BlackBerry Unveils “BlackBerry Assistant” for Passport, 10.3 Update

BlackBerry has taken to its Inside BlackBerry blog to unveil its latest addition to the forthcoming 10.3 update and Passport smartphone in the BlackBerry Assistant, in a bid to maintain parity against Microsoft, Google and Apple. Much like the personal assistants from the aforementioned companies, the more it learns and adapts, the more usage, the more tuned-in to queries it becomes and BlackBerry touts how accurate BlackBerry Assistant is at recognizing user requests compared to the other assistants.

BlackBerry has also confirmed that the assistant is compatible across Bluetooth-powered automotive systems regardless of operating system, whereas competing personal assistants require additional compatibility layers through additional hardware, software or agreements. Additionally, BlackBerry Assistant will allow for universal search and additional features such as sending tweets, search and additional actions without leaving the Assistant app itself. The Assistant can also read email messages and mark them without having to enter the BlackBerry Hub as well as set reminders, again without leaving the app itself.

The Assistant can also control hardware functionality on the device while also controlling what type of alerts to allow through custom settings, such as only allowing phone calls and rejecting other kinds of alerts until the user decides otherwise. The BlackBerry Assistant will be made available first on the BlackBerry Passport beginning this Fall and then sent out through the 10.3 update for the rest of the lineup later this year.