Google Assistant is the search giant’s very own artificial intelligence-powered assistant. It’s already available on Android smartphones and smart home devices like Google Home. One can imagine that it’s only a matter of time before it lands on Chromebooks as well. If recent developments are any indication, it may not be long before Google Assistant becomes available on Chromebooks.
Chromebooks have long supported the “OK, Google’ hotword that fires up the search tie-in but the feature wasn’t really popular with Chromebook users. That’s because it couldn’t do much beyond returning search results.
According to a report, Google is going to completely remove the “OK, Google” hotword function from Chrome OS. It will add a small notice in the settings to let users know that this feature is no longer available.
Reports already suggest that the Google Assistant will get a universal keyboard shortcut on Chromebooks. Users will be able to fire it up by pressing Search + A. It’s also believed that new Chromebooks will come with a dedicated Assistant key on the keyboard.
Google is also said to make Assistant a setup piece from the very start so that at first boot, users are given the option to setup Assistant on their Chromebooks.
This deep integration with the system and the fact that Assistant is capable of so much more will result in more Chromebook users actively relying on Assistant to get things done. Google hasn’t confirmed when it’s going to push out this change but it may not be long before it finally does.