MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. (AP) — The Latest on Google's sneak peek of services and gadgets (all times local):
10:40 a.m.
Google's digital assistant is hoping to outsmart Siri on Apple's iPhone.
Google is releasing its voice-controlled assistant on a free app designed for iPhone's operating system on Wednesday.
The move extends the potential reach of Google's assistant, which debuted last fall on the company's Pixel phone and an internet-connected speaker called Home. Siri has come as a built-in service on iPhones since 2011; Google's assistant will require an app download.
Both assistants can be summoned with a press of a button to answer questions, manage schedules and handle other routine tasks. Google is also adding new skills to the assistant, incorporating its "lens" tool, which lets people point their cameras at things to get more information about them.
Google believes its assistant can get people what they want more quickly because it draws upon the knowledge that the company has accumulated while running the world's most popular search engine.
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10:25 a.m.
Google's latest tool lets you point your phone's camera at places and objects to get information about them.
You can find out the type of flower by pointing at it, for example, or get reviews for a restaurant you're walking by. The tool can extract Wi-Fi login and password when you point to a sheet with that information.
CEO Sundar Pichai says the new Google Lens is a set of vision-based computing capabilities that can understand what you are looking at. It will first be available as part of Google's assistant and photos products.
Pinterest has a similar tool. Also called lens, it lets people point their cameras at real-world items and find out where to buy them, or find similar things online.
Google is unveiling the new feature at a conference in California on Wednesday.
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10 p.m. Tuesday
Google is about to provide the latest peek at its digital services and gadgets as it seeks to become an even more influential force in people's lives.
The overview will come Wednesday during Google's annual conference for thousands of computer programmers.
Google is expected to give the crowd a look at new twists in its Android software for mobile devices. Executives are also likely to detail plans for expanding the reach and capabilities of a voice-controlled digital assistant currently available on some smartphones and an internet-connected speaker called Home. Some of the unveiled products won't be out until later this year.
Many of Google's products are vying against similar offerings from Apple, Amazon and Microsoft.
Wednesday's keynote takes place at an outdoor theater near the company's Mountain View, California, headquarters.
