Even when Google Now launched with Android 4.1, Jelly Bean it was pretty impressive back then but, since then it’s gotten smarter and smarter. Giving us the ability to get notifications about weather, sports scores. With the Nexus 5, Google Now became more of your daily experience, becoming literally a swipe away on the home screen. The “OK Google” hotword detection from the homescreen is pretty cool and generally, Google Now has gotten a lot faster.
However, it doesn’t look like Google is done with Google Now this year just yet. Wired writer Mat Honan has a spent a week with his Nexus 5 and has posted some detailed thoughts on Wired’s website but, the most interesting part of the article comes when he starts talking about Google Now.
But the stuff Google says is coming November 13 is the real gravy, and it’s a shame it isn’t already ladled on. One of those things is the ability to ask you questions — so you might say “text Jennifer” and it will reply “which Jennifer,” and then ask you to dictate the message. It’s also going to get the ability to search inside applications, and launch them to complete tasks for you. So, you might search for a restaurant, and an option in the results shows up for OpenTable, which you’ll be able to fire up and make a reservation. It’s also going to use location cues to drop cards into Google Now, even more so than it does currently. At Yellowstone it will show you geyser times, for example.
So, it looks like Google Now is about to get a little more chatty with its users. As Honan suggests, Google Now might soon ask us which phone number to call when you ask it to call someone. Right now, it simply gives you a text choice with some options to tap, come November 13th, we might all be saying “mobile” instead of simply tapping the display. It’s a subtle change but, small things can make a big difference. Much like the location cards do, it’s a small thing but, they can be very helpful when you need them most, so any improvement there will be greatly appreciated by those always on the go.
Thanks to the fact that Google Now is part of the Google Search app in the Play Store, when the update hits, everyone should be able to take advantage of these upcoming features, such as having Now search apps and launch them for you. No matter what though, Google Now will continue to get better and better and we can’t wait.