07 May Google Takes On Siri With Google Now For iPhone and iPad
If you want a virtual personal assistant that knows what you need before you do, Google Now is your type of app. Whether you need real-time information about traffic, your next appointment, how far you’ve walked, flight information or just what the weather is doing, Google Now presents all of this information via helpful information ‘cards’.
While previously only available on devices running Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, Google have released an update to its Google Search app for iOS to bring Google Now to the iPhone and the iPad!
How Does It Work Exactly?
Google Now improves as you use it, by learning where you work and live, what you’re interested in and what you’re searching for. The app gathers this information from all of your Google services such as Search, Gmail, Calendar, Maps, Chrome Browser History and anything else connected to your Google account.
It can help you remember things like appointments, birthdays, events and things you need to get done. Google Now takes information regarding traffic and transport to bring you updates on whether there are any disruptions (such as traffic jams or City Rail trackwork), and when you should leave to get to work or your appointment on time. It even helps you when you touch down in another country by helping you find things to do nearby, provides language translation and gives you the current currency exchange rate.
And of course, Google Now integrates voice search for those that want to go handsfree.
While many of you would feel uneasy at the prospect of Google collecting this amount of data in the background, it does provide the user with incredibly useful information. The fact that you don’t have to go and search for this information yourself via other applications of web based services, saves you time, with Google Now presenting the information you need as soon as you need it. If you’re still making up your mind in relation to the privacy concerns surrounding Google Now, check out this article by GigaOm.
It seems as though Google want to compete with Siri, the personal assistant found on iOS devices, and while Google Now provides all the personalised, real-time information you could want, Siri has the advantage of being deeply integrated into the iOS.
If you’re an iPhone or iPad user and you’re looking to try out Google Now, head over to the App Store and download/ update the Google Search app.