Google Assistant Now Makes Video Calls Via Duo

Google Assistant can now start a video call on its Duo service. According to Android Police, with Google Assistant on their smartphone, users can now say “video call contact_name” and the assistant will reply, saying it’s making a video call using Duo. If a user doesn’t have the app installed or if the contact doesn’t have Duo, Hangouts might be utilized instead.

The report noted that the feature is still in the process of being rolled out, and it might require a certain server-side switch from Duo, Google app or Play Services. It might also only work in certain locations.

This is just the latest boost in Google Assistant’s features. Last month, Google announced the launch of Continued Conversation.

“For the Google Assistant to have a natural conversation, it should be able to understand when it’s being spoken to and should be capable of responding to several requests during an interaction,” wrote Jaclyn Konzelmann, product manager of Google Assistant. “We’re taking another step forward in making your interactions with the Google Assistant more natural with Continued Conversation.”

The feature became available on June 21 on Google Home, Google Home Mini and Google Home Max. The new feature can be turned on in the Google Assistant “app by going to Settings → Preferences → Continued Conversation and hitting the toggle.”

In May, Google rolled out a new feature in which flight, hotel and car rental bookings are now part of Google Assistant‘s settings.

Now when users access their travel reservations via the Google app or Home app, they see a new Reservations item under account settings. The setting currently displays flight reservations, but it could add hotels and train reservations down the road. When users tap on the reservation, they get details such as the ticket number, confirmation number and other information about the trip.