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posted by martyb on Monday January 07 2019, @11:01PM   Printer-friendly
from the Siri-ous-Alexa-competitor dept.

Google Assistant will soon be on a billion devices, and feature phones are next

As CES kicks off, Google has a massive presence: monorails, a booth that's three times larger than last year, and likely a giant pile of news to announce. But ahead of all the actual product news, the company wants to beat its chest a little by announcing some numbers. By the end of the month, it expects that Google Assistant will be on 1 billion devices — up from 500 million this past May.

That's 900 million more than the number Amazon just gave us for Alexa. But just like Amazon, Google's number comes with caveats. In an interview with The Verge, Manuel Bronstein, the company's vice president of Google Assistant, copped to it. "The largest footprint right now is on phones. On Android devices, we have a very very large footprint," he says. He characterizes the ratio of phones as "the vast majority" of that billion number, but he won't specify it more than that. Though he does argue that smart speakers and other connected home devices comprise a notable and growing portion.

[...] For Google, the next billion devices will come in emerging markets, specifically on feature phones.


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  • (Score: 2) by fyngyrz on Wednesday January 09 2019, @12:23AM (3 children)

    by fyngyrz (6567) on Wednesday January 09 2019, @12:23AM (#783910) Journal

    Here's how I would, theoretically, approach it, were this something I was trying to do:

    • get a wafer switch like the one I linked you
    • file the phone case to pass the flat cable
    • locate and cut one line to the mic
    • connect (probably cut and expose the existing switch cable, it's probably too long) to the cut on both sides
      • this will involve test closing the phone, probably more than once, to locate the proper length for the switch mounting location before cutting
    • once the length is established and connections made, close the phone, optionally seal the filed opening
    • attach the switch at your chosen location

    That's necessarily hand wavy; the fine details will depend on the phone's interior, and that will simply take some exploring. I'd buy a couple of the switches to preclude failing due to a bad cut, etc. You'll need some small diameter wire, and likely some very good soldering skills, plus attaching to the end of the flat cable may be tricky.

    Have fun.

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  • (Score: 2) by Knowledge Troll on Wednesday January 09 2019, @12:41AM (2 children)

    by Knowledge Troll (5948) on Wednesday January 09 2019, @12:41AM (#783918) Homepage Journal

    Cool, you did it with out any of the components I'm worried about. As described that would probably fit. And you got water tightness which is a big concern. Long term results, which most people ignore, would have to be determined. Usually the first try will fall apart quickly and it takes refinement.

    Does that membrane switch debounce? With out a debounce you'll hear crackling if you move your fingers while talking.

    What about the problem with switching the microphone in and out of the circuit causing clicks and popping? That's because if the microphone isn't switched in when the voltage level it outputs is 0 (there is no signal) the "immediate" jump to that signal level is interpreted as a square wave and those are just nasty.

    It'd be possible to coordinate with the operating system so it does not use the audio device until the button is pushed and that would be safe because it is advisory only. But I'm not sure how I'd pull that off either - maybe if I modified the OS image and found a free GPIO pin. Some kind of dedicated circuit could do it too but I can't fathom how to fit that in.

    The debounce circuit I can wrap my head around and seems plausible. I don't want my phone clicking and popping if my fingers fall off the button though.

    • (Score: 2) by fyngyrz on Wednesday January 09 2019, @01:05AM (1 child)

      by fyngyrz (6567) on Wednesday January 09 2019, @01:05AM (#783929) Journal

      Does that membrane switch debounce?

      Doubtful. That's typically done with electronics. I'm thinking hold-to-talk is the most practical implementation for a momentary switch. A latched switch would doubtless be more bulky. Could still be done, but you'd have a lump somewhere, anyway. You could build a FET switch driven by a toggled latch on a somewhat flat stick-on PCB, and use those to switch the microphone with alternate presses; that'd both prevent the clicks of accidentally letting go of the switch and give you a way to switch softly by slowing the gate of the FET up a bit. But you really would have yourself a lump, and you'd need to run power out to it as well. It could be worse. Get a hard case, cut a hole out to accommodate the lump, and it'll at least be consistently thick and somewhat protected.

      What about the problem with switching the microphone in and out of the circuit causing clicks and popping?

      That will depend on both the mic and the (pre)amp it is driving. Have to cut and try to see. A softly switched FET as I described above is probably a good way to attack that if it is a problem.

      It'd be possible to coordinate with the operating system so it does not use the audio device until the button is pushed and that would be safe because it is advisory only.

      Now you're opening an entirely new can of worms. Would you have to root the phone? I'm thinking they're not going to just let you at the audio input device without an argument. Plus, you need the phone to somehow be aware the switch was pushed, that "free GPIO pin" isn't a given on either the actual availability or programability fronts. If you find it, now you also need to find a way to tell it in software that doesn't break everything else, too.

      The more constraints you put on this, the harder it will be. The basic task — making the microphone listen-proof under control of the OS and malefactors bonking the OS — isn't bad. Doing it in a "this is the way a great designer would have done it" fashion, that's probably something that will take a very significant effort.

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      • (Score: 2) by Knowledge Troll on Wednesday January 09 2019, @01:32AM

        by Knowledge Troll (5948) on Wednesday January 09 2019, @01:32AM (#783935) Homepage Journal

        Would you have to root the phone?

        Not my current phone anyway. I already run a non-manufacturer OS on it.

        You could build a FET switch driven by a toggled latch on a somewhat flat stick-on PCB

        I still think there is a chance such a circuit could be put together dead bug style and fit in the phone case, no lump. I definitely don't want a lump. Sounds like a fun challenge given enough patience. I'm sure people at the CIA are doing exactly the same type of work to get things as small as possible. :-)

        The more constraints you put on this, the harder it will be.

        The basic constraint is I want to live with it as my daily driver. No crackling. No clicks. No pops. Hopefully an externally exposed button lasts more than 6 months on the first try. I guess it's possible the pre-amp in my phone is tolerant of switching. Have you run into pre-amps that are?

        Of course the manufacturers have beyond enough real estate on the board to fit all of this in themselves. Those bastards.