Accurate, Focused Research on Law, Technology and Knowledge Discovery Since 2002

“Now on tap” – mobile help with what you need in the moment

Google Inside Search – “Your mobile phone does wonderful things for you, but it’s still not always easy to find a quick piece of information or get something done on the fly while you’re in the middle of something else—like listening to music, texting your friends, or reading your email. Too often, you have to leave what you’re doing just to look for what you need somewhere else on your phone. Making it easy to find what you need is core to our mission, and today at Google I/O we previewed Google Now enhancements to help remove some of this hassle.  Since we launched Google Now, we’ve been expanding the ways it can help and do more of the work for you. You can get notifications like where you parked your car, news stories based on your interests, or help with travel like your upcoming reservations. We’ve also gotten better at giving smarter answers to some of your questions (“Is my flight on time?”) and at helping you get things done across your apps (“Ok Google, play Sugar on Spotify”).  We’re working to make Google Now a little smarter in the upcoming Android M release, so you can ask it to assist you with whatever you’re doing—right in the moment, anywhere on your phone. With “Now on tap,” you can simply tap and hold the home button for assistance without having to leave what you’re doing—whether you’re in an app or on a website. For example, if a friend emails you about seeing the new movie Tomorrowland, you can invoke Google Now without leaving your app, to quickly see the ratings, watch a trailer, or even buy tickets—then get right back to what you were doing.” [my question – what are the implications for privacy, data collection and data mining on individual activities, locations, and connections]

Sorry, comments are closed for this post.