Google Photos has over 200 million active monthly users and it’s computer vision has labelled over 2 trillion times. Google utilized the power of it’s computer vision and natural language processing technology to build smart communication apps like Allo and Duo.
Google Allo:
Google unveiled a new smart messaging app called “Allo”. Allo supports a lot of new stickers and emojis from content producers globally. Google introduced something that we didn’t realize was necessary until it was announced. “Whisper Shout” is a feature embedded into Google’s Allo app to get your point across beyond just emojis and stickers. Rather than having just a conventional send button, Google’s Whisper Shout has a slider which you can pull down to indicate that your whispering which reduces the font size and which when pulled up increases the font size to show that your shouting! (No more typing ALL CAPS to get your point across!). You can also now use a new ink features when sharing media like photos before sending it. Allo also now helps you to reduce your words with Smart Reply similar to the one available on Inbox, Google’s smart mailing app. So when you are asked something like “Dinner later?”, you will be given two choices for a reply “I’m in! (With two hands lifted emoji)” and “I’m busy”.
Allo uses machine learning for these predictions and they are smart so they are not default stored messages. It will improve the more you use the app and it’s smart enough to use emojis in addition to text. One of the most coolest features that make Allo really smart is Allo provides smart reply when people send photos to you as well thanks to its Photo Vision system used in Google Photos for smart labeling, sorting and detection. Google is incredibly smart that it can identify multiple food items on a single plate and still generate a conversational and smart reply thanks to its natural language processing and computer vision technologies.
Google Assistant is also built into Allo which enables your smart suggestions to go further by even providing suggestions of nearby restaurants based on the type of food you prefer and can use it’s knowledge graph system to show cards of different restaurants. You can also make reservation right from the app using Open Table for the people involved in the conversation. To have a conversation with Google Assistant, you need to simply type “@Google” and then assistant can pick up right where you left off and will remember your name and other little details like what’s your favourite team so you can ask questions like “Did my team win?” and Google Assistant can pull up the latest score the recent match and you can also follow up by asking when their next match is or even pulling up player information. You can also ask Google Assistant to play a game with you.
To learn more about Google Assistant, click here.
While all chats are generally encrypted, there is also an Incognito Mode available similar to Chrome which is end-to-end encrypted and supports private notifications that are discrete and hide the sender. It also offers expiring chats where you can choose the time limit. Deleting anything, deletes everything forever on your device.
Google Duo:
Video calling is another place where Google unveiled something new. Duo is a new app for a simple video calling app for everyone. It is a video component of Allo and is fast, works pretty well on slow networks and is end-to-end encrypted. It also uses your phone number for recognition similar to WhatsApp. One of its new prominent feature is called “Knock Knock” which gives you a live preview of the caller before you take the call. Once you take the call, you can seamlessly transition to the call from the preview. Duo is created by the team behind WebRTC, an open source platform for mobile video communication. Duo uses a new QUIC codec for efficient encryption. Duo also works around the globe and constantly checks for connections to keep the best video quality based on bandwidth available and can also seamlessly switch from cellular connection to a WiFi connection without any interruptions to the call. Duo uses HD video and audio for a smooth and crisp video calling experience.
Both Allo and Duo will be available on both Android and iOS this summer.
To learn about the other announcements at Google I/O 2016, click here!
