Google Home is now in Indian homes

After a long waiting period Google Home & Google Home Mini, two models of AI smart speakers powered by “Google assistant” are finally launched in India.  Amazon smart speakers are well-known to us which were made available to Indian users 6 months ago.  I am one of the very first users of Amazon Alexa speaker if I consider our visually impaired community in India.  I demoed and guided and trained many blind users of Amazon Alexa to make them a pro-user.

My experiences and explorations were shared in my earlier blog on this URL  http://saitechblog.blogspot.in/2017/11/alexa-my-virtual-girlfriend.html

After using my Echo Dot & Alexa for more than 6 months now I got a new virtual assistant for myself in the form of Google Home Mini. Here I am sharing my first hand observations after using Google smart speaker for a week. Post lot of buzz and social networking teasers Google launched their smart speakers in India on 10^th April 2018. They started selling it on Flipkart on the same day and also made it available offline in more than 600 stores across the country.  Out of them Reliance Digital has one of the best launch offer as they provide free JioFi device with 100 GB of data. Flipkart also had free JioFi device for initial 3 days along with 10% cash back on HDFC credit cards. Off course to avail the cash back I bought Google Home Mini (Rs. 4450) from Flipkart & got it delivered on 15^th April.  

Here at home now I am with my 2^nd smart speaker. I was eager to experience new one for its features.

Unboxing & set up

Flipkart shipped this device in a big shoe box, I thought it was a bundled pack for JioFi router & Home Mini but I was wrong as there was a tiny box in this big packet. I removed the bubble rapping &opened the small box with cutter. There was a donut shape speaker along with a cute looking charger. My colleagues told me that it looks like a Moti soap which we all Indians buy during Diwali days, LOL. I hooked the tiny charger to power plug & connected the USB pin to a port available on the speaker.

I found a slider button just next to USB port, I identified this must be a microphone toggle switch. After turning ON the power switch, within 3 to 5 seconds, I heard a startup sound, Google Assistant prompted “Your Google Home Mini is ready to set up, download Google Home app to your device & finish the configuration”. 

Wow! Crystal clear audio with user friendly instructions. I installed “Google Home” in my Android phone; on first screen of this app I read a message that set up your new device. I tapped on it & got a confirmation for my Google Home Mini, heard a chime sound on speaker & confirmed the same through app. Great, what an accessible way to connect to your speaker for the first time. My brother told me that lights on speaker have changed after this step.

I finished the initial configurations like Google account confirmation, home address, device name, WIFI connection & other assistant preferences. All these steps were highly accessible with my screen reader “Talkback”.

Since, I use “Google assistant” on my phone “Hey Google/Ok Google” voice model training was not required for me. Within 5 minutes I completed the speaker setup.

My first question to my Home Mini was “How are you?” a pleasant female voice quickly replied “I am great; you want me to help you in anything?”

Great! What a feeling, first time I heard Google assistant’s voice on a device other than my android phone. I explored the Home app for some more important settings.

Recommended settings for blind users

To turn chime sounds on wake-up word there is one option under device settings as”Accessibility”. This is a very useful option for person with vision impairment as these audio cues help us in talking to assistant efficiently. You can also turn OFF the casting on other Android devices on this network for barring other users on Home Mini. Additionally Google Mini has few touch gestures which can be performed using its top panel. You should keep USB point of this device on 12 O clock for correct position. Once kept in this position single tap on left/right edges will increase/decrease the volume & short/long tap on top of the device will play/pause the currently streaming audio. While taking orientation accidently I turned up the volume & paused the streaming many times, so you all better be careful.

Initial usage

Since I am a hardcore user of this “Google Assistant” on my phone I am very pro in handling voice queries & utilizing most out of it. As speaker is connected to our Google account all our meetings, events, calendar entries & reminders are accessible through this device, which is really a big hit.  Sending e-mails, messages & making calls are still not available in our region however Google will be bringing these features very soon.

As a welcome offer this device came with 6 months free subscription to saavan.com & gaana.com which is very nice if you are not a Google play music subscriber.

Since I am a play music user, it was playing all the media through my Google play account.  I tried asking few local places & got very quick results along with directions to my phone. I also checked traffic towards work & any other destination only using my voice, thanks to its integration with Google Maps.  As it’s an IPL season, I enquired for scores and teams. Got wonderful results, I must say Google has accepted a challenge to make this a true Desi product.  Playing audio-based games, checking flight details along with price, fetching facts/info from internet, making funny conversations, singing songs & operating smart devices installed in your home are few are its additional offerings.

