There are a depressing number of non-Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean) handsets in the wild, so it could be that many are unfamiliar with Google’s impressive virtual assistant, Google Now. While other virtual assistants require that you talk to them, Google Now passively collects data on you and learns a surprising amount.
For example, opening Google Now on my recently hacked-to-run-Android HP TouchPad reveals a card reminding me that it’s time to go to work. Not only is there a reminder, but there’s a map to my office. Same thing pops up at quitting time, only with a reminder to swing by the school to get the kids. Keep in mind that the TouchPad has no GPS — it learned my daily routine from multiple Android review devices and shared it via my account.
“2:00 AM – sneak leftovers. Fatty”
Let’s ignore the creepiness factor of your phone tracking your every move and charting your habits. Without that, Google Now is crazy cool. However, i’s also limited to a handful of devices. Except some code was spotted in Chrome that indicates the predictive service may be coming to Chrome OS at the very least, if not the wider Windows/Linux/MacOS world.
Even cooler is the recently leaked and pulled video of Google Now on iOS. That would be an impressive combination. Despite Android’s growing user base, Apple sells a hell of a lot of handsets and owns most of the mindshare. The idea of having a more passive assistant in Google Now on the same device as Siri is an interesting thought. I would love to try them side by side one day.
Google Now will also likely factor heavily into Google Glass, Google’s cyborg-esque heads-up display. Google has been promoting Glass heavily, and it’s supposed to work with Android and iOS handsets. Could Now be Glass’s door to iOS?
Note to self: Ask Rabbi about Google Glass on the Sabbath.
I remember when we used to carry around PDAs instead of smartphones. While the “A” stood for “Assistant”, those older devices have as much in common with Siri and Google Now as a thrown rock has with an intercontinental missile. In the virtual assistant arms race, getting Now on iOS and the desktop would be a massive win for Google.
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