NEW DELHI – Betting big on the ‘Next Billion Users’, search giant Google on Monday announced five new products, specifically tailored for users in the world’s second-largest Internet market.
So there’s YouTube Go, a new app, which will function even when there is poor connectivity or none at all; the Google Assistant in Hindi inside messaging app Allo; Google Station, a platform to roll-out Wi-Fi hot spots in places frequented by a large number of people, such as malls, cafes and universities; data-saving features in its Chrome mobile browser; and faster browsing for Google Play on 2G connections.
While Allo with the English-language based Google Assistant was launched a week back, the other features will be launched soon, the company said.
The internet giant has outlined three areas on which the company was working to provide connectivity — access (connecting people to the internet), platforms (letting people and developers share and build upon the internet), and products (providing better and more relevant Google experiences for Indians).
Our goal has not just been to help more Indians get online — but also to help Indians create the online experience they want; one that serves their needs and enables them to have an impact on the entire world. We have been thinking about how to build products and services for this wave of new users — products that work for any level of connectivity, in local Indian languages, and across the devices that are most frequently used in India,” said Ceaser Sengupta, who heads Google’s Next Billion Users initiative.
Google has already partnered with RailTel to provide free wi-fi across rail stations. Project RailWire currently provides free wi-fi in 40 stations in the country, catering to 3.5 million monthly users. The target is 400 stations by 2017.
“Every three seconds an Indian is going online for the first time and the Station initiative is targeted at helping more users go online,” Sengupta said.
He also announced fast browsing in Google Play for people on 2G and other low-bandwidth connections. Fast browsing uses pre-loading on Wi-Fi to load the most popular parts of Google Play quickly. When an user on a low-bandwidth connection chooses to install an app, Google Play will offer a new “Wait for Wi-Fi” option, where the app will only install when the phone connects nest time to the wi-fi.
On YouTube Go, Johanna Wright, YouTube vice-president for product management, said: “YouTube Go was designed and built from the ground up with insights from India, in order to bring the power of video to mobile users in a way that is more conscious of their data and connectivity, while still being locally relevant and social.”
“YouTube Go allows users to save and watch videos smoothly even in poor connectivity, and also gives them transparency and control over how much data they consume on videos, allowing them to preview videos first and choose the video’s file size before they save it offline to watch later. They can also share videos easily with friends and family nearby, without using any data at all.”
