If a device is using the kit, you can now customize its location (either through its latitude and longitude or a street address) to get area-specific results. Also, there's a new Device Action feature that lets manufacturers outline the features their hardware supports using only the code needed to perform that action. If it's a thermostat, for instance, you can tell Assistant to change the temperature and expect your home to become warm and toasty.

These moves could be crucial if Google wants Assistant to take off. Now that Amazon's Alexa is available in many more countries than before, it potentially becomes the voice helper of choice -- if Google didn't expand the SDK, it risked losing hardware partners that couldn't even consider using Assistant before. And it's safe to say this is good news if you're immersed in the Google ecosystem and want Assistant in as many places as possible.