Google has revamped search in its recent update to Android – version 4.1 “Jelly Bean”. It features a brand new user interface, more natural voice search that will rival Apple’s Siri, and a new service called Google Now that promises to give you “just the right information”.
To quote Stewart Wilson, “This just goes to show how much information Google has about you.”
The UI looks a bit like FourSquare, but the new Voice Search is able to understand more natural commands as opposed to specific words. You can query things such as “How tall is the space needle” or finding images of pygmy marmosets. It is among the other voice improvements in Jelly Bean – another one is voice dictation offline, so you don’t need to send it to Google for processing.
Google Now will give you the information you want based on where you are, and your search history. It will be able to tell you the weather, find you an alternative route if there is traffic expected before you go to walk, or find the flight information if you searched on Google your flight. All of this via one simple swipe.
And expect the cue of people fearing of their privacy.