Google Assistant will now have an active role to help you book a car. Ask him to take you to the airport or a restaurant, and your phone’s digital assistant will get information on the most popular driver-on-demand applications, such as Uber and Lyft. You’ll be able to see the waiting times in each one as well as the prices, and if you choose a service, Google will take you to that application to finalize the transaction.
The new feature will be launched on Thursday, a day after Google introduced larger images and more touch controls for Google Assistant. Both ads could be setting the stage for new products and other things that we could see in the company’s Made by Google event next Tuesday, October 9.
At the time of launch, the feature is available only in English but will operate internationally with 18 different transport services. It will work on iPhone, as well as on Android devices, but iPhone users should make sure they have Google Assistant and Google Maps installed to take advantage of the function.
You can also activate the function with smart speakers such as Google Home, but they will send the relevant information to your phone to complete the process. Unfortunately, the feature is not yet available for Google smart screens like the Lenovo Smart Display, but Google said it hopes to add it to that platform soon.
Keep in mind that Google Assistant will not book your trip (again, it will take you to the application of the service you choose). Instead, the idea is to provide you with enough information so that you can choose without having to scroll through several applications to evaluate your options.
Seeing prices and waiting times together on the screen sounds pretty useful. Google Flights does something similar, so I’ll be happy to use a similar parallel comparison for daily travel needs.