Facebook’s new Messenger menus could mean the end of chatting with chatbots

Why it matters to you

Facebook is giving bot makers the ability to ditch the chat element from chatbots by replacing the text input field in Messenger with a new menu filled with responses. But where’s the fun in that?

When’s the last time you had a conversation with a Facebook chatbot? If you had to take a moment to think of an answer, it probably wasn’t recently or, maybe, ever.

Facebook is coming to the realization that despite Messenger bots having been around for almost a year, people may still be ignoring them.

In an effort to change how users approach bots, the company has announced a bunch of new developer features. Chief among the updates for bot-makers is the “persistent menu” function, which essentially presents all of a bot’s features instantaneously before the conversation begins. Developers even have the option to ditch the composer field for text inputs altogether, replacing it with the new menu.

Facebook describes the chatbots update as “a simple Messenger experience without conversational capabilities.” What this basically means is that chatting and responding to bots (in the way you would to a friend on Messenger) could soon be a thing of the past. Instead, the experience will be akin to browsing a website (clicking on links to find relevant items and info). In fact, the new menu interactions that involve users tapping on a series of options, eventually lead to an in-app web page.

That begs the question: what did chatbots get wrong about chatting? After all, the idea behind chatbots has a lot of potential: a conversational user interface that can help with everything from booking flights, to buying clothes, and checking the news and weather. The execution, however, has been far from perfect.

Let’s face it, having a conversation with a chatbot never really felt similar to chatting with a person. Some bombard you with messages, when you’re not really even sure what they do. Others can’t deal with the simplest of responses, forcing you to revert to the automated inputs they understand.

This isn’t a new criticism either. Since their launch, chatbots have been greeted with a mixed reception, mainly due to their lack of conversational abilities. In the words of Digital Trends writer Justin Pot: “humans shouldn’t have to learn to speak with bots. Bots should learn to speak with humans. Until that happens, apps and websites don’t have a lot to worry about.”

The latest Messenger Platform update could mean that users won’t have to learn how to speak with chatbots. That could streamline the experience, making it easier but hardly exciting. Let’s hope there’s still room for playful experimentation when it comes to our automated friends. Otherwise we may have to start referring to them as bots rather than chatbots.

You can learn all about the new features Facebook announced as part of its Messenger Platform 1.4 update here.

Amazon’s next Alexa device might offer phone calls, intercom tech

Amazon is reportedly working on a home security camera, but now we’re wondering if it’s more of a device that lets you place calls.

According to Recode, Amazon is working on one or more Alexa devices that will allow you to initiate phone calls by voice. AFTVnews also recently discovered an image on Amazon’s own web servers, and that image appears to be of a security camera. The camera has a white exterior design, black central area, pivoting base, and a little blue glow circling the lens. It basically looks very reminiscent of Alexa.

• Best of CES 2017: Alexa everywhere

Alexa has proven to be very popular, and at CES 2017, several companies announced they would be releasing products with built-in Alexa. Some smartphone makers, such as Lenovo and Huawei, are even adding a version of it to their handsets. It’s therefore not out of the realm of possibilities that Amazon wants there to be more Alexa gadgets that could maybe watch your home or let you place phone calls.

It’s not clear if the security camera is the same device that Recode is talking about. But just imagine this security camera offering the ability to make audio or video calls to other Echo and Fire users. Recode said Amazon’s upcoming device, or devices, will also let you to talk with others on the opposite end of another Alexa device via a feature that acts like an intercom system. Amazon is now testing this tech, too.

• Amazon Echo: First 7 things you should do to get Alexa started

Amazon has also internally mulled making an Alexa device with a video camera – again, sort of like the leaked security camera. The Wall Street Journal even previously reported that Amazon was considering adding phone call functionality to its existing voice assistant gadgets. Honestly, there’s so many unconfirmed bits. For instance, can you sync your own number and contacts with this voice-calling device?

Amazon is expected to make an announcement in the coming months.

The cyberpunk revolution begins with video games

Hey, game developers: William Gibson called. He wants his dystopian sci-fi future back.

The annual Game Developers Conference showcases the latest projects from studios around the world, offering a first-hand look at the themes and trends driving the industry forward. And this year, it’s all about cyberpunk. Walking among the flashy, flickering and noisy booths of the GDC show floor and its surrounding events, the pattern becomes clear — a significant portion of these games have a strong sci-fi vibe, many of them dealing with the idea of futuristic corporate overreach and gritty technological espionage.

