Google launches Assistant on Android tablets, more phones

Google on Wednesday announced Google Assistant is now available for Android tablets running Android 7.0 Nougat and 6.0 Marshmallow. Assistant was previously only available on some Android phones, Android Wear, Google Home, and an iOS app.

Google also said its virtual personal assistant is expanding to phones running Android 5.0 Lollipop. Google Assistant enables users to search the internet, schedule events and alarms, adjust hardware settings, show information from their Google account, and more, with their voice.

Best gifts: Smart speakers for the holidays

Android tablet users with their language set to English in the US will see Google Assistant hit their tablet in the coming weeks, Google said.

For phone users running Android 5.0 Lollipop, Google Assistant has begun to roll out to users with the language set to English in the US, UK, India, Australia, Canada and Singapore, as well as in Spanish in the US, Mexico, and Spain. It's also rolling out to users in Italy, Japan, Germany, Brazil, and Korea.

Previous and related coverage

Apple releases iOS 11.2.1 with HomeKit vulnerability fix

HomeKit users will want to install this update as soon as possible.

T-Mobile gets into paid TV market

It's acquiring a TV tech startup that will help it get into the TV market, with service starting in 2018.