: Android Police