Take the ID@Xbox showcase for example. Of the 20 games on display, at least half are set in sci-fi worlds or feature dystopian themes (or both), including Tacoma, Tokyo 42, Tower 57, Songbringer and Aven Colony. However, two titles in particular encapsulate the raw, gritty future that’s a staple of the cyberpunk genre: Ruiner by Polish studio Reikon and >observer_ by Bloober Team.

Ruiner is basically Hotline Miami in a 3D, Ghost in the Shell-style world. It’s the year 2091; corrupt corporations and government officials rule a cold, technologically advanced society. In the introductory tutorial, the screen glitches out at odd intervals as instructions flood the environment, instructing players to “Kill Boss” while they run down metal hallways filled with hostile security forces. It’s heart-pounding, rapid-fire gameplay in a distinctly cyberpunk setting, with incredibly satisfying shooting mechanics.

Meanwhile, >observer_ takes a more psychological approach to the sci-fi genre, throwing players in a horrific world where corporations control everything and advanced technology is reserved only for the elite. Ordinary citizens live in squalor, while government agents patrol the streets, able to hack people’s minds as they see fit. This is full-on dystopian cyberpunk.

The Indie Megabooth also showcased a disproportionate amount of sci-fi. Six of the 12 games feature cosmic or cyberpunk-inspired settings, including _transfer, a dark, text-based adventure where players type commands into a program as they attempt to figure out why the world is ending, and Rogue Process, a sci-fi platformer about a hacker on the hunt for corporate secrets.

The video game industry’s renewed push for cyberpunk is not only exciting — it makes sense. The past few years of mainstream gaming have been dominated by fantasy franchises including Skyrim, Diablo, Dark Souls, Bloodborne, Dragon Age and The Witcher, and it’s about time the pendulum swung in the other, more futuristic direction. Recent big-name games like Halo Wars 2, Horizon Zero Dawn and the coming release of Mass Effect: Andromeda signal the beginning of this new sci-fi, cyberpunk cycle.

Plus, the world’s eyes are on the video game industry as virtual reality hardware enters the homes of everyday consumers worldwide. For decades, VR has represented “the future” of video games — and the vision of a technologically advanced society in general — and, suddenly, it’s here. The future is now. It isn’t surprising that developers across the globe are thinking about “the future” within games themselves, inspired by the virtual environments now at our fingertips.

Advances in technology feed the video game creation process just as innovative games fuel the production of new hardware. The shift toward a more gritty, cyberpunk trend in the video game industry makes perfect sense given the current political, social and technological climate in the world today. These themes of corporate cruelty and tense class disparities reflect conversations happening in cities and towns everywhere, every day. Cyberpunk is a reflection of society’s deepest fears and its greatest hopes for the future; in a time of rapid technological advancement and political upheaval, people — including game developers — are looking for the best way forward while imagining the dire consequences of choosing the wrong path.

Cyberpunk is back, baby.

Click here to catch up on the latest news from GDC 2017!

New Alexa devices could get speakerphone, intercom features

Amazon plans to reveal new voice-controlled devices this year that will let you make phone calls, according to a report today from Recode. These gadgets might also allow you to “call” a buddy who has another Alexa-powered speaker, making for a sort of intercom system. Just last month, both Google and Amazon started looking at adding telephony to their respective digital assistants, but it looks like Amazon has taken the first step. Recode‘s sources say that we might see an official announcement in the coming months.

The company’s voice-controlled Echo and Dot devices have generated a lot of buzz, but still have some growing pains, including out-of-control shopping sprees. In addition, Amazon is having a tougher time than expected getting users to stick with its app-like skills. Communication features like these, then, could be the first killer app for this type of device.

While privacy concerns continue to be an important issue, the Wall Street Journal reported that Amazon may have found a way to address them by only recording call metadata like phone numbers or call durations. Details like how the devices will handle phone numbers and contacts remain to be discovered, but this is a promising move for Amazon’s customers.

Source: Recode

Nintendo Switch locks eShop games to your ‘active’ console

Nintendo’s excellent but imperfect Switch console is hitting stores and shipping out to homes today, but there’s still a few odd details sprouting up. It appears that the Nintendo Account, which replaces the Nintendo Network ID, ties itself to whichever Switch you’re playing on when you sign in. If you want to play games on a different console, you’ll have manually disengage your account from the first one before signing in on another machine.

