CES is not just about new technologies and hardware. Google has pulled off the wraps from some new features for Assistant. Now you can schedule actions and also use the “Read It” command which reads out the news. The new features are expected to arrive later this year and will be available for public testing.

A majority of new Assistant features are geared up at improving your smart home experience. In other words, the new feature will nudge you to use an Assistant in your house. The Scheduled Actions will let you schedule some tasks. For instance, you can schedule the washing machine to clean a load of clothes at a specified time. Even better, you can schedule the coffee machine to brew coffee right after you wake up.

Google will also offer a new feature that will let users leave notes on the screen. With the help of this, you can send scheduled messages to friends and family. Moving on, Assistant will now let you assign household contacts. Typically, Assistant allows you to call contacts only when it recognizes your voice. However, with household contacts, anyone can make the call.

Google has also added new features to its Home app. It will route third-party notifications from smart home devices via Assistant. Furthermore, you can also control more than 20 different devices via Assistant. The company is also working on its partnerships with TV makers. Google is extending Assistant support to Samsung’s smart TV and is also working with TCL and others. It seems like Google is working towards adding new features that will encourage you to increase Assistant usage at home.