CES AppDate: Smartphones help the hearing impaired

Google Assistant upgraded

Google has been concentrating a lot on its assistant in terms of streamlining it and, well, make it a little more clever.

For instance, Webpage reading lets one save an article and have it read back at a later stage. The only difference is when you say “Hey Google, read this page” it reads the page contents and leaves out things like URLs and social networking links.

Also added is the option to schedule actions. For example, you can tell Google to switch on the lights at 8pm and switch them off after an hour. Sounds a bit like science-fiction, but it is here.

Lastly, its speed dial acts like a digital version of those important numbers you write on a sticky note and stick to the fridge. Speed dial allows you to create a list of numbers and “paste” them to a phone’s lock screen, great for emergencies and the like.

Platform: Android 

Expect to pay: Pricing has not been released yet but, knowing Google, most of the features will be free or will cost very little.

Stockists: You can start looking out for these features popping up on your device sometime this year.

Read more about Apple’s take on smart homes, an app that makes sharing contacts easier, and a weather app that’s extremely accurate.

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