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The virtual assistant Google Assistant will remove 17 features that Google says people don't use very often. This is a step taken after reports appeared that Google was reorganizing their hardware and services division, causing around 1,000 employees to be laid off.
The feature will be completely removed starting February 26th with Assistant users being reminded about it on January 26th. According to Google, the move to remove these underused features is to improve Assistant's capabilities and offer a better experience in the future. It was previously rumored that Assistant will be replaced by a new virtual assistant with Pixei's artificial intelligence (AI) on Pixel devices.
In fact, since the beginning of last year, the Assistant team has been restructured to focus more on Bard development. As already shown a few months ago, the Bard is working quite brilliantly especially after using the latest Gemini model. The list of 17 features that will be discontinued is as below.
Play and control Google Play Books using voice.
Set media, music and radio alarms through the Assistant.
Access and manage recipe books, transfer them between devices, play recipe videos. Assistant can still be used to find recipes on YouTube.
Manage the stopwatch on the speaker and smart screen. Setting an alarm is still possible.
Using Assistant to send voice messages into Google Family Groups.
Use voice to send email, video or audio messages. Making phone calls and sending text messages is still possible.
Edit events in Google Calendar with voice commands.
Using App Launcher through Google Assistant driving mode in Google Maps to send messages, make phone calls and control media. Voice control of Google Maps is still possible.
Request a Family Bell announcement schedule. that has been done.
Meditate through Calm.
Voice control for activities on Fitbit Sense and Versa 3. Support is only available on the Pixel Watch.
Viewing sleep summary is only possible on Google Smart Displays.
Calls using Smart Displays speakers no longer show identity unless using Duo.
The estimated time of "Commute to Work" is no longer displayed on the Smart Display. It can only be displayed if a voice command is given by the user.
Check travel itinerary using voice commands. Only flight status can be displayed after this.
Ask about individual information in the address book.
Giving instructions such as sending a payment, making a reservation, or sending a status to social media with voice commands.