Google at its I/O conference in May gave the world glimpse of its upgraded voice-based virtual assistant, dubbed Assistant, which can now be experienced on the company's instant messaging app Allo. Now, the company seems to be making way for the new Assistant feature by killing off references to the existing Google Now voice-based virtual assistant.
The latest beta Google Search app version 6.5.26 is now available and can be downloaded via APK Mirror. The new beta Search app doesn't bring any huge visual changes to the existing app but however hints at some upcoming features. In the new version, the Google Now cards have been renamed to Feed, while Now on Tap is renamed to Screen search. The changes may mean that the Google Now will be replaced with the new upgraded Assistant feature. Android Police however points that Google hasn't removed the reference of Google Now from all the places in the Search app.
Google has previously confirmed that Google Assistant initially will only be available in English and Hinglish (a mixture of English and Hindi). The Indian market will be one of the select few to get the new feature.
At Google I/O, CEO Sundar Pichai had described Assistant feature, "We want to be there for our users, asking them and we think of the assistant in a very specific way. We think of it as a conversational assistant. We want users to have two-way dialogue and want you to help get things done in your real world and we want to do it for you." Pichai had stressed that the company thinks of the Assistant as more "conversational."
We may be updated with more details on the Assistant feature at the upcoming October 4 event when Google is expected to reveal the new Pixel devices.
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