Playing with Google Now

The_B_Man

Any good uses so far?
I've trained mine to give me directions and time it'll take to get home or to work in current traffic. I did this by setting home and work in My Places in Google Maps.

Also, I searched man utd's fixture list a few times and now it gives me live scores and fixtures.

Another one was using my gmail to book flights. It picks up the flight number and gives live details. When me mate was flying over, I emailed the flight details to me self and that works too. Probably could have just googled the flight number either .


Any other tips?

JacksonHeightsOwn

im intrigued, what exactly is it?

i feel such a gimp, i cant even find it in the play store. Is it only compatible with new devices?

ongarite

Its much more useful when you are travelling. I used it in the US a lot recently and it'll give me daily currency rates, tourist sites near me.
If you have a calendar appointment with location added, it'll tell you when you need to leave based on current traffic conditions.

PogMoThoin

chrisbonnie wrote: »

im intrigued, what exactly is it?

i feel such a gimp, i cant even find it in the play store. Is it only compatible with new devices?

It's built in to the latest Android Jelly Bean, not available in Play store.

As ongarite says, it's much more useful when you are away. I was in the USA earlier this year, it popped up lots of interesting stuff, weather, currency rates, nearby attractions, flight times etc.

I find it pretty boring at home, just weather, calendar and distance to home.

Kavrocks

chrisbonnie wrote: »

im intrigued, what exactly is it?

i feel such a gimp, i cant even find it in the play store. Is it only compatible with new devices?

This is it on the Play Store. As previously stated and on that page too you need to be running JellyBean, if you aren't go to XDA Developers and put a custom JellyBean ROM on your phone (providing there is one available).

MiCr0

If you go into the settings menu in Google search you can see all the Google now options. Its also possible to tell it which is your favourite football team and how you'd like score updates.

Sonics2k

I like it for casual use, but it's quite annoying that it doesn't show Munster rugby on the sports section.

long_b

I've a drive-train-walk commute - doesn't show diddly for me even though I've set my work and home locations

danniemcq

Sonics2k wrote: »

I like it for casual use, but it's quite annoying that it doesn't show Munster rugby on the sports section.

no europa league results either

The_B_Man

Or international soccer .

DarkBlonde

Mine told me how many extra miles I walked in December than November . Thought that was pretty cool. Didn't even ask it, the card just popped up today.

danniemcq

DarkBlonde wrote: »

Mine told me how many extra miles I walked in December than November . Thought that was pretty cool. Didn't even ask it, the card just popped up today.

yeah i got the same,

dont think its very accurate though, walk back from work every day (3k) and take dog for walk nearly every day too.

So unless i only worked 8 days in December....

BopNiblets

Google knows you're a lazy bum! :pac:

Anyway, I saw that one and the weather one, I still haven't got any commute time cards, maybe because I have it set to public transport and it only works for driving?
I already set my Home and Work locations.

Patsy fyre

It's pretty useful but it's a big battery drain so I've had to turn it off recently.

elderlemon

Despite the battery drain I actually like Google now and use it all the time. In addition to the points made above if you do a search for say "Liffey Valley" in the browser or google search you will then see sometime later a card pop up with time and traffic to Liffey Valley, so its "thinking" ahead to what you might want to do next.

I think we'll see a lot more from Google Now over the next year. I think its going to be one of those killer apps for a smartphone.

jester77

I really like it. When I'm away somewhere the translator is available & shows sites of interests near by. Cinema listings are shown when near a cinema, shows what restaurants and bars are in my area, if I searched for something recently on Maps it shows me the directions and shows the current traffic situation and time to get there. It shows the timetable for my train when it's time to go to work or home from work. It's pretty clever over all.

Plus I walked 10 more miles in December than I did in November

long_b

jester77 wrote: »

I really like it. When I'm away somewhere the translator is available & shows sites of interests near by. Cinema listings are shown when near a cinema, shows what restaurants and bars are in my area, if I searched for something recently on Maps it shows me the directions and shows the current traffic situation and time to get there. It shows the timetable for my train when it's time to go to work or home from work. It's pretty clever over all.

Plus I walked 10 more miles in December than I did in November

Are you in the US or UK ?

danniemcq

I have never got cinema info, i search quite a lot for movies, granted not always cinema releases but when i'm down near the cinema or a movie i searched for is released i still get nothing

elderlemon

make sure you have it enabled in the settings.

danniemcq wrote: »

I have never got cinema info, i search quite a lot for movies, granted not always cinema releases but when i'm down near the cinema or a movie i searched for is released i still get nothing

jester77

long_b wrote: »

Are you in the US or UK ?

Germany.

