Android Screenshot
Although late to the game, I have recently discovered Google Now and Ok Google. These two tools for my Android phone are starting to become pretty useful. I am using them more and more in my daily activities.
Google Now
Google Now, basically, pulls information it knows about you and where you are to one location. You can then see at a glance what may be important at the moment. This information may be the weather, travel information, sports scores, nearby restaurants, sports scores, etc. Here are two videos that help to sum up the essence of Google Now.
I have used Google Now to keep track of the World Cup, track package arrival from Amazon, and find nearby events. It is possible to customize your experience by selecting sports teams, stocks, places such as home and work, video and TV services, and much more. Google Now adjusts as I travel around the country; I thought it was quite useful to get the local weather and local activities.
Here is additional information about Google Now:
- What is Google Now?
- How to get Google Now (Google Now is automatically available for Android 4.1 and higher) It is also available on your computer.
- Information you can view on Google Now
Ok Google or the Google Voice Search
While listening to and learning from some podcasts (This Week in Google, This Week in Tech, and All About Android), I learned about the Google Voice Search feature that I had on my phone. The hosts provided a number of examples, and naturally, I started to experiment with them. Very cool! and a lot of fun!
In short, once activated, Google Voice Search is part of Google Now and it allows you to conduct searches and other functions like navigating, send an email, or set reminders simply by talking to your phone. Everything I tried was successful except for trying to navigate to Tunkhannock, PA. Ok, Google did not recognize the pronunciation, actually, most people cannot figure out the pronunciation. Here is a short video about Ok Google and various commands you can use.
The podcast hosts also talked about Ok Google being extended to wearable devices. Unfortunately, my watch does not support this feature but I am looking forward to the day it does.
It seems every day my phone is becoming increasingly more important as a learning tool. I encourage you to check out these features and let me know what you think. I am excited about the possibilities.