It’s an awkward move that’s oddly out of step with how Xbox and PlayStation have operated for years, which let users designate a ‘home’ or ‘primary’ consoles, respectively, and download games onto multiple machines. But this restriction is even worse for a console like the Switch. Sure, users might not run into more issues if their new Nintendo console sits firmly nestled in their entertainment center.

But should you heed its hybrid call and pluck it from out of the cradle for a worldly adventure, danger calls. If you absentmindedly leave it on the bus seat, you’re leaving all your eShop-bought games locked into the Switch with it. At this time, you can’t detach your Nintendo Account from your console remotely — you would have to contact Nintendo’s help like and hope they let you in.

Xbox, PlayStation and Steam store their game permissions in the cloud, letting you download the content you own simply after signing in on a new machine. Some of these also let you migrate save data. But Nintendo doesn’t currently offer cloud storage for saved games. That means, if your Switch gets stolen, you’ll have to contact the company and bargain for access to your Nintendo Account, assign it to a new machine, and download your titles anew — but you’ll have to start all your games from scratch. Keep your consoles close, Switchers.

Source: Polygon

Google Photos automatically fixes your pictures’ white balance

Google Photos is one of the more hidden jewels of the company’s software family — especially if you snagged a Pixel phone and unlimited storage. A way of storing all your photos online (and making them delightfully searchable thanks to machine learning), the service is getting smarter, yet again. The latest addition to auto-correcting exposure and color saturation is white balance. Select a ‘look’ when editing photos through the web or on the Android app, and Google’s magic will ensure your whites are naturally whiter, whether that means removing some yellow or adjusting the blues. (That’s what we mean by white balance. See scientific corgi example above.) For those that like to be in control, you can still tweak the balance manually with some sliding controls in the Color subsection, under Warmth and Tint.

Auto white balance is rolling out this week on Android and web, and according to Google’s blog, it’ll be coming to iOS soon as well. (And if you’re new to Google Photos, the company added a quick-and-dirty guide alongside this auto white balance update. Read up on those right here.)

Via: The Verge

Source: Google Blog

PS VR Aim Controller to launch in May as part of Farpoint bundle

Remember Sony’s Aim Controller?

We used it at E3 2016 with FPS title Farpoint. We even described the demo as an amazing VR experience, in part because the Aim Controler made everything seem so immersive. At the time, Sony said we could expect the controller to launch around the holidays alongside Farpoint. Yeah. It’s now March and Aim Controller and Farpoint are no where to be found. However, Farpoint’s developer has given us some hope.

At GDC 2017 this week, Impulse Gear confirmed to Road to VR that the game and controller will launch together – in a bundle – on 16 May. You can even preorder the $80 bundle at GameStop. The retailer, however, shows a June release date. So, who knows.

• Best PlayStation VR games: Farpoint, Resident Evil 7, Batman, and more

The PS VR Aim is shaped so you can hold it like a rifle pulled into the shoulder or fire from the hip. The controller uses a similar system to the Move controllers for PS VR – hence the big pink orb on the front – meaning it will mirror your movements in the real world. So, if you point the gun to the side, it’ll move that way independently of your head movements. Pulling off badass shots without even looking should now be a gaming possibility.

And, in Farpoint, you can literally look down the barrel should you want, too, rather than just firing off the hip. Sony is reportedly planning on developing more first-party games for the peripheral. Horror game The Brookhaven Experiment will even gain support.

Check out our preview of the device for more details. We’ll let you know when it actually launches. We’ve also contacted Sony for UK pricing.

Check out Windows 98 running on a smartwatch powered by the Raspberry Pi board

Why it matters to you

Here is a cool project that puts Windows 98 on your wrist, although the operating system is rather slow due to the processor and emulation.

What time is it? It’s time to learn how to build a Windows 98-power smartwatch! The homemade device was created by a 314Reactor member using Microsoft’s extinct operating system, a touchscreen, the Raspberry Pi A+ board ($25), and a bunch of other components to make it a wearable device. Windows 98 actually runs on an open-source machine emulator called QEMU.

