Zee News, one of India's premium Hindi news channels, and WION, the global news and views channel from the Zee Group, have expanded their footprint by integrating their news service into Google Assistant. Over 1 billion mobile and hand-held devices across the world have Google Assistant, which gives unprecedented reach to both the news channels.

Zee News commands a massive and loyal following, especially in the Hindi-speaking regions of the country, while WION is a niche platform for the English speaking audience. With the presence of Zee News and WION on the Google Assistant, the news seeker gets one more opportunity&nbsp;to find about the latest happenings in India and other parts of the world.

For over 25 years, Zee News has been tracking all the twists and turns which India has witnessed. The channel has been unparalleled in its coverage of the colourful Indian elections. Hindi speakers can now access content on Zee News by simply asking their Google Assistant "Zee News ki khabarein sunao".

All the top bulletins, special features and shows of Zee News including Deshhit, Taal Thok Ke and the iconic DNA with Zee News Editor-in-Chief Sudhir Chaudhary will be available through this integration with the Google Assistant.

Similarly, saying "Play news from WION" will play news reports from WION. The news bulletins along with premium shows like Gravitas, Tech it out, Pitstop and Traveller can also be accessed by simply asking your Google Assistant. While WION has been available on the TV since August 2016, we are happy to extend it to users of the Google Assistant.

Moreover, just by asking questions about their favourite shows, the user will be directed to the same and can enjoy the offering according to their schedule and comfort.

With this one more additional step closer to audiences, Zee Group's CEO, Digital Publishing, Rohit Chadda said, “Being one of the largest news networks, our constant endeavour is to maximise the reach of our content. Recent studies suggest that 60 per cent of all smartphone users have tried voice search at least once in the past 12 months. Additionally, the global voice-based smart speaker market is poised to be worth $30 billion by 2024. Given the growth of voice as a medium of content search and consumption, we plan to focus strongly on this new medium to ensure we emerge the leader in the space.”

About Zee Digital

Zee Digital comprises digital publishing and OTT business of the group. The digital publishing business includes websites/apps for 20 brands across 12 languages in various genres like news, entertainment, technology, cricket, health and lifestyle and consists of flagship brands like ZeeNews.com, WIONews.com, DNAIndia.com, ZeeBusiness.in, India.com, Bollywoodlife.com, BGR.in, TheHealthsite.com, CricketCountry.com etc.

The OTT business, Zee5, is one of the leading online video streaming platforms offering an exhaustive array of content to its users with 90+ live TV channels and 1.25 lac+ hours of viewing across multiple languages.

Zee News, one of India's premium Hindi news channels, and WION, the global news and views channel from the Zee Group, have expanded their footprint by integrating their news service into Google Assistant.

