Google had organised the second edition of Google for India event today in Delhi. This is an initiative of Google to enhance its services in India. Today, Google announced five new products all focused around Indian market. The products launched are YouTube Go App, Google Assistant in Hindi inside the newly launched Google Allo app, faster browsing in Google Play in 2G connections, Google station Wi-Fi and finally data saving mode in Google Chrome.
YouTube Go
YouTube Go is a new app that lets users to download the video and share it locally. This app also gives the option to download the videos in various qualities and also displays the amount of data needed. This is synonymous to the YouTube offline feature but sharing it locally is a added feature. This is still in testing and is expected to reach every consumer in early 2017.
Read This: YouTube Go lets you watch more for really less data
Google Personal Assistant in Hindi
Google had recently launched the Google Allo messaging application. The highlighted point of it was Google Assistant which replied to your messages and commands instantly and intelligently. But, today Amit Fulay, Group Product Manager, Google announced that this service of Google Assistant would be extended to support Hindi. This means you can communicate with the Google Assistant in Hindi.
This would be an advantage for those who are fluent in Hindi and also to those who are quite weak in English. This would also be a strategic move of Google to capture the mass Hindi speaking people to use their service. This is expected to be launched by year end.
Faster browsing on Google Play with 2G connections
The main problem in India is the connectivity issues. Most of the Indians still use the 2G connection for internet. In this newly announced feature Google tries to download the most used parts of Google Play when connected to Wi-Fi. So, this enables the user to browse easily even with low bandwidth or 2G connections. This also enhances the browsing experience. Also we get a new option called Wait For Wi-Fi where apps are installed once phone gets connected to Wi-Fi network.
Google Station Wi-Fi
Following the success of installing Wi-Fi in more than 50 railway stations, Google has launched Google Station today. Caesar Sengupta, VP, Next Billion Users announced this new Wifi platform called Google Station. In this Google partners with carriers, System Integrator and the Venues, to provide high speed internet for users. This would mean that users could use high speed internet in places like Malls, Hospitals, Schools etc free of cost. This is an initiative of Google to provide connectivity till the end user.
Chrome Data Saver Mode
One more product announced today was the Data Saving mode in Google Chrome. This feature would be available on Mobile devices, computers and even on Chrome books. Google claims that now Chrome supports MP4 format which means there is data saving upto 67% when trying to watch a video. Also, chrome is expected to optimise the Web page when a low bandwidth or 2G connection is detected and hence saving upto 90 % of data and enhancing the browsing speed.
Google has also launched the Download feature which enables the user to download images, web pages, music and videos and can be accessed when offline. They have also stated that Download would be resumed if there are any connectivity issues while downloading. These downloads can be accessed from the Chrome’s new downloaded tab.
Google’s Effort to Connect the last person to Internet
Rajan Anandan, VP, India and South East Asia emphasised on efforts by Google to give all Indians access to the Internet. He stated that to reduce gender discrimination, Google has trained over a million women across 10 states to use internet in collaboration with Tata Trust. Also, he added that they would train over 2 million college students to become an Android developer. He also said that they would be investing to establish Google Developers Code labs in various Universities across various states.