Google Assistant is getting an Ambient Mode, allowing information from the smart AI companion to be displayed on the screen when a device is charging.

The information was revealed as Nokia unveiled its new smartphones - the Nokia 7.2 and Nokia 6.2.

The company - running under the guise of HMD Global - confirmed that the Ambient Mode from Google Assistant would be available on these devices when connected to a power source.

That should allow some visual interaction with Google Assistant, meaning that your phone is more like a smart display - perfect for when it's sitting on a charger next to your bed. 

It's not the first time we've heard of Ambient Mode - it saw an early leak during the Android Q beta phase, but we've also seen similar from Google before. The Pixel, when placed on the Pixel Stand, would offer an ambient display covering a range of information, so it looks like there's going to be a wider availability of that sort of function. 

Google has been aggressively increasing the interaction and functionality that Google Assistant offers, not just on phones, but on smart displays too, which is very much where we feel this is coming from. With an increasing number of Google smart displays from the likes of Lenovo, JBL and Google's own devices, it makes sense to expand the experience into a wider context. 

We currently don't have much information on how Ambient Display will look or operate - or how widely available it might be - but we'll let you know as soon as we do.