Zee News, one of India's premium Hindi news channels, and WION, the global news and views channel from the Zee Group, have expanded their footprint by integrating their news service into Google Assistant. Over 1 billion mobile and hand-held devices across the world have Google Assistant, which gives unprecedented reach to both the news channels. Zee News commands a massive and loyal following, especially in the Hindi-speaking regions of the country, while WION is a niche platform for the English speaking audience. With the presence of Zee News and WION on the Google Assistant, the news seeker gets one more opportunity to find about the latest happenings in India and other parts of the world. For over 25 years, Zee News has been tracking all the twists and turns which India has witnessed. The channel has been unparalleled in its coverage of the colourful Indian elections. Hindi speakers can now access content on Zee News by simply asking their Google Assistant "Zee News ki khabarein sunao". All the top bulletins, special features and shows of Zee News including Deshhit, Taal Thok Ke and the iconic DNA with Zee News Editor-in-Chief Sudhir Chaudhary will be available through this integration with the Google Assistant. Similarly, saying "Play news from WION" will play news reports from WION. The news bulletins along with premium shows like Gravitas, Tech it out, Pitstop and Traveller can also be accessed by simply asking your Google Assistant. While WION has been available on the TV since August 2016, we are happy to extend it to users of the Google Assistant. Moreover, just by asking questions about their favourite shows, the user will be directed to the same and can enjoy the offering according to their schedule and comfort. With this one more additional step closer to audiences, Zee Group's CEO, Digital Publishing, Rohit Chadda said, “Being one of the largest news networks, our constant endeavour is to maximise the reach of our content. Recent studies suggest that 60 per cent of all smartphone users have tried voice search at least once in the past 12 months. Additionally, the global voice-based smart speaker market is poised to be worth $30 billion by 2024. Given the growth of voice as a medium of content search and consumption, we plan to focus strongly on this new medium to ensure we emerge the leader in the space.” About Zee Digital Zee Digital comprises digital publishing and OTT business of the group. The digital publishing business includes websites/apps for 20 brands across 12 languages in various genres like news, entertainment, technology, cricket, health and lifestyle and consists of flagship brands like ZeeNews.com, WIONews.com, DNAIndia.com, ZeeBusiness.in, India.com, Bollywoodlife.com, BGR.in, TheHealthsite.com, CricketCountry.com etc. The OTT business, Zee5, is one of the leading online video streaming platforms offering an exhaustive array of content to its users with 90+ live TV channels and 1.25 lac+ hours of viewing across multiple languages.

Zee News, WION now on Google Assistant

Ever been stuck in a situation where you cannot recall a song and cannot get it out of your mind too; where you simply cannot work out the name of the song or any of the lyrics?

Google Assistant is here to your rescue.

The tech giant has launched a feature called ‘hum to search’, which lets one hum to search for songs.

One can now request Google Assistant (or tap the mic icon on the Google Search widget) and ask “what’s this song?” then start humming.&nbsp;

The user needs to hum for around 10-15 seconds and Google Assistant will then use machine learning to try and identify the song.

Google will then give a selection of likely matches, so even if you don’t hum it perfectly there’s a good chance one of the options will be right.

Ever been stuck in a situation where you cannot recall a song and cannot get it out of your mind too; where you simply cannot work out the name of the song or any of the lyrics?

Ever been stuck in a situation where you cannot recall a song and cannot get it out of your mind too; where you simply cannot work out the name of the song or any of the lyrics? Google Assistant is here to your rescue. The tech giant has launched a feature called ‘hum to search’, which lets one hum to search for songs. One can now request Google Assistant (or tap the mic icon on the Google Search widget) and ask “what’s this song?” then start humming. The user needs to hum for around 10-15 seconds and Google Assistant will then use machine learning to try and identify the song. Google will then give a selection of likely matches, so even if you don’t hum it perfectly there’s a good chance one of the options will be right.

If you can hum a song, Google Assistant can now play it for you

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/business-economy/google-begins-rolling-out-rich-communication-services-to-do-more-with-messages-262225">Google</a> said Tuesday its digital assistant will serve as a "news host" on its connected devices to deliver stories from a variety of its media partners.

The feature called Your News Update will be activated by asking the Google Assistant to read the news.

The artificial intelligence program will deliver "a mix of short news stories chosen at that moment based on your interests, location, user history and preferences, as well as the top news stories out there," said product manager Liz Gannes in a blog post.

The assistant will offer stories from partners including CBS, Politico, Fox News and CNN based on user preferences and other factors.

It can offer news, for example, about the user's favourite sports teams or specific local or business events.

"In between stories, the Google Assistant serves as your smart news host that introduces which publishers and updates are next," Gannes said.

The feature is available in English in the United States and will expand internationally next year, for people with compatible <a href="https://www.wionews.com/business-economy/focus-made-in-china-samsung-farms-out-more-phones-to-fend-off-rivals-262812">smartphones</a> and connected speakers.

It is activated by saying, "Hey Google, play me the news."

