At this year's I/O keynote, the company has announced three updates for Google Home, its voice-based virtual assistant for homes.

Google Home (Credit: Google)

Hands-free calling

With the help of Google Assistant, Home shall be able to call any number in the US and Canada. The best part is that Google will not charge any additional fee for the same. Hands-free calling supports multiple users as well, so Home will perform the personalized action depending on who is requesting for it.

Increased entertainment options

Google Home now supports HBO Now, CBS All Access, HGTV (Netflix is already added) and also Spotify's free service along with Soundcloud and Deezer, hence increasing the number of available entertainment options. Bluetooth is supported as well.

Visual responses via Chromecast

Adding interfacing with other devices like smartphones and TV screens (via Chromecast), Google Home will now 'show' information instead of just speaking it out. For instance, when asked for driving directions, Assistant will route it to the smartphone. If connected via Chromecast, appointments and search results can be viewed on the big screen.

Google Lens and standalone Daydream VR headsets are also announced. Stay tuned for more announcements from the Google I/O event.

The Google Daydream mobile Virtual Reality platform is getting an interesting expansion. In this world of smartphone-based VR headsets, Google has announced at the I/O event that standalone VR headsets will be manufactured.

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What this effectively means is that the new headsets will not rely on any device whatsoever, be it a console, PC, or smartphone.

Even though there is not much information regarding how this is supposed to work, Google has hinted at the use of WorldSense to achieve the same. The technology will not require any external sensors. It will employ inside-out positional tracking instead.

As far as motion control is concerned, the sketches presented by the company at the keynote hints at a controller just like the one that ships with Daydream View.

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Google has partnered with HTC and Lenovo to produce such devices. HTC's Vive branded standalone VR headset is expected to hit the markets sometime later this year. Exact release dates or pricing information is not revealed yet.

Google Lens and updates to Google Home are also announced. Stay tuned for more announcements from the Google I/O event.

Google I/O keynote for the year 2017 is underway, and the first new product coming out of their stable is Google Lens.

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As the name suggests, the technology makes use of the device's camera. It is a combination of artificial intelligence, image recognition, machine learning, and the existing Google platform, coming together to understand the surroundings. One can just launch Lens, point the phone's camera at an object, and it will automatically provide more information about the same in real-time.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai presented a few use cases to explain the usage of Google Lens: find the type and background information about an unknown flower; locate a business, find its working hours, and read reviews just by pointing the Lens at a brick-and-mortar storefront; or automatically connect to a WiFi network by pointing the Lens to its credentials.

Google Lens will be incorporated with Google Photos and Google Assistant. In combination with the Assistant, the Lens can perform a variety of tasks including adding events to the calendar, buying tickets for the same, or translating stuff across languages.

Standalone Daydream VR headsets and updates to Google Home are also announced. Stay tuned for more announcements from the Google I/O event.