Google is looking to take on Siri(Apple) and Alexa(Amazon) with a new assistant of their own. Not only will it be featured in the upcoming Google Home smart speaker, but it is coming in the form of a new messaging application for your smart device. This new application, Allo, will be entering a competitive space that is home to Messenger(Facebook), which has plenty of users.
Allo is similar to Google’s other new communication application, Duo, in that it is cross-platform(iOS and Android) and is based off of your phone number. The key feature for Allo is that it has Google’s assistant technology built inside and yes this means machine learning is integrated.
This is similar to Inbox by Google, in that Allo has Smart Replies built-in. This technology will learn over time and will let you respond back to messages without the need to type anything. In that it will suggest replies and the more it learns the better the suggestion. Even better, Smart Replies will work with photos in that they can intelligently look at a photo and know what to say. So, if it is a photo from a concert it might say how was the show or if it is a graduation party it will suggest congratulations. Take a moment to think about that this technology can intelligently read a photo, this is quite cool.
Google Assistant is built-in as well and this will let you get the things you need to get done faster. You can do a one-on-one chat with the assistant or loop it into a group chat you are a part of. You can do a dinner reservation or call a Uber with out even leaving the application. It is also bringing some of the features of Google Now, like managing your schedule or suggesting things to do, which is a great addition to a messaging application.
Google Allo is also using the same encryption and levels of security that Whats App is using. On top of this, Allo will have an incognito mode, similar to the one in Google Chrome, which has end-to-end encryption and discreet notifications.
Allo will be available for iOS and Android when it launches later this summer.