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/business-economy/amazon-offers-employees-10000-to-quit-launch-delivery-business-218463">Amazon </a>offers a similar "flash briefing" feature for its <a href="https://www.wionews.com/entertainment/amazon-brings-samuel-l-jacksons-voice-to-alexa-and-announces-voice-controlled-glasses-252112">Alexa</a>-powered devices.

Google said Tuesday its digital assistant will serve as a "news host" on its connected devices to deliver stories from a variety of its media partners. The feature called Your News Update will be activated by asking the Google Assistant to read the news.

Google said Tuesday its digital assistant will serve as a "news host" on its connected devices to deliver stories from a variety of its media partners. The feature called Your News Update will be activated by asking the Google Assistant to read the news. The artificial intelligence program will deliver "a mix of short news stories chosen at that moment based on your interests, location, user history and preferences, as well as the top news stories out there," said product manager Liz Gannes in a blog post. The assistant will offer stories from partners including CBS, Politico, Fox News and CNN based on user preferences and other factors. It can offer news, for example, about the user's favourite sports teams or specific local or business events. "In between stories, the Google Assistant serves as your smart news host that introduces which publishers and updates are next," Gannes said. The feature is available in English in the United States and will expand internationally next year, for people with compatible smartphones and connected speakers. It is activated by saying, "Hey Google, play me the news." Amazon offers a similar "flash briefing" feature for its Alexa-powered devices.

Google Assistant to soon work as news host for devices

<a href="http://www.bgr.in/tag/google-home/">Google Home</a>, the tech giant&rsquo;s smart speaker, suffered an outage where the Assistant did not respond to the users. Google Home is equipped with the AI-based assistant which responds to the launch phrases, &quot;Ok Google&quot;&nbsp;or &quot;Hey Google&quot;. Unfortunately, Google Assistant was responding with, &quot;Hmm, something went wrong. Try again in a few seconds,&quot;&nbsp;or &quot;There was a glitch. Try again in a few seconds&quot;.&nbsp;Google updated saying that the glitch has been fixed now.

The Google Home outage appears to have started from May 31 according to the complaints posted on Google Home Help Forum.&nbsp;<a href="http://www.androidpolice.com/2017/06/05/not-just-theres-widespread-google-home-outage/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Android Police</a>&nbsp;reported that only the Google Home smart speaker was affected with this glitch, and the other devices with Google Assistant worked fine. Google Home users who pointed out the glitch on the forum said that they had tried resetting the device, and even changed the Wi-Fi network, but the problem was still occurring. To some users, the command &lsquo;Ok Google&rsquo; would work 60 to 70 per cent of the time, and fail eventually.

Google&nbsp;<a href="https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/googlehome/2uX6fX3MwTY;context-place=forum/googlehome" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">responded to the issue</a>&nbsp;saying that the company is looking into the matter. Today, Google updated the forum with a message saying that issue has been fixed &ndash; &ldquo;We want to thank everyone for all the input, feedback and patience while we worked on this issue. We hope to have fixed this issue for everyone. If you are still having issues please try rebooting your Google Home by unplugging it from the wall outlet, waiting a minute then plugging it back in. Please do let us know if you are still experiencing any error messages after the saying &#39;Ok Google&#39;&nbsp;or &#39;Hey Google&#39;.&rdquo;&nbsp;

So the Google Home outage could have been fixed simply by removing the plug from&nbsp;the socket, waiting for a minute and then plugging it back in. While Google did update its Home users on fixing the glitch, it did not specify why the issue was caused. Since only Google Home was suffering an outage, it was a relief considering people could still control their smart home products with their smartphones. Smart home products are still at a nascent stage in India, but in a market like the US, it&rsquo;s becoming a necessity.&nbsp;

Going by the comment thread on the forum, it was noticeable how many people rely on Google Home and how some people have three, four of them lying at home. While this may seem like a small glitch, people who have a proper ecosystem of a smart home could suffer a bigger problem if the scale was higher.&nbsp;

