Google aims to take on Apple’s Siri

Five months after introducing its digital assistant, Google is sharing the feature with Android partners, hoping the service can boost its odds to win customers from Apple’s iPhone.

Google aims to take on Apple’s Siri

Alphabet Inc.’s Google is making its intelligent assistant — a service that answers queries, plays music and completes tasks — available for smartphones using the two newest versions of its Android software. It’s showcasing the service with a closer partnership with LG Electronics at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, where LG and a slew of hardware manufacturers aim to make a splash ahead of the iPhone’s 10th anniversary later this year.

Until now, Google’s Pixel smartphone, introduced in October, has been the only handset with the company’s automated assistant. Gummi Hafsteinsson, the product lead for the assistant, said exclusivity was required to refine the system, a key priority at the company.

“It was a new product and we wanted to make sure we took the baby steps required,” he said.

Investment bank Evercore ISI estimates that Google shipped 552,000 Pixel phones in the fourth quarter last year in addition to 500,000 Google Home speakers, another device that already runs the assistant service, making the current accessibility to Google Assistant slim compared with competitors like Apple’s Siri and Amazon.com’s Alexa.

By adding the assistant to Android devices, which researcher IDC estimates make up 85% of all global smartphones, Google is moving closer to its goal of expanding the use of the feature.

The virtual assistant will reach about one-third of Android phones, including the new devices rolled out yesterday by LG and others, that use Google’s latest software, according to the company.

“We obviously would want to provide it to every device in the world,” Mr Hafsteinsson added.

Android phones that run Google’s Play store services will now have access to the assistant, which can be summoned through a voice command (“OK, Google”) or the phone’s home screen. But Google is working more intimately with LG. On Sunday in Barcelona, LG unveiled its latest phone, the G6, with the Google Assistant.

more courts articles

Man (25) in court charged with murdering his father and attempted murder of mother Man (25) in court charged with murdering his father and attempted murder of mother
Man appears in court charged with false imprisonment of woman in van Man appears in court charged with false imprisonment of woman in van
Man in court over alleged false imprisonment of woman Man in court over alleged false imprisonment of woman

More in this section

FILE PHOTO The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission has cleared the purchase of Goodbody Stockbrokers by AIB END Goodbody Stockbrokers fined over €1.2m by Central Bank over rules breaches
Nottingham City Centre Stock Irish staff at the Body Shop wait for wages as retailer shuts stores in the Republic
Ryanair comments on Norwegian Ryanair boss O'Leary's spat with Transport Minister over Dublin Airport escalates
IE logo
Devices


UNLIMITED ACCESS TO THE IRISH EXAMINER FOR TEAMS AND ORGANISATIONS
FIND OUT MORE

The Business Hub
Newsletter

News and analysis on business, money and jobs from Munster and beyond by our expert team of business writers.

Sign up
ie logo
Puzzles Logo

Play digital puzzles like crosswords, sudoku and a variety of word games including the popular Word Wheel

Lunchtime News
Newsletter

Keep up with the stories of the day with our lunchtime news wrap.

Sign up
Cookie Policy Privacy Policy Brand Safety FAQ Help Contact Us Terms and Conditions

© Examiner Echo Group Limited