Google has taken advantage of its appearance at IFA 2018 in Berlin to launch a bilingual version of its voice-controlled digital assistant as well as a high-end version of its Google Home speaker and a range of newly-compatible devices and appliances. The new multilingual support means the Assistant will be able to understand and speak more than one language at a time. Initially, users will be able to set up any language pair that includes English, German, French, Spanish, Italian and Japanese, with more languages and trilingual support in the pipeline.
In a statement, Google said advancement in speech recognition means bilingual families can now speak two languages interchangeably with the Assistant on smart speakers and phones and the Assistant will respond in kind.
The bilingual Assistant can be used on the newly-introduced Google Home Max speaker, now available in Germany, UK and France, with the company claiming a more “high-fidelity and balanced” sound. The speaker can be acquired from Google store and from major retailers such as MediaMarkt and Fnac for a recommended price of EUR 399/GBP 399.
Google also announced that the Assistant will be built into new voice-activated speakers to be launched later this year, including the Bang & Olufsen’s Beosound 1 and Beosound 2, Blaupunkt’s PVA 100, Harman Kardon’s HK Citation series, Kygo’s Speaker B9-800, Polaroid’s Sam and Buddy and Marshall Acton II and Stanmore II.
Finally, Google said a range of new devices will soon support the Assistant, including Tado-branded thermostats, a number of new security and smart home hubs as well as smart bulbs, ovens and vacuums.
