New Google Products for India – keeping the connectivity challenges in mind

Internet users in India are growing by the hours, one estimate put this number as high as ten thousand new users each hour. However, there are still some challenges for these new users, as most Indians use low powered phones, mostly with a 2G connection that offers very little data usage.

Thankfully, Google has come up with certain products and platforms, along with access programs, that were announced at second Google for India event. They are design to get more Indians involved with the internet:

The New YouTube App Specifically Built for India – YouTube Go

This app was designed based on the data usage and connectivity challenges most Indians face. You can say that YouTube Go is a brand new mobile phone app, which has been completely revamped keeping the new generation in mind. It loads and plays the videos easily, while accommodating the connectivity issues, and giving users the transparency over the data usage.

Wi-Fi through Google Stations

Google already partners with Indian railways and has commitment to provide free Wi-Fi internet on four hundred railway stations. In fact, they are already live at about 50 stations and around fifteen thousand people use this facility every day. However, now Google is taking this effort one step further with Google Station.

This will give Google’s partners an easy way to set up Wi-Fi hotspots in public places, with the set of tools provided by Google. They are planning to turn the fiber connections into fast and reliable Wi-Fi zone. It will also be safe as Google will provide all the software and guidance on hardware to its partners. The users will be able to access internet using a unified login, which will make it much easier to manage.

Smart Replies in Hindi with Assistant – Allo

Google is working on making the Google Assistant available in Hindi. Currently, you can use it in English and have a chat with Google, where you can give commands directly to your phone, as if you were talking to your actual assistant.

Google Play and Chrome with better connectivity

For India, where connectivity can be a challenge, Chrome offers a Data saver mode; it allows users to use less data on the browsers. This mode can save up to 67% of data usage, even while running MP4 videos. Best part is: Chrome and Google Play will automatically optimize the pages, when they come in contact with a 2G connection.