Tag Archives: Google Assistant

Mark Page: Smart speaker audio matched paedophile ex-Radio 1 DJ’s voice (BBC)

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BBC: Mark Page: Smart speaker audio matched paedophile ex-Radio 1 DJ’s voice. “A former Radio 1 DJ jailed for child sex offences was caught partly by matching smart speaker audio to his distinctive voice, it has emerged. Mark Page was jailed for arranging sexual abuse of children in the Philippines, both online and in person. Data from Google Takeout was used for the first time during the two-year investigation by Cleveland Police.”

Uncovering the unheard: Researchers reveal inaudible remote cyber-attacks on voice assistant devices (University of Texas at San Antonio)

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University of Texas at San Antonio: Uncovering the unheard: Researchers reveal inaudible remote cyber-attacks on voice assistant devices. “Guenevere Chen, an associate professor in the UTSA Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, recently published a paper on USENIX Security 2023 that demonstrates a novel inaudible voice trojan attack to exploit vulnerabilities of smart device microphones and voice assistants — like Siri, Google Assistant, Alexa or Amazon’s Echo and Microsoft Cortana — and provide defense mechanisms for users.”

The Verge: Google is finally making its to-do list and reminder tools work together

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The Verge: Google is finally making its to-do list and reminder tools work together. “Google is working on a big update to Google Tasks, the company said today. It’s bringing a couple of new features to the app, making it easier to add tasks, and finally integrating its reminder system across Google Assistant, Calendar, and the rest of the Google suite of apps.”

9to5 Google: Google Assistant’s IFTTT integration is changing and requires setting up again

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9to5 Google: Google Assistant’s IFTTT integration is changing and requires setting up again. “For quite some time now, Assistant has supported IFTTT, but Google is now warning people about ‘upcoming changes’ to the third-party integration. Some functionality is being removed and all users need to set up IFTTT again.”

9to5 Google: Google Assistant is losing the ability to set location-based reminders

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9to5Google: Google Assistant is losing the ability to set location-based reminders. “This removal comes as the system behind Assistant reminders has long been quite basic. Interactions done via voice are fine, but the list UI showing you everything is quite bad on Android. It certainly looks and feels like an afterthought. In fact, the banner telling users that Google Assistant’s location reminders are going away is not even legible with the new dark theme.”

The Verge: Google Assistant’s automatic password updater gets wider rollout

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The Verge: Google Assistant’s automatic password updater gets wider rollout. “A Google Assistant feature designed to automate the time-consuming process of changing your passwords after a breach appears to be getting a wider rollout. That’s according to a tweet from leaker Max Weinbach and a report from Android Police.”

Comment: With Assistant Snapshot going away, Google Now’s radical vision is dead for a generation (9to5 Google)

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9to5 Google: Comment: With Assistant Snapshot going away, Google Now’s radical vision is dead for a generation . “It’s been clear for some time now that Assistant Snapshot ‘does not have the same level of vision, central on-phone placement, or wide backing’ as Google Now. It was never going to be game changing, but its upcoming demise officially closes the chapter on what could have been a radically different way to use smartphones.”

Android Central: Google Assistant’s original white noise sound returns following backlash

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Android Central: Google Assistant’s original white noise sound returns following backlash. “Several users expressed their displeasure with the company’s decision to change the white noise sound on the Google Nest community forum page and Reddit (via 9to5Google)…. Fortunately, a Reddit user has uploaded the original white noise sound’s one-hour and 12-hour versions.”

9to5 Google: Google changes the white noise sound on Nest Hub, Assistant speakers & people are upset

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9to5 Google: Google changes the white noise sound on Nest Hub, Assistant speakers & people are upset. “People like using their Google Assistant Smart Displays and speakers to play white noise before sleeping. Google earlier this week changed the white noise ambient sound and there has been an onslaught of complaints from Home/Nest users.”

Stanford University: Are Voice Assistants a Reliable Source of Health Information?

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Stanford University: Are Voice Assistants a Reliable Source of Health Information?. “In recent work published by Annals of Family Medicine, [Grace] Hong and her colleagues found that, in response to questions about cancer screening, some voice assistants were unable to provide any verbal answer while others offered unreliable sources or inaccurate information about screening.”

9to5Google: Google Assistant no longer offers ‘Your News Update’ audio digests

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9to5Google: Google Assistant no longer offers ‘Your News Update’ audio digests. “In November of 2019, Google upgraded Assistant’s ‘play me the news’ capability with personalized audio digests. Google Assistant has now removed ‘Your News Update’ and gone back to only offering standard sources.”

Arizona State University: ASU works with Google, US-Mexico Foundation to highlight Latino history

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Arizona State University: ASU works with Google, US-Mexico Foundation to highlight Latino history . “‘Hey Google, what happened today in Latino history?’ Thanks to a collaboration between Arizona State University, the U.S.-Mexico Foundation (USMF) and Google, this is a question you can now ask any Google Assistant-enabled smart speaker, display or phone. For each day of the year, ASU and the USMF worked together to curate a fact celebrating the achievements, culture and impact of the Latino community in the U.S. and the world.”

Reuters: Google’s voice assistant under new EU antitrust investigation -MLex

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Reuters: Google’s voice assistant under new EU antitrust investigation -MLex. “Alphabet Inc’s Google is being investigated by EU antitrust regulators on whether it may be forcing device makers to use Google Assistant as the default voice assistant on Android devices, news agency MLex reported on Thursday.”

ReviewGeek: Google Assistant Now Lets You Delay Actions Within Your Routines

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ReviewGeek: Google Assistant Now Lets You Delay Actions Within Your Routines. “Google has spent the last year trying to improve its smart assistant Routines, the single-command shortcuts that trigger multiple changes across your home. Earlier this year, the company announced one-tap My Actions buttons that let you start Routines from the Google Home app. And now, Google is quietly rolling out a Delay Start feature that lets you adjust when specific actions within your Routines start.”