DarkBlonde

danniemcq wrote: »

I have never got cinema info, i search quite a lot for movies, granted not always cinema releases but when i'm down near the cinema or a movie i searched for is released i still get nothing

I get movie listings near the cinema.

Another cool thing, kind of thing creepy is this. Every Saturday I collect my son at the same time. One Saturday a card appeared telling me the commute time to the destination. Now I get this every Saturday morning.

danniemcq

elderlemon wrote: »

make sure you have it enabled in the settings.

yup its all active.

just outta curiousity are people usually walking around with GPS enabled? or just relying on the network location

DarkBlonde

danniemcq wrote: »

yup its all active.

just outta curiousity are people usually walking around with GPS enabled? or just relying on the network location

I have started leaving on the gps to make better use of google now. I was turning it off to save on battery but the way i see it I'm charging every night anyway so it doesnt make much difference to my battery.

danniemcq

DarkBlonde wrote: »

I have started leaving on the gps to make better use of google now. I was turning it off to save on battery but the way i see it I'm charging every night anyway so it doesnt make much difference to my battery.

yeah guess i'll give that a go for a while and see

Zascar

I like the way it tells me how long my commute is to and from work, and any delays, and also how long to get home from anywhere I am - pretty cool. Impressive how it knows where I'm thinking of going based on my search although sometimes it gets it wrong.

What I would like it to be able to do is to take audio notes for me. I use Google Tasks within Gmail, does anyone know how I can get it to take a note and add it to my task list?

PogMoThoin

Leaving gps on makes no difference to battery usage if you don't have an app open using gps. I have always had mine on.

Zascar

Does the same go for Bluetooth?

PogMoThoin

Zascar wrote: »

Does the same go for Bluetooth?

No, Bluetooth like wifi is always beaconing

danniemcq

PogMoThoin wrote: »

Leaving gps on makes no difference to battery usage if you don't have an app open using gps. I have always had mine on.

i guess you would get more drain though for stuff like twitter when it grabs your position or any other apps that go looking when they really don't need too (really bad piggies really?) so i guess if you have them running the GPS will be looking.

Although LBE privacy Guard can put a stop to that (although if running jelly bean which Google Now requires it can cause boot loops but the chinese version translated by the lads over at XDA works a treat)

Dony

I went to do an update for this recently and one of the permissions it was requesting was to read my sms.
What's all that about?
Needless to say I didn't update.

Dudda

I've my Nexus 7 for a few months and find Google Now getting better. I travel to Glasgow every few weeks and it works much better there.
As soon as I get off the plane it tells me the weather, currency rate and that the next bus to the city center (the 505 which I always get) leaves in 8 minutes as well as the two after that. When the bus starts it tells me duration to destination etc. It suggests restaurants, night life, shows etc and shows distance to and from hotel.

At home it's not near as good just showing me distance to work/home, weather and Man Utd (fixtures, live scores and results). I must have once searched Fulham FC as it started showing their info too until I removed them manually. I added Apple, Google, Facebook in my stock portfolio on Google Finance and it shows me the price if they rise or drop more than 1% in a day. Probably see that card every 10 days on average.


I really wish it would use the info like birthdays from the contacts app to alert me. Currently it only uses the info from Google+ which none of my family or friends use.

ThunbergsAreGo

Dudda wrote: »

I've my Nexus 7 for a few months and find Google Now getting better. I travel to Glasgow every few weeks and it works much better there.
As soon as I get off the plane it tells me the weather, currency rate and that the next bus to the city center (the 505 which I always get) leaves in 8 minutes as well as the two after that. When the bus starts it tells me duration to destination etc. It suggests restaurants, night life, shows etc and shows distance to and from hotel.

At home it's not near as good just showing me distance to work/home, weather and Man Utd (fixtures, live scores and results). I must have once searched Fulham FC as it started showing their info too until I removed them manually. I added Apple, Google, Facebook in my stock portfolio on Google Finance and it shows me the price if they rise or drop more than 1% in a day. Probably see that card every 10 days on average.


I really wish it would use the info like birthdays from the contacts app to alert me. Currently it only uses the info from Google+ which none of my family or friends use.

Stupid question, but does it update without WiFi?

PogMoThoin

naughtb4 wrote: »

Stupid question, but does it update without WiFi?

Yes if you have 3G.

ThunbergsAreGo

PogMoThoin wrote: »

Yes if you have 3G.

Ah ok, was just when Glasgow was mentioned

28064212

Dony wrote: »

I went to do an update for this recently and one of the permissions it was requesting was to read my sms.
What's all that about?
Needless to say I didn't update.

Why? You realise the same company make the messaging app and OS which can read all your SMS anyway. If they want to get at them, you not installing their search app isn't going to make much difference

nedd

after reading this thread I upgraded my HTC One X to a 4.2 Rom just to try this out again. It has got much better since the last time I used it.

