- Google Assistant is available in English and Hindi in India
- Google says that its voice-activated AI assistant has received 4.5 lakh marriage proposals from Indian users
- "Ok Google, will you marry me?" is one of the most popular questions Indian users ask
- Google launched Google Home and Google home Mini smart speakers in India, April 11
- The smart speakers are powered by Google Assistant
Google Assistant seems to be getting along with the Indian users quite well. Among the many questions Indians asked Google's voice-based virtual assistant, "Ok Google, will you marry me?" is also there. In fact, Google has received as many as 4.5 lakh marriage proposals in India.
The virtual assistant's growing popularity with the Indian users can be attributed to the fact that it can now understand and speak in Hindi, which makes it friendlier and more personal to the average Indian user.
Speaking at the Google Home smart speaker launch event, Rishi Chandran vice-president, product management, Google Home, said "Google Assistant is available in India in Hindi and English. It has increasingly become popular in India."
"We have 4.5 lakh marriage proposals to Google Assistant from India," he added.
Google Assistant was launched last year and is currently available on most Android running smartphones in the country.
The virtual assistant is the brains behind the Google Home (Quick Review) and Google Home Mini smart speakers which we launched today, April 11 at an event in New Delhi.
The speakers are voice-activated and are powered by the Google Assistant.
Voice-input is increasingly becoming a common way of interacting with our gadgets and Google's AI-based assistant can understand the context and reply to the question accordingly.
The Google Home has been launched at Rs 9,999, while the smaller Google Home Mini is priced at Rs 4,999. Both the speakers will be available for purchase from later this year.
Google Home's Broadcast feature
Google Home smart speakers come with some very interesting features and its Broadcast feature allows you to send voice messages to everyone in your home via the Google Home devices.
With the Broadcast feature you can ask the Google Assistant to broadcast a message, for example, "it's dinner time" to everyone in the home. All you need to do is say, "Ok Google, Broadcast "It's time for dinner" or "Ok Google, Broadcast "Dinner is served" and the assistant will broadcast the message to everyone over the Google Home Speaker.
The Broadcast feature will be available on all Google Home Speakers starting April 11.
No Google Max in India
Google has launched only the regular Google Home and the smaller Google Home Mini in India. There is a bigger speaker called the Google Home Max, but the company has said that it currently has no plans of launching it in India.
Google Home compatibility
Unlike Amazon Echo smart speakers (REVIEW), which have very limited compatibility, Google Home is compatible with a variety of Google products including Chromecast.
The speakers are compatible with almost all Android smartphones and you can use the smart speakers to control most of your smart home devices connected via smart-hubs.
What about Netflix? Don't worry Google Home has you covered
In case you were wondering if Google Home supports Netflix, it does.
Google has tied up with various third-party vendors in India including Saavn, Gaana etc along with Google's own YouTube and Google Play Music.
However, Google Home is still incompatible with Hotstar, but you can access it via Google Chromecast TV stick.
Google Assistant on Google vs Alexa on Amazon Echo
Google reiterates that an "assistant should be present everywhere." So, Google Assistant is compatible with a wider range of products, whereas Alexa, though it is begging to grow its connections is still not as omnipresent as Google Assistant.
Google Home is also embedded with Google Services like Google Maps. The company, although it hasn't said anything about this may also bring Google Payments support on Google Home in the near future.
Finally, Google says that it is investing a lot of time and money on making its AI better and that it is constantly updating it.
