Google’s latest Assistant SDK updates make third-party speakers smarter
Google has announced a new batch of updates for its Google Assistant SDK, which lets developers create their own Google Home-like devices powered by Google’s digital assistant that makes third-party and homemade devices closer to Google’s official smart speaker.
The biggest addition is support for third-party actions — essentially Google’s version of Alexa Skills for Assistant — that will let developers using the Assistant SDK directly control their hardware with Assistant. Actions have been available on the official Google Assistant app for smartphones and Google Home speakers, but this marks the first time that Google has opened it to allow developers to use them for direct control of devices. Much like third-party devices with Alexa...