Amazon vs. Google smart speakers - who is really smart?

This smart speaker is after all from a search giant Google hence it is having an access to massive data farms, smart AI algorithms & highly efficient natural language processing, with all these attributes it will definitely be a game changer in a smart speaker segment.  However, at this moment it is  in the initial phase in India. It has limited offerings & services but I am sure Google will work on it.  

·       In spite being a late comer in this segment it lacks way behind in context of local content.  

·       Recognizing Hindi & other regional languages is not so great due to which streaming local content is a challenge.

·       I have to yell many times as speaker doesn’t wake up quickly, I hope Google will fix this in next firmware update as this is very irritating.

·       Startup sound & audio feedback for muting/unmuting microphone are two amazing features Google Mini has, I still miss those in my Echo device.

·       When I compare Google home mini with my existing Amazon’s Echo dot I discovered that in terms of setup & audio quality Home Mini is really great however lacks in overall usage due to its poor localized touch & limited services.

Google has to shift the gears rapidly to gain big number users in this tough competition. Let’s hope for a truly ‘desi’ upgraded smart speaker from Google. 

Well, while you are finishing reading my post here I am enjoying some relaxing music with Google home mini.

WhatsApp Payment - Now Pay While Chatting

WhatsApp Payment - Now Pay While Chatting

Since Google entered into payment business through its completely Indian offering "Tez"; a buzz started about WhatsApp plan to add payment feature in the chat.

We all read many news articles that Facebook is testing payment feature for their chat service "WhatsApp".  However no clarity was given by the tech giant for long. Many a times, users posted few screenshots about beta testing but no news on its launch date.

Finally, last week we got news that "WhatsApp" is rolling out UPI based payment feature for selected users & whole social networking space flooded with posts regarding the same. I also read many technology news articles & was really happy to be one of the earliest selected users. Since this feature is based on Indian governments UPI interface it is available only in India.

UPI is now a widely-used digital payments system developed by NPCI (consortium of Indian Banks).

How to get it?

WhatsApp is rolling out this feature to its users phase wise hence all of you will not get it instantly however you will get it for sure once they implement this payment feature for all the Indian users. Just to check if you are amongst those lucky users then simply update Whatsapp version on your device. Mostly 2.18.41 on Android & 2.18.21 for IOS platform.

Once updated open the  app. Now from main screen open "More options" or "Menu" tab & open "Settings" from the list. In the settings page if you see "Payments" then you are amongst few users like me. Not to worry if this option is not there then it will come very soon on your device. Some news suggest that when someone having “Whats App” payment feature  tries to pay using the same it automatically comes to the selected contact however not sure about this behavior.

Setting up payment details

I am an Android user hence details given are applicable for Android devices.  If you have "Payments" option under "Settings" tab then just open it.  Now you will run through a series of steps:

You will read an option called "Add Account".  Accept "Terms & conditions" from "Whatsapp" to go ahead. On the next screen you will have to select your desired bank from the list. Please note, your mobile number should be registered against your bank account to avail the UPI facility.

In my case I selected "HDFC" & moved to next screen, UPI server confirmed my number & I got list of 2 bank accounts registered to my mobile with HDFC. Here you will have to select the account which you wish to use for your UPI payment; you can add more accounts for different banks later if you wish to. After selecting a bank account, I quickly got a message saying that "Set up is complete",

Wow! Surprising right? Hold on, since I am an existing UPI user, my configurations are already there with banks including UPI pin hence it was quick for me. If you are configuring UPI first time then there will be more steps like, OTP, enter your debit card details including card number & expiry date, etc. Once this information is authenticated from bank servers then you will have to set your UPI pin. Few banks have 4-digits & few supports 6 digits pin hence it’s better to confirm with your bank's official site. Once you configure your UPI pin then you are all set to go. All these steps are highly accessible with a built-in screen reader talkback hence not to worry if you are a person with vision impairment.

 

Money transfer through chat window

Once payment set up is complete then you can transfer/receive money in your WhatsApp contacts. Yes, of course they will have to finish the set up in their app.  That is both of you who wish to transact need to have WhatsApp configured for UPI payment.

