Google Assistant officially becomes available in Hindi
What's the story
Google Assistant, the tech giant's voice-enabled digital assistant, has officially become available in Hindi, complete with conversational support in the language.
Currently, Hindi language support on Google Assistant is only being rolled-out to devices with Android 6.0 Marshmallow and above.
The feature will soon come to Android 5.0 Lollipop, iOS 9.1 and above, and Android Go.
Here are the details.
Context
Google Assistant can understand Hindi, respond in it
Earlier, a limited version of Hindi language support was rolled out for Google Assistant. But under it, Google Assistant could only understand Hindi and not responded in it.
Further, the entire experience was restricted to only a few pre-defined questions.
Now with conversational support, Google Assistant can respond in Hindi, perform actions asked through Hindi voice commands, and also talk casually in Hindi.
Activation
Here's how you can activate Hindi language on Google Assistant
Go to Google Assistant and tap on the blue icon at the top right corner.
Now at the Explore screen, tap on the three vertical dots on the top right corner and click on Settings from the pop-up menu.
Go to Phone Setting > Assistant Language > Change Language > Hindi.
Exit Google Assistant, and long press the Home button to trigger the change.
Information
Ask Assistant about the weather or cricket scores in Hindi
You can use the new feature to send text messages, set reminders, and get directions. You can ask the Assistant questions like 'Aaj kaisa mausam rahega?', 'Gana sunao', 'Kya haal hain?', 'Kal subah mujhe saat baje jagaao', and 'Cricket ka score kya hain?'
Competition
Alexa and Siri have their work cut out for them
With this, competition has been made difficult for rival digital assistants like Amazon's Alexa and Apple's Siri, both which are yet to add Hindi support.
Hindi language support in Google Assistant can also improve the Google Home offering, which is Google's voice-enabled smart speaker.
Machine learning-backed Google Assistant learns user behavior and preferences on-the-go to provide a more personalized experience.
Quote
Making Google Assistant "truly Indian"
"The Google Assistant is truly Indian, it's your helpful dost that speaks our language and understands things you care about, from finding biryani recipes, to pulling up the latest cricket score, or finding directions to the nearest ATM," said Purvi Shah, Technical Program Manager, Assistant.