Previously, only&nbsp;<a href="http://www.bgr.in/tag/amazon-echo/">Amazon Echo</a>&nbsp;and Google Home were dominating the home speaker market, but more players joined. The most recent ones include&nbsp;<a href="http://www.bgr.in/news/microsoft-build-2017-live-after-harman-kardon-hp-intel-join-the-league-of-cortana-powered-devices/">Harman Kardon&rsquo;s Cortana-enabled Invoke</a>&nbsp;and Andy Rubin&rsquo;s intelligent speaker system, t<a href="http://www.bgr.in/news/andy-rubins-essential-home-smart-speaker-focuses-on-user-privacy-takes-on-google-home-amazon-echo/">he Essential Home</a>. The latest to join the scene is Apple with its Siri-powered HomePod speaker. As the reality moves to people depending on AI-enabled devices, these kinds of glitches could potentially create a bigger issue in the future. The Google Home glitch saw a temporary but widespread&nbsp;frustration among its users.

(BGR News)

Reports say only the Google Home smart speaker was affected with this glitch, and other Google Assistant devices worked fine

Google Home, the tech giant’s smart speaker, suffered an outage where the Assistant did not respond to the users. Google Home is equipped with the AI-based assistant which responds to the launch phrases, "Ok Google" or "Hey Google". Unfortunately, Google Assistant was responding with, "Hmm, something went wrong. Try again in a few seconds," or "There was a glitch. Try again in a few seconds". Google updated saying that the glitch has been fixed now. The Google Home outage appears to have started from May 31 according to the complaints posted on Google Home Help Forum. Android Police reported that only the Google Home smart speaker was affected with this glitch, and the other devices with Google Assistant worked fine. Google Home users who pointed out the glitch on the forum said that they had tried resetting the device, and even changed the Wi-Fi network, but the problem was still occurring. To some users, the command ‘Ok Google’ would work 60 to 70 per cent of the time, and fail eventually. Google responded to the issue saying that the company is looking into the matter. Today, Google updated the forum with a message saying that issue has been fixed – “We want to thank everyone for all the input, feedback and patience while we worked on this issue. We hope to have fixed this issue for everyone. If you are still having issues please try rebooting your Google Home by unplugging it from the wall outlet, waiting a minute then plugging it back in. Please do let us know if you are still experiencing any error messages after the saying 'Ok Google' or 'Hey Google'.” So the Google Home outage could have been fixed simply by removing the plug from the socket, waiting for a minute and then plugging it back in. While Google did update its Home users on fixing the glitch, it did not specify why the issue was caused. Since only Google Home was suffering an outage, it was a relief considering people could still control their smart home products with their smartphones. Smart home products are still at a nascent stage in India, but in a market like the US, it’s becoming a necessity. Going by the comment thread on the forum, it was noticeable how many people rely on Google Home and how some people have three, four of them lying at home. While this may seem like a small glitch, people who have a proper ecosystem of a smart home could suffer a bigger problem if the scale was higher. Previously, only Amazon Echo and Google Home were dominating the home speaker market, but more players joined. The most recent ones include Harman Kardon’s Cortana-enabled Invoke and Andy Rubin’s intelligent speaker system, the Essential Home. The latest to join the scene is Apple with its Siri-powered HomePod speaker. As the reality moves to people depending on AI-enabled devices, these kinds of glitches could potentially create a bigger issue in the future. The Google Home glitch saw a temporary but widespread frustration among its users. (BGR News)

Google Home suffers outage, Assistant stops responding to commands

Google announced on Wednesday it was bringing its digital assistant to Apple iPhones as part of its effort to win the battle with tech rivals on artificial intelligence.

At its annual developers conference at an outdoor concert-venue near its main campus in Mountain View, California, Google unveiled its vision for computing centered around artificial intelligence.

&quot;We are now witnessing a new shift in computing: the move from a mobile-first to an AI-first world,&quot; Google chief executive Sundar Pichai said during an opening presentation.

