From Google Pay to Google Go apps: Key takeaways from Google for India 2018

Search engine and technology giant Google on August 28 announced new tools and features specifically designed for Indian users at the Google for India 2018 event. These tools and features include the addition of more languages support in existing apps, a new platform to bring offline publishers to online platform, redesigned Google Go apps with more functionalities, redesigned digital payment app and more language support to communicate with technology via voice. While some of these tools and features are now available to experience, rest of them would begin to roll out in coming months.

Here are the key takeaways from Google for India 2018:

Google Pay
Last year in September, Google introduced a unified payments interface (UPI) based digital payments app Tez. Now, the company has renamed the app to Google Pay, and promised to make it accessible at more platforms -- in-stores and online, while also expanding its services for merchants, and inclusion of financial institutions such as HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, etc. for instant loans without paperwork hassles.

Google Maps
Google Maps will soon be able to provide better public transport guidance, which will inform riders of upcoming stops and alerts on when to get off. The company also partnered with RedBus to provide more than 20,000 routes and 1,500 cities for intercity bus journey routes.

The company also announced turn-by-turn navigation functionality, along with a new home screen with convenient shortcuts new for Google Maps Go app.

Google Assistant
The Google Assistant will soon be integrated with local apps such as Where Is My Train, Airtel, and Hello English to provide added functionality such as providing train schedules, plan expiry data, mobile data balance, etc. The digital personal assistant now also supports Marathi language, along with English and Hindi, and support for around seven new languages will be added shortly.

Tez rebranded as GooglePay, platform to receive major push this Diwali

Global tech giant Google on Tuesday said that by Diwali it plans to expand the operations of its payments platform, and would add major retail chains restaurants and cab aggregators to the platform.

The tech giant has also re-branded 'Tez' as 'Google Pay' as part of its efforts to take the digital payments app to more online and retail merchants across the country.

“Building for India has helped Google build for everyone all around the world... Our partnership with RailTel is an example where millions of people are accessing the Internet from hundreds of railway station in India. We have also taken Google Station to other countries like Indonesia, Nigeria, Thailand and Mexico," Google General Manager (Next Billion Users initiative and Payments) Caesar Sengupta said.

Previously, Google had partnered with RailTel to offer Wi-Fi access across 400 railway stations in the country.

"Earlier this year, we partnered with APSFNL. We expect to start rolling out the service by year-end in cities like Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam, to connect Gram panchayats, primary health care centres and other public places," he said.