Google News and Google Assistant will start working together

At the end of July, Lenovo finally put the Lenovo Smart Display on sale. The product is the first smart display to hit the market with Google Assistant integration.

Now, less than two weeks later, Google announced that it is going to integrate Google News services right into Google Assistant, which will work nicely on your new smart display. It will also work on your Google Home smart speakers, although it’s clear that Smart Display functionality is what Google is focusing on right now.

If you own a Lenovo Smart Display, you can ask it, “Hey Google, what’s the news?” The smart display will automatically give you video and audio news briefings about topics you care about from sources you trust.

You can pre-select your preferred news sources from hundreds of national and local broadcasters.

If a particular brief catches your eye (or ear) you can ask Assistant to give you more information. For example, you could say “Hey Google, what’s the latest news on Samsung?” and you’ll be shown relevant videos from YouTube on your smart display, or Assistant will read briefings for you on your Google Home smart speaker.

This new Google News integration is not limited to just Home speakers or the Lenovo Smart Display; it also works on Android Auto, headphones like Google Pixel Buds, and of course Android smartphones.

However, for now, the new capabilities only work in the United States. Google says it is using a U.S. launch to “learn [and] expand further,” and that we should stay tuned for info on other countries.

Before taking the plunge and buying a Lenovo Smart Display, be sure to read our hands-on with the unit to make sure it does everything you need. There are a few notable missing features from the device so far.

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