&quot;It is forcing us to reimagine our products for a world that allows a more natural, seamless way of interacting with technology.&quot;

Those interactions, for Google, include using artificial intelligence to let people engage computers conversationally, have software anticipate needs, and let smartphone cameras &quot;recognize&quot; what they see.

&quot;In an AI-first world, we are rethinking all of our products and applying machine learning to solve problems,&quot; Pichai said.

Google Assistant, the center of its AI efforts, is in a fierce battle with rivals such as Amazon&#39;s Alexa, Microsoft Cortana and Apple&#39;s Siri to be the top choice for use in smartphones as well as connected homes, cars and a range of other devices.

&quot;Siri&#39;s got company, and all these other guys are pretty serious about it,&quot; said Gartner analyst Brian Blau.

Artificial intelligence is being woven into Google&#39;s free Gmail service, used by more than a billion people, for features such as suggesting responses to messages. For example, opening an email containing an invitation to dinner might trigger a prompt to reply &quot;I&#39;m in.&quot;

(AFP)

Google announced on Wednesday it was bringing its digital assistant to Apple iPhones as part of its effort to win the battle with tech rivals on artificial intelligence. At its annual developers conference at an outdoor concert-venue near its main campus in Mountain View, California, Google unveiled its vision for computing centered around artificial intelligence. "We are now witnessing a new shift in computing: the move from a mobile-first to an AI-first world," Google chief executive Sundar Pichai said during an opening presentation. "It is forcing us to reimagine our products for a world that allows a more natural, seamless way of interacting with technology." Those interactions, for Google, include using artificial intelligence to let people engage computers conversationally, have software anticipate needs, and let smartphone cameras "recognize" what they see. "In an AI-first world, we are rethinking all of our products and applying machine learning to solve problems," Pichai said. Google Assistant, the center of its AI efforts, is in a fierce battle with rivals such as Amazon's Alexa, Microsoft Cortana and Apple's Siri to be the top choice for use in smartphones as well as connected homes, cars and a range of other devices. "Siri's got company, and all these other guys are pretty serious about it," said Gartner analyst Brian Blau. Artificial intelligence is being woven into Google's free Gmail service, used by more than a billion people, for features such as suggesting responses to messages. For example, opening an email containing an invitation to dinner might trigger a prompt to reply "I'm in." (AFP)

Google Assistant coming to iPhones; will take on Siri

Alphabet Inc&rsquo;s Google announced on Wednesday it would make its digital assistant available on Apple Inc&rsquo;s iPhone, opening up the tool to a key high-end segment of the technology market.

Speaking at an annual developer conference in Mountain View, California, Google CEO Sundar Pichai touted the company&#39;s progress with the Google Assistant.

The Assistant debuted last year on Google&rsquo;s own hardware, and the company has gradually extended the tool to devices from other manufacturers running on its Android operating system.

Tech companies such as Apple, Google and Amazon are competing to establish the dominant voice-powered digital assistant, which many in the industry believe will supplant keyboards and touch screens as a primary way that users interact with technology.

(Reuters)

Google announced on Wednesday it would make its digital assistant available on Apple Inc?s iPhone, opening up the tool to a key high-end segment of the technology market

Alphabet Inc’s Google announced on Wednesday it would make its digital assistant available on Apple Inc’s iPhone, opening up the tool to a key high-end segment of the technology market. Speaking at an annual developer conference in Mountain View, California, Google CEO Sundar Pichai touted the company's progress with the Google Assistant. The Assistant debuted last year on Google’s own hardware, and the company has gradually extended the tool to devices from other manufacturers running on its Android operating system. Tech companies such as Apple, Google and Amazon are competing to establish the dominant voice-powered digital assistant, which many in the industry believe will supplant keyboards and touch screens as a primary way that users interact with technology. (Reuters)

Google opens up digital assistant to iPhone

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