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o i love Google now! as soon as i get a new phone on jellybean i will love it even more! it shows me the football scores lol i use it mostly for that and the weather on my N7. and the voice actions like setting alarms <~~~ love that feature!
I used Google long before I actually started liking Android. currently it's the fastest loading search engine, which is great for older hardware. Bing comes as a close 2nd but has a lot of ads that slow searches down. however, I still miss the old days of Excite, Lycos, Infoseek and Alta-Vista. I used to use Dogpile long before Google and found it extremely useful since it often searched other search engines at the same time, guaranteeing results
I use it all the time with GPS and data always on. It is almost like it read's your brain. When I travel it remembers where I stayed and when I get back into the area it automatically gives me directions to the hotel. It learns your daily activities and creates cards to help you with them.
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having data, wifi, and gps on is negative and changes nothing of my battery life. it's the same with that all on as it is with wifi only on or in airplane mode. on my device the screen uses the most out of the battery so if it's on standby as it often is (mostly my data use is on tablets, not my phone) I can get a couple days out of it. gps doesn't affect battery life as it's always on by demand. if nothing is using the gps the service is frozen and the gps icon doesn't show. it will only use the gps (and the battery with it) when any app demands location data. I do however turn my phone in 2G mode and that does make it more stable and a bit better on battery demand (3G causes my phone to phantom boot or freeze up)
i'll have to get a Nexus 10 to be sure but overall I find Android a lot laggier and just not up to par with the performance and UI smoothness of Apple iOS. it seems to crash often and slow down at times, although I have managed to tweak it a little and improve it considerably. I find Android to be a superior smartphone platform but as far as tablets go it lacks a lot. that being said, it remains a lot cheaper to replace the broken phone that runs Android. but as for Google, I use it because the search engine has very little to load making it fast on any device to do general searches on. other sites have tons of flash or ad content making them laggy on any tablet or phone to use. I never use the widget. I found it an unnecessary RAM hog since all it does is load the search you type in the default web browser anyway, so I cut out the middle man and launch the browser and search from there
my only criticisms for Google lately is how they often place results that lead to crappy sites like askmefast.com or fixya.com where you can't even see the content without jumping through hoops. often the exact problem you're trying to find a solution to leads to those sites
I think it's worth it for the traffic updates alone. It tells me what time to leave so I arrive on time, and offers an alternate route if there are delays. The package tracking is pretty convenient, and weather is nicely done though I generally glance at Beautiful Widgets instead. The traditional voice search stuff has been enhanced quite a bit too. GNow really is neat and I hope Google makes this a focus for their Android development.
I agree with BigDrew, i love it for when i need to commute to and from work and get traffic updates, this way before work or after i know what way i can take to get home.
Otherwise, i enjoy the locations it gives me, like what restaurants are nearby, and showing packages i have shipped.
It's an all around good app, and i can much improvement in it in the future.
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does it talk back? if so I may have some fun with it when I reinstall a JB ROM on my Fire. but it reminds me of Voice Actions to me. you know, it takes commands but lacks the coolness of voice response--my one love after being a big fan of Trek. there's that sci-fi factor when you hear 'Acknowledged. opening Google Play Store *beep!*' on a real-life 'PADD'
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nickdalzell
does it talk back? if so I may have some fun with it when I reinstall a JB ROM on my Fire. but it reminds me of Voice Actions to me. you know, it takes commands but lacks the coolness of voice response--my one love after being a big fan of Trek. there's that sci-fi factor when you hear 'Acknowledged. opening Google Play Store *beep!*' on a real-life 'PADD'
Yes it does! Only on certain things like weather and the time or setting an alarm tho
it's too bad that Majel Barrett Roddenberry died before we could have her as an Android voice engine. that would increase my geek Trekkie factor to have that on a tablet!
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Don't need it. I know when rush hour is and how to avoid it, I prefer Weatherbug, a good daily ephemeris, and a different sports score app. I don't bother with anything else in town. I'm not a fan of eating out or movies. I don't care where my friends are since they have the habit of calling/texting at any time so I don't need to track them.
The Vulcan doesn't always carry his phone - he needs a long transmission electronic dog collar.
I don't find Google Now very useful...yet. I don't really need the directions/ETA to work, or home most of the time. I don't really need the sports scores on there. It's nice to know when the local sports teams are playing, but I don't need that, either.
I am expecting it to grow, though. The foundation has been laid, and so far it looks pretty damn good.
Side note - I love the google voice search. Pretty, easy to use, accurate, and fast.
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I think Google Now, is great. I had it on my Transformer Prime before having it on my HTC EVO 4G LTE, so I wasn't able to take advantage of all the features. After having it for a week now, some features seem repetitive to apps or shortcut.
