Google Assistant is bilingual at last

Google Assistant just got even smarter.

At the IFA tech show in Berlin, Google announced that the Google Assistant is now bilingual, making it the first voice assistant to be able to seamlessly switch between two different languages.

Effective immediately, you can now speak to the Google Assistant (on phones and smart speakers) in any two of the following languages: English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, or Japanese (more will be supported in the coming months).

Google Assistant's new bilingual support should make it more useful in homes where family members speak two languages.

Users will have to select which two languages they want their Google Assistant to understand. For example, if your family speaks English and German, you can ask the Google Assistant questions in either of those two languages interchangeably.

You can see a demo for how dual languages works with the Assistant in the video below.

In other Assistant news, Google also made the digital assistant work better with Chromecast.

If you have a Google Home and a Chromecast hooked up to your TV, you'll now be able to see more visual results on the big screen. The Assistant now displays things like the weather, sports scores, stocks, and other personalized content you might want to see. And if you're already watching content with Chromecast, Google says the Assistant's visual results will overlay on top of it instead of kicking you over to a new screen.

There's also improved voice-casting support for Chromecast. For example, instead of having to say a long command like "Hey Google, play Stranger Things on Living Room TV," you can just say "Hey Google, play Stranger Things" if you've already set your Chromecast to default to a specific TV.

And lastly, the Google Home Max -- that's the biggest one with the thumping bass -- is finally available in the UK, France, and Germany.