It appears that at least one Google partner within the Chromebook initiative is ready to take a page from Samsung’s book and outfit its device with an Assistant button. Samsung has one such button on the Galaxy S8, for Bixby and now a Chromebook will get a similar feature, for Google Assistant.
The info comes from folks who snooped within Google’s code, since they’ve opened up the SDK to any party who wants to embed Google Assistant. Then there’s the addition of “Wake on Voice” functionality to Chrome OS, which may mean that the virtual assistant is coming. Android apps have been on Chromebooks for a while and they’re expanding to more models, now Nougat is showing up on more devices and Google Assistant is the next step.
The solution has yet to be found on a Chrome OS machine, but developers may be able to integrate it. In the meantime a so called “Chromebook Eve” is in the works and it may just feature a special button for the Assistant. It’ll be included within the keyboard and the info comes from the Chromium repository. “Wake on Voice” is also confirmed for this device and key mapping points to a combo of the “8” key and some other button.
Having Google Assistant on a ChromeBook will once again increase competition with affordable 2 in 1 models with Windows 10 and Cortana. We’ll see who makes Eve and if it’s ready before the holiday season.