For instance the directions and navigation shortcut or weather. Previously I had a shortcut to my house so that I know when the next subway would come an how long it would take me to get home. Now, no pun intended, Google Now, shows transit directions to my house automatically. I no longer have to activate the app, it auto updates.
My wallpaper is the HTC live weather wallpaper, but I do like that the weather pops up based on my locations. I dont have to hit an extra button to see it. Although I wish it would automatically open up the weather app.
The location based features are nice. I can see movie times at a theater nearby when out an about without having to pull up the app. Although for a purchase, I wish there was an option to open up your preferred movie loyalty program instead of just Fandango online.
I wish there was better integration with (reminders) alarms. When using the voice feature it seems like there are too many steps and not smooth. A couple of times I thought I created a reminder, but really made a "note to myself" which is just an email.
I like having pro scores, for teams I follow, but I wish there college teams were included.
Next appointment is cool, but is repetitive to my calendar and associated reminders. I'm assuming this is something useful for a person who doesn't use the calendar app. I recently made an opentable reservation and it read my email (which was deleted - so I'm thinking it reads the ALL MAIL folder) reminding me I had a restaurant reservation. To me this is repetitive.
Nearby events/restaurants is cool, as if you're out and about it gives you clues.
I'm still debating the pictures feature. I dont have it live here in my own city, but I might use it if traveling.
I think the list of commands is also difficult to remember. You must say specific words and the systems learns your voice and search history, so the more you use it the better suited for your life.
Hey. No real Browns fan would say that! Don't hate on my Browns.
Oh come on, it's painful and you know it.
They have potential for sure, but unlike the 80's cardiac kids, you no longer get the feeling they can make a come back during any game.
I do anticipate them being better next year, and it's been a very long time since I've said that.
I don't really use the voice functions, but it has come in handy from time to time by informing me when there is trouble on my usual route to/from work and helping select the best route around it.
Does anyone use Google Now? How helpful is it really if I'm going to be allowing my information to be collected? For those who use it what are your impressions?
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From what little I have seen or used Google now, it's pretty awesome. I today searched for a company nearby using safari and Google search on my mac. Not long after, directions to said company showed up on Google now.
Set an appointment etc in s-planner with an address and it does the same and tells you what time you need to leave to get there for the appointment time.
Any time I leave home it tells me how far I am away from home. I'm sure it does more and I'm just scratching the surface
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tomo1971
From what little I have seen or used Google now, it's pretty awesome. I today searched for a company nearby using safari and Google search on my mac. Not long after, directions to said company showed up on Google now.
Set an appointment etc in s-planner with an address and it does the same and tells you what time you need to leave to get there for the appointment time.
Any time I leave home it tells me how far I am away from home. I'm sure it does more and I'm just scratching the surface
You saw the address, because you have the research topics setting in Google+ is ON. The one negative of this is, say you search for a football or MLB team, GNOW will auto add them to you sports section. I find this annoying.
As I said before I like the features, but I find them repetitive as I use the calendar and have reminders enabled for various calendar appointments. For someone that doesn't use their calendar, this may be helpful.
For those of you who have it, how much do you use it and how useful do you find it?
It's great. I don't use it all that much as far as voice interactions go, but I always have a few packages it is tracking, and a few flights it is keeping track of, all without me telling it to. I also like looking up a place on my computer, then hopping in the car and opening up Now and seeing a card ready to be tapped to start navigation to that place.
How does this usage impact your battery? I turned it off on my tab because it while I was not finding too much use for it, it was leaning hard on the battery.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kristalsoldier
How does this usage impact your battery? I turned it off on my tab because it while I was not finding too much use for it, it was leaning hard on the battery.
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Its running in the background - as Google Now is really the Google search app - so it's not taking up battery life.
Please no, the more you use it and search, the more it will learn about you.
Its running in the background - as Google Now is really the Google search app - so it's not taking up battery life.
Please no, the more you use it and search, the more it will learn about you.
I am not sure I understand what you mean when you say 'please, no....' But is it not the case that Google Now also uses location finding services which use up the battery?
I am not sure I understand what you mean when you say 'please, no....' But is it not the case that Google Now also uses location finding services which use up the battery?
We've seen you in the stands.You're the one w/the paper bag over your head!
Oh,wait........... :P
That's a paper bag and the other team's sweatshirt thank you very much. :-)
I like antagonizing people.
My Steelers sweatshirt drew lots of attention at dinner tonight, and when I wear the Raven's one...wow.
I wear Michigan on Saturday's.
It makes me laugh, I can't help it.
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How useful do you find Google Now?
lol i use it mostly for that and the weather on my N7. and the voice actions like setting alarms <~~~ love that feature!
id does... your ph
ne duhs...