Now you can open any of your contacts chat & tap on "Attach" button. you will find here an additional option called "Payment".  Just tap on the same to open the payment screen. This screen interface is very simple & user-friendly. Your primary UPI linked account is listed in the dropdown, next is a text box for entering amount & then next text edit for payment remark. Just enter the amount you wish to transfer & key in payment remark for reference. Now hit submit this will open the UPI pin input, just enter your UPI pin which you have configured for your account.   One important tip for screen reader users is on the UPI transaction pin entry screen (from NPCI) there are two unlabeled buttons. All number buttons 0 to 9 are spoken. Left to number "0" is erase button and right side of number "0" is a "Proceed / enter” button.  So to click on enter button swipe right once you are on 0.  Talkback will speak unlabelled button.  This is your Enter / proceed button.   

So just hit on the same & you’re done. Yes, that's it, amount will be transferred to your contact instantly.  The whole process will not take more than a minute.

Final verdict

India has the world's largest number of WhatsApp users, with 2 crore people using the app daily hence this payment option will surely give a big boost to digital payment movement in our country.  After using this for last few days, I can say that configuration & transfer process is really simple & user friendly. As it is not an exclusive payment app by Whatsapp like Google Tez, transfer using VPA & IFSC code is not available However due to its largest user base in India this new payment feature will surely become popular. I am sure lots of corporate guys will use “Whats App”  group chat for fixing their next team dinner & transferring contributions in same chat window.

   So let’s get going and now send digital payments to your family and friends like you would send a photo or file or any other attachment.

Happy chatting and happy paying!

Awesome experience with Uber co-rider

I travel by the Uber almost every day. During their promotional offers I do opt for the Uber Go otherwise my preference is Uber Pool which is an economical
ride. When you travel by Uber Go then no worries for having co-riders as complete car is for us however in case of Uber Pool rides we always end up meeting
new people.
Since my childhood I am crazy for the cars and always used to occupy front seat when my dad used to drive. As a kid I was having no vision impairment.
 However, even today with my total blindness condition, I prefer a front seat as it is dedicated for one person, this is again a matter of choice.
 Many of you may have other preferences.
I choose this seat because of many past experiences with co-riders, whenever I get into cab I always inform driver that I am person with blindness so that
he can help me in occupying correct seat without disturbing other riders.  Still many a times I banged on co-riders by mistake & later apologize, unfortunately
all these times after conveying my apologies the co-riders did not give any reaction which is really disturbing experiences for me all the time.
For a blind co-rider it is good to show your presence by simply greeting them or making some random noise however people don’t follow these very simple
gestures. After all it is an issue of awareness & courtesy. So to avoid all these unpleasant experiences, I always prefer front seat but had to settle
down with back cabin at times.
Friends, but first time my last week’s Friday experience with uber Pool was so different & pleasant. I was returning from my work to home in the evening.
 Like always I booked an Uber cab from Bandra reclamation, my colleagues always accompany me till I get into the cab. As per the regular practice they
saw an empty front seat & asked me to open the front door. I followed their instructions & got into the cab by confirming my name with the Uber driver.
 While getting into the cab I always hold my white cane. I sat in the car & wore the seat belt. Within few seconds I heard a warm greeting as "Hi Sai,
this is Harvinder, I am your co-rider & I am traveling with my daughter". I got a pleasant surprise, this had never happened.  I happily conveyed my greetings
to him & asked "How old is she?” he replied "She is 11". We continued this chat for couple of minutes & then he started talking to his daughter. During
this small interaction we shared our work details & spoke on traffic in Mumbai. I felt so overwhelming.  I wish to have these kinds of sensible co-riders
for all my future Uber rides. While getting down from the cab Mr. Harvinder again greeted me & I reciprocated the same,
Oh! What a great experience it was!!!
Persons with vision impairment always wish to know about the surroundings, nearby people, places and objects.  As we cannot see we are depend on the audio
clues, discussions and dialogs.  We love interacting.  However many times people run away from us, or give us pathway very quietly or just ignore us.  We
do get helping hands many times but social interaction is missing for us.
We have as many interests as you do. We love gestures like introduction by the persons which makes us more comfortable & inclusive. Instead of isolation
I am happy to be treated as amongst you, this boosts my confidence & I feel socialized.  Sometimes people talk to us in a loud voice but please understand
that I just cannot see but I can hear clearly. People also make a big mistake of talking to the blind person indirectly through their friends or someone
who accompanies them but it is always recommended to initiate the dialog with us directly. Talk to me so that we will understand each other better.
So, next time you meet ‘Sai’ do mention your name or say hello each time we meet, especially new acquaintances, so that the sound of your voice will be
familiar and recognizable to me. Last week’s Uber pull experience was amazing hence thought to write this as my blog post. I also enjoy the same things
you do.