Google under its current operation of making its services available to people without smartphones or data connectivity issues, announced a new phone-line service in India that let’s user access the Google Assistant even if they don’t have access to the internet or mobile data.
India is one of the largest markets for Google, and Hindi is the second most used language on Google Assistant. However, the country still faces issues with smartphone penetration and data connectivity in most parts.
The feature was announced at the ‘Google for India conference 2019’. The giant has partnered with a local operator called the ‘Vodafone Idea’, thanks to which, users will now be able to access the Google Assistant using a dial-in toll-free number i.e. 000-800-9191-000. The assistant will speak in English and Hindi for now, but Google has promised that more languages will follow. The best part is, this service is completely free of cost.
According to Google, the service can be used for anything and everything including asking about sports scores, weather forecasts, traffic conditions, help with homework, etc.
The service does have certain limitations, one of which is that since it will not be tied to your Google account, and any action related to accessing data on your phone will not function.
Initially, the service was beta-tested in Lucknow and Kanpur but is now available across the country.