Google Korea has thrown its hat into the ring with an announcement on September 21 that its AI-integrated service Google Assistant is now available in Korean. (Image: Google)
SEOUL, Sept. 22 (Korea Bizwire) – Google Korea has thrown its hat into the ring with an announcement on September 21 that its AI-integrated service Google Assistant is now available in Korean.
Google Assistant joins a line that includes Apple’s Siri, Naver’s Clover and Samsung’s Bixby leading to the doors of Korean consumers.
Google Korea stated that Google Assistant with Korean language support will be first unveiled on the LG V30 phone. The company intends to take things slow by making it available on smartphones running Android 6.0 over the next few weeks.
The primary version of Google Assistant was initially launched last year. It relies on machine learning capabilities and is equipped with voice recognition and translation technologies. Like its fellow AI-run personal assistant technologies, Google Assistant can verbally respond to spoken requests and demands. Google Korea explained that users can place calls, organize their calendars and schedules and run a variety of web functions without lifting a finger.
Holding down the home button or issuing the wake-up command “Okay Google” will activate the service.
Tech experts believe that with the release of Google Assistant into the Korean market, it won’t be long until Google’s AI speaker Google Home follows suit. (Image: Yonhap)
Korean is the ninth language Google Assistant has learned so far. Tech experts believe that with the release of Google Assistant into the Korean market, it won’t be long until Google’s AI speaker Google Home follows suit. If so, like Google Assistant it will be facing a commercial landscape where competitors like Naver’s Wave and Kakao’s Kakao Mini have already made significant inroads.
Speaking on the Google Assistant release, Google Technical Program Manager Jang Gyu Hyuk said, “People are not only using Google to search for needed information, but want to [use Google] to get help with their everyday lives.”
S.B.W. (sbw266@koreabizwire.com)
