Google Assistant can now answer your questions on the Oscars, and more

Google rolls out a few new features for its voice assistant, from helping find users’ iPhones to answering questions about the Oscars. — Google

With the Oscars just around the corner, Google has trained its voice assistant to help users keep track of the movie awards, plus a few other amusing tricks.

Google Assistant will now be able to answer questions like what time the 93rd Academy Awards is due to start, which it will adjust according to the user’s time zone, and when asked can also list what movies are nominated in which categories.

It can also answer a few joke questions, if asked who’s best dressed or who it predicts will be awarded.

In a blog post, Google Assistant senior director of product management Lilian Rincon said this was part of an upgrade to add more features to Google Assistant.

It will also be able to provide an alternative to Apple’s ‘Find My’ feature, enabling users to find their iPhone by asking any other smart home devices loaded with Google Assistant.

To note, users will have to install the Google Home app on their iPhone and opt in to receive notifications and critical alerts from the app. This way, a custom ringtone will be played to help users find the phone, even if the device is set to Silent or Do Not Disturb.

Additionally, smart home devices with Google Assistant can now also be set to trigger specific actions at sunrise and sunset, like turning on the lights or activating the sprinkler. This can be set in the Routine feature.