Google Smartwatch Software Gets Smart Enough to Talk Back

“… now, if you have a smartwatch running Wear OS, you can tell Google Assistant to do things like preheat a connected LG oven while you put away some groceries…”

Google is trying to make smartwatches a little smarter with a new software update for the Wear OS version of its Google Assistant AI platform.

One of the platform’s new features is ‘smart suggestions’: When a user asks Google Assistant a question, the answer will be provided along with further, related queries that might be of interest; for example, asking about the weather will bring up not just the current weather information but a button that can be tapped to see the forecast for the weekend. What’s more, Google Assistant can now respond to queries out loud, rather than through text-based information, as it did previously.

Google has also brought “Actions” to Wear OS. These are essentially voice commands for devices connected to Google Assistant; now, if you have a smartwatch running Wear OS, you can tell Google Assistant to do things like preheat a connected LG oven while you put away some groceries, for example.

Google’s Wear OS update comes just over a month after Samsung announced improvements to the software for the Gear S2, its own flagship smartwatch. These devices still haven’t become mainstream success stories along the lines of smartphones, but Samsung’s and Google’s ongoing work to improve their software suggests these companies see a brighter future for the devices, and want to make the devices a bit brighter themselves.

Source: The Keyword