“I have always had somewhat of a soft-spot for Windows 98, despite it driving me insane back in the day on my old Pentium II system with 64MB RAM and using some god awful on-board graphics,” the post states. “On top of this I love wearable/small tech and nowadays I have the ability to make things like this. So I thought, wouldn’t it be ridiculous and awesome to have Windows 98 on my wrist?”

Here are the specs of the base Raspberry Pi Model A+ board:

Processor:
Broadcom BCM2835 (single core, 700MHz)
System memory:
512MB @ 400MHz
Ports:
1x USB 2.0
1x HDMI (full)
1x Micro SD card slot (storage)
1x Micro USB (power input)
1x stereo output/composite video combo
Connectors:
1x 40-pin general-purpose input/output
1x Camera Serial Interface
1x Display Serial Interface

Powering the Raspberry Pi is a rechargeable 1000mAh lithium polymer battery ($12) and the PowerBoost 500C ($20) that serves as a power supply, which recharges the battery while keeping the Raspberry Pi active when the power cord is plugged into a wall outlet. All three components are crammed into the Adafruit Pi Protector case ($8.50).

The screen is the Adafruit PiTFT 2.4-inch HAT Mini Kit ($35). It consists of a 320 x 240 resolution, 16-bit color, and a resistive touch overlay. The screen connects to the five Serial Peripheral Interface pins on the Raspberry Pi’s GPIO along with pin No. 25. After that, it is screwed onto the Raspberry Pi board.

More: New Wi-Fi/Bluetooth-enabled version of the Raspberry Pi Zero board is out now

Other components include buttons for switching the device on and off, a switch, Sugru mouldable glue, Velcro feet, a Velcro wrist strap, a 40-pin header, a 40-pin header extender, and more. The operating system of choice is Raspbian, a version of Linux outfitted for the Raspberry Pi.

“After FOREVER loading, it will eventually load up Windows 98 and be ‘usable.’ It’s super slow,” the post states. “Just hit the configured button to shut it off. This will uncleanly shut off Windows in QEMU, but will shut off Raspbian nicely. On next boot, Windows 98 may try and run scandisk though.”

Despite the coolness of the project, Windows 98 runs rather slow. The post suggests going into Raspbian and overclock the processor to 800MHz, but there is a risk of failing hardware, overheating, increased battery drain, and so on. And because Windows 98 isn’t exactly a performance stallion running on the QEMU emulator, don’t expect to play Doom on the go.

“I’m tempted to put the other buttons to use and have them launch different versions of Windows — 95, ME, XP,” the post concludes. “Would be fun to have the ability to launch them all (non-concurrently). Although I imagine XP will run even worse than 98.”

Check out Windows 98 running on a smartwatch powered by the Raspberry Pi board

Why it matters to you

Here is a cool project that puts Windows 98 on your wrist, although the operating system is rather slow due to the processor and emulation.

What time is it? It’s time to learn how to build a Windows 98-power smartwatch! The homemade device was created by a 314Reactor member using Microsoft’s extinct operating system, a touchscreen, the Raspberry Pi A+ board ($25), and a bunch of other components to make it a wearable device. Windows 98 actually runs on an open-source machine emulator called QEMU.

“I have always had somewhat of a soft-spot for Windows 98, despite it driving me insane back in the day on my old Pentium II system with 64MB RAM and using some god awful on-board graphics,” the post states. “On top of this I love wearable/small tech and nowadays I have the ability to make things like this. So I thought, wouldn’t it be ridiculous and awesome to have Windows 98 on my wrist?”

Here are the specs of the base Raspberry Pi Model A+ board:

Processor:
Broadcom BCM2835 (single core, 700MHz)
System memory:
512MB @ 400MHz
Ports:
1x USB 2.0
1x HDMI (full)
1x Micro SD card slot (storage)
1x Micro USB (power input)
1x stereo output/composite video combo
Connectors:
1x 40-pin general-purpose input/output
1x Camera Serial Interface
1x Display Serial Interface

Powering the Raspberry Pi is a rechargeable 1000mAh lithium polymer battery ($12) and the PowerBoost 500C ($20) that serves as a power supply, which recharges the battery while keeping the Raspberry Pi active when the power cord is plugged into a wall outlet. All three components are crammed into the Adafruit Pi Protector case ($8.50).

