I was reading an article a couple of years back about a
product that claimed to read your mind and show you stuff even before you knew
you wanted to see it. Sounds like an exaggeration, doesn’t it? Actually it isn’t.
This product that I am referring to just doesn’t stop surprising me by proving
time-and-again that it knows me better than I do!
So here’s the deal.. it knows that I am a follower of
technology and shows me news articles related to that. It also knows that I
absolutely love music and am a die-hard fan of A. R. Rahman and so it shows me
all the latest news he is involved in! That’s not all, I get to see the show
timings of my favourite shows, weather forecast etc etc. Are you still wondering
what I am actually talking about? Daaaah!!! Google Now ofcourse!!! I dedicate
this article to the most innovative product of our time, “Google Now”. Below
are some of the awesomest features which make Google Now one of the most enviable
products.
1. Set reminders: Ya I know, there’s nothing new
about setting reminders. There are hundreds of free apps in the app store (both
iOS and Android) which help us remember what we usually tend to forget. What if
I tell you that setting reminders just requires you to give a voice command “remind
me to..” followed by what reminder you actually need to set? Aah... Siri does
exactly that! What if I tell you that all you need to do was type in the search
box in Google Now “remind me to...” followed by what you need to be reminded
of, and your reminder would be set? Not good enough? Well, guess what? Assume
you were working on your workstation & your phone is in your pocket / bag
and you suddenly think of something you need to do but has to be done some-time
later. All you need to do is open a browser and type www.google.com. In the search bar, type “remind
me to ...” followed by the task you had thought of doing, hit Enter. Voila!!! A
reminder will automatically be created on your phone through Google Now. This
is obviously assuming that you have signed-into your Google account on your web
browser and this account is the same account you’re signed-into your phone.
2. Is Google Now trying to be my wife? I keep
getting this thought because it knows exactly what I’m upto! I had recently
booked movie tickets for a Saturday evening 6pm show. I casually opened Google
Now at around 4pm to find a ‘Card’ which mentioned my show timing, the name of
the movie, theatre address and an option to start Google Navigation. What’s
more is that based on the traffic it also showed me the time at which I should
leave so I make it on time! Seriously??!!! The interest of wives isn’t just
restricted to what movies you’re watching. They also need to know everything
about your travel plans. A few months back I went to Chandigarh, for which I
had booked my flight tickets well in advance. 2 days before my
flight, I automatically started seeing the weather forecast for Chandigarh
along with my flight schedule (if it is delayed or on-time). Needless to say
that it started showing me the weather forecast for Mumbai a couple of days prior
to my return flight. Brilliant isn’t it? Oh and I almost forgot! Just like your
wife, you can’t give surprises to Google Now because it knows what you’ve order
online, when it is dispatched and what is the scheduled date of delivery.
3. I seek happiness in simple things of Life: We
often tend to have a long day at work and get a thought in our mind about when
we’ll actually reach home. Open Google Now you silly!! It knows where your home
is and knows when you’ll get there (you let it guess the address or set the
home address through settings). You remember in point 2, I told you how Google
Now tries to be my wife? I was serious! It tracks things you search for on the
net (on your phone and pc) and shows you relevant ‘Cards’. For example, I see
cards with live cricket scores because I search for scores on the net. I see ‘Cards’
of movies, music, bollywood because I search for a lot of them on the net. It
also brilliantly integrates with Google Calendar and shows me all my office
meeting invites, birthdays on Google Now.
Pheww!! Now isn’t that a product worth blogging? I’m
guessing that you’ve tried most of these features already and are loving them
as much as I do. If you haven’t yet configured Google Now on your phone then do
it right away!! Once you’ve done that, just say “Ok Google” and enjoy one of
the best apps for your cell phone! Oh, and this app is available on Android and
iOS.
So what’s your favourite Google Now feature? Do mention it
in the comments section. Till then, “Ok, Google”! J
