Chromecast, the Assistant and Android Auto get useful new features and the blob emoji are back. Here are some of the changes Google rolled out recently. Back in the day, Google Now provided a daily collection of reminders, weather and traffic reports, events on your schedule and more. It was extremely useful if you took the time to customize it so it brought you just the information you needed to navigate through your day. Google Now is gone, but the purpose it served has returned via the Assistant with a new feature called "Visual Snapshot" that is rolling out now.

Google Assistant wants to help you get your day started. The search giant said Tuesday it's launching a new'visual snapshot' feature in the Google Assistant app that will give users a rundown of all their important meetings, restaurant or movie suggestions, commute times, upcoming bills and more. It's now available on the app for both Android and iOS devices in all languages supported by the Google Assistant app. Google said it's launching a new'visual snapshot' feature in the Assistant app that will give users a rundown of meetings, movie suggestions, commute times, upcoming bills and more Google says the app will provide'curated, helpful information' depending on what time of day it is, where you are and your recent interactions with Google Assistant. Users are encouraged to check back throughout the day for updates.