The screen is the Adafruit PiTFT 2.4-inch HAT Mini Kit ($35). It consists of a 320 x 240 resolution, 16-bit color, and a resistive touch overlay. The screen connects to the five Serial Peripheral Interface pins on the Raspberry Pi’s GPIO along with pin No. 25. After that, it is screwed onto the Raspberry Pi board.

More: New Wi-Fi/Bluetooth-enabled version of the Raspberry Pi Zero board is out now

Other components include buttons for switching the device on and off, a switch, Sugru mouldable glue, Velcro feet, a Velcro wrist strap, a 40-pin header, a 40-pin header extender, and more. The operating system of choice is Raspbian, a version of Linux outfitted for the Raspberry Pi.

“After FOREVER loading, it will eventually load up Windows 98 and be ‘usable.’ It’s super slow,” the post states. “Just hit the configured button to shut it off. This will uncleanly shut off Windows in QEMU, but will shut off Raspbian nicely. On next boot, Windows 98 may try and run scandisk though.”

Despite the coolness of the project, Windows 98 runs rather slow. The post suggests going into Raspbian and overclock the processor to 800MHz, but there is a risk of failing hardware, overheating, increased battery drain, and so on. And because Windows 98 isn’t exactly a performance stallion running on the QEMU emulator, don’t expect to play Doom on the go.

“I’m tempted to put the other buttons to use and have them launch different versions of Windows — 95, ME, XP,” the post concludes. “Would be fun to have the ability to launch them all (non-concurrently). Although I imagine XP will run even worse than 98.”

Everything you need to know about Google Assistant

Google Assistant is getting smarter than Google Now ever was. Not only does the service support more than one language, but it also will soon feature more robust third-party integration, meaning that it can help you control your entire digital life — not just your Google life.

Assistant is similar to Google Now in that it allows you to ask questions and get answers. Not only that, but the service goes beyond just the messaging Allo app — it’s also now featured in Google Home, Google’s answer to the Amazon Echo. And, of course, it’s also found in all kinds of Android smartphones that run Android Marshmallow or Nougat.

More: New Google Assistant app may let you type as well as talk

Google Assistant could be coming to the iPhone

Google Assistant is currently rolling out to all kinds of Android smartphones with Android Marshmallow and Nougat — but the digital assistant could be coming to Apple’s iOS as well. The news comes from Dutch blog Geekster, which recently interviewed Gummi Hafsteinsson, the product manager for Google Assistant. While Hafsteinsson didn’t directly say that an iOS version of Assistant was in the works, he certainly hinted at it.

“I do not think we have anything to announce at this point,” said Hafsteinsson in the interview. “But I think the general philosophy is that we would like to have the Assistant available to as many people as possible.”

It will certainly be interesting to see what an iOS version of Assistant looks like. Microsoft’s Cortana has been available on both Android and iOS for some time now, however the service has had a hard time gaining a large user base. Could Assistant be the digital assistant that gains popularity on an operating system other than its own? Only time will tell.

Google Assistant can now take screenshots

While you still can’t ask Google Assistant to take a screenshot, the feature to share one of the screen you’re on is now available. On Android devices that aren’t the Google Pixel, pressing and holding the home button brings up Screen Search, formerly called Now On Tap. Screen Search also has an option to take and share a screenshot.

This method is easier than the traditional method of holding down the volume down and power button to take a screenshot — it also cropped out the navigation buttons and status bar out of the image for you.

Since Google added the Assistant on the Pixel, Screen Search has been available, but the screenshot option wasn’t. Now, when you press and hold the home button and swipe up, you’ll see an option to “Share Screenshot.” This screenshot, like the method on non-Pixel devices, crops out the navigation and status bars.

It doesn’t seem to work on your home screen, so you’ll need to rely on the traditional screenshot method. Still, the addition is a solid option for people who want to take a cropped screenshot with one hand. It’s too bad you can’t ask the Assistant to take a screenshot yet.

Google Assistant is coming to Android TV

Assistant is set to be a part of the entire Google ecosystem, and that means on all kinds of Android-powered devices. While Assistant is already available on Android phones, it’s now coming to Android TV, too. And that’s not just with first-party apps either. According to Google, you’ll be able to make commands like “Play Stranger Things on Netflix,” or “Tell me about Jurassic Park.” You’ll even be able to control other areas of your smart home with commands like “Dim the lights” — perfect for when you want to watch a movie.

