Google has added the male voice option for its assistant under the name ‘Voice II’. Users can toggle between both the voice options in the settings menu, according to Android Police. Once the user switches to the Voice II, a huskier AI assistant will be activated across the devices including iOS apps, Pixel phones or the Google Home speaker.
Earlier an APK teardown of version 7.12 showed a Voice II available on the Google Assistant. However, the male voice was not available for users to select, notes 9To5Google. Now Google has made the option live, and users can select between Voice I and Voice II now.
To access the male voice, users will need to go to the settings on their phone or in the Google Home app, then Preferences > Assistant Voice. If they don’t see the male voice option, they should make sure they have updated the Google and Home applications. If they still are not getting the option, then they can wait for some time, it will be on its way.
Google Assistant can be used to launch the apps, ask various questions and carry useful tasks. For those who are just starting to use the voice assistant, it would be a little tricky to find out how it works. Google voice assistant on the Android devices can be activated by a long press on the Home button, which will show a new window saying, “Meet your personal Google Assistant,” or something similar. For those who have already set up Google voice assistant, the windows will take the user to the Assistant menu.
A separate report from 9To5Google claims that Google voice assistant might now come to the Chromebooks. The report said there are a number of references in the Google Home app, indicating how the app would work with the Chromebooks. For now, Google Chrome OS is compatible with Android apps and is already available on the Pixel phones. So, it only makes sense that Google adds the voice assistant in the Chromebook.
Google knows that going forward people would largely interact with the devices and phones via voice, therefore, bringing voice assistant on every device would serve them well. Apple Mac’s already have Siri after it was introduced with macOS Sierra in 2016. Also, Microsoft’s Windows 10 has had support for Cortana, their own voice assistant, for some time now.
Apart from Voice Assistant, Google is also preparing to launch their Mini Home speakers. Accidentally, Walmart dropped the first pictures of the Home Mini. According to Droid Life, Walmart listed the cheaper version of the Google Home assistant speaker for pre-order on its site. But, after they realized the mistake, the ad was pulled down.
Google Home Mini will compete with the Amazon Echo Dot, which is the smaller version of Amazon Echo. The pre-order information reveals that Google Home Mini would weigh less than a pound, measure 4.53 x 4.53 x 4.72 inches, and costs only $49. The functions would mostly be the same as the current Google Home, which is bigger in size. Google Mini Home would be able to tell about the weather, play music and answer all the questions that the user asks.