It now tells me every so often that I am close to some sites where Photos have been taken, lets me see some photos people have taken there and tells me how to get there. Handy.

I only updated yesterday so it will take a while to get some more cards.

Dudda

naughtb4 wrote: »

Ah ok, was just when Glasgow was mentioned

I don't have the 3G version but the airports, busses, hotels etc all have free WiFi and it works surprisingly well. I do sometimes tether it to my phone but not while traveling due to the cost of data.

neacy69

Is it still a big drain on the battery?

The_B_Man

I still get a solid day out of me phone, and have a good bit to spare when using Google Now.

But sure I charge me phone every night anyway, so it makes no difference if I have 37% at the end of the day, or 7%.

HTML5!

To be honest, I think people are just looking for excuses to use Google now! Nothing wrong with that though.

I mean, I've never been more than 5 minutes out in getting from A to B. You know yourself what traffic's going to be like and when.

I can just as easily search for a cinema time without having it set up on Google now.

I've found it utterly useless.

I can see the benefits of it while abroad and I'll certainly give it a go then. Having said that, I enjoy doing the research myself of where to eat etc..

Plus, it just seems you're giving an awful lot about yourself away and I'm just not that comfortable with it for some reason (no I don't use Facebook either).

emo72

how do you get the cards to pop up?

HTML5!

emo72 wrote: »

how do you get the cards to pop up?

If you just have the cards set to 'on' then it will get to know you're activity for that particular card, eg. football scores - if you have sports set to 'on' and you go and look for Man Utd results, it will be there. Or you can just add specific teams manually.

Doesn't show Europa league or international football though.

PogMoThoin

HTML5! wrote: »

To be honest, I think people are just looking for excuses to use Google now! Nothing wrong with that though.

I mean, I've never been more than 5 minutes out in getting from A to B. You know yourself what traffic's going to be like and when.

I can just as easily search for a cinema time without having it set up on Google now.

I've found it utterly useless.

I can see the benefits of it while abroad and I'll certainly give it a go then. Having said that, I enjoy doing the research myself of where to eat etc..

Plus, it just seems you're giving an awful lot about yourself away and I'm just not that comfortable with it for some reason (no I don't use Facebook either).

It's all part of the whole package of future services Google are trying to offer. Google plus is their social network. Check out Google Glass in this vid:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1uyQZNg2vE

emo72 wrote: »

how do you get the cards to pop up?

You need to go somewhere, not much happens when you are at home. Also, give it some time, it detects what you Google for and offers cards to suit. Leave the country and it will start offering you currency rates, places of interest and flight times

HTML5!

PogMoThoin wrote: »

It's all part of the whole package of future services Google are trying to offer. Google plus is their social network. Check out Google Glass in this vid:

Yeah I saw that video, but...I just can't imagine ever walking around wearing those glasses.

I know it's where technology is heading and maybe someday I'll find a use for it, but...not right now.

emo72

HTML5! wrote: »

, but...I just can't imagine ever walking around wearing those glasses.

dont worry, google in the future will offer replacements for your eyeballs:pac:

you will be able to lash "google eyes" into your sockets and away you go. you know it makes sense:P

PogMoThoin

HTML5! wrote: »

Yeah I saw that video, but...I just can't imagine ever walking around wearing those glasses.

I know it's where technology is heading and maybe someday I'll find a use for it, but...not right now.

Maybe not at first, but there will come a day when it will be essential to access to the info that's layered in augmented reality around us. This is where it's going.

HTML5!

PogMoThoin wrote: »

Maybe not at first, but there will come a day when it will be essential to access to the info that's layered in augmented reality around us. This is where it's going.

Maybe, I just don't really like the idea of viewing the real world like that. I don't think it's essential.

PogMoThoin

HTML5! wrote: »

Maybe, I just don't really like the idea of viewing the real world like that. I don't think it's essential.

Neither is the internet

HTML5!

PogMoThoin wrote: »

Neither is the internet

Not really the same. I see what you're attempting though.

Gran Hermano

At home I find it useful for commuting times and I noticed it has also started to add news stories this week. Where it really shines is when travelling. http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=83342975&postcount=42

I find it useful in how if I search for an address using Google maps it will then show a new card to that location with travel time. From the card I can quickly go to navigation to that address.

Justin10

Gran Hermano wrote: »

At home I find it useful for commuting times and I noticed it has also started to add news stories this week. Where it really shines is when travelling. http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=83342975&postcount=42

I find it useful in how if I search for an address using Google maps it will then show a new card to that location with travel time. From the card I can quickly go to navigation to that address.

Is the travel time accurate?