Don’t expect this to be the last place Assistant shows up either — the service will soon make it to Android Wear, likely through the Android Wear 2.0 update.

The first Android TV device to get Assistant is the new Nvidia Shield, but it will also come to other Android TV devices running Android 6.0 Marshmallow and Android 7.0 Nougat in coming months.

Google Assistant commemorates the holidays with seasonal responses

Google has gotten into the holiday spirit. It took the wraps off Santa’s Village, a collection of Christmas-themed games for iOS and Android devices, in early December. It hosted holiday-themed coding games for Computer Science Education Week. And now, it’s added holiday Easter eggs to the Google Assistant.

Here are the ones we’ve discovered so far:

• Google’s Santa Tracker, a long-running collaboration between the search giant and the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), has been integrated into the Assistant. Asking “Where’s Santa” or “Track Santa” provides Saint Nick’s latest coordinates.
• Asking the Google Assistant “tell me a Santa joke” or “Santa joke” plays a random Santa-themed joke narrated by “Santa.” Our favorite so far: A child asks Santa where the money in a snow bank’s kept.
• Google Assistant can “spin the dreidel.”

Google Assistant has a childhood

According to a report from Fast Company, Google wants to give Assistant a back story. The search giant has enlisted the help of Google Doodle head Ryan Germick, as well as ex-Pixar animator Emma Coats, to give Assistant a personality. There’s now a job listing for a creative writer that will work on the Assistant’s story.

“Content will include a range of interactions, such as dialogue and instructions and will be delivered through various Google products,” according to the listing, which requires applicants to be able to speak and write fluently in one of the following languages other than English:  French, Italian, Spanish (Spain), Spanish (Mexico), Japanese, Korean, Portuguese (Brazil), Russian, Hindi (India), Bahasa Indonesia. It’s clear Google is trying to bring Assistant to these countries first.

More: Google to show off new Pixel phones, Android and Chrome OS merger, on Oct. 4

Coats describes working on Assistant as working on a “character,” the same way she would over at Pixar. Part of that means giving Assistant a childhood, allowing users to relate to it as if it actually had a life. Not only that, but the team is experimenting with ways to build trust between the user and Assistant by making it seem vulnerable every now and then as if it needed the user.

This is not available yet in the Assistant in Allo. If you ask for its story, Assistant responds with, “I’m still on the very first chapter.”

Google Assistant will feature third-party integration with Actions by Google

“Think of the assistant — we think of it as a conversational assistant — we want users to have an ongoing two-way dialogue,” Google CEO Sundar Pichai said at I/O when the feature was first announced. Of course, part of offering an ongoing conversation is being able to carry on that conversation with other apps and products.

More: Say Allo! Google’s latest messaging app is here, and it’s smarter than iMessage

Google Assistant will soon feature more third-party integration through “Actions on Google.” These “actions” are basically ways for developers to build Google Assistant integration into their apps and services. That way, you can ask Assistant to order you an Uber or reserve a table via OpenTable.

Now that the Google Assistant Developer Platform has opened up, some of these integrations have now begun to go live. There’s now a new “Videos and Photos” section available in the Google Home app’s Assistant settings, which allows you to link your Netflix account and enable or disable a Google Photos integration. Android Police was the first to spot this addition, though the publication also noted that upon trial, entering Netflix credentials did not work, suggesting that the integration is still being worked on. All the same, it’s something to look forward to.

Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends

Sometimes, when a user asks Google Assistant a question, the service will be able to simply respond with direct actions. Other times, however, conversations will need to take place — for example, if you ask Assistant to book a table at a restaurant through OpenTable, it will need to ask how many people in your party and what time you want the reservation.

You can already see the landing page for Actions on Google, but you can sign up for notifications on news and updates for the service.

Google Assistant has limited language support

The AI can currently respond in English, but it can also bring up translations from Google Translate.

More: Google Allo is now available in Hindi for users in one of its fastest-growing markets

Google has plans to expand to more languages. Recently, the company announced that Assistant in Allo can respond in Hindi and offer Smart Replies in the language as well. Smart Reply lets you quickly respond to messages with a tap, and the responses adapt to the way you talk the more you use Allo.

Article originally published in May 2016. Christian de Looper contributed to this report. Updated on 03-03-2017 by Christian de Looper: Added news that Assistant could be coming to iOS.