Metropol

So, having just installed Google Now on my iPhone I can say it's bloody lovely. Anyone else tried?

Yup I use it on my Nexus7. very handy.

I like the idea, but can never really get it to show anything other than weather and directions.

I think it's a good concept, and it is useful, but the idea that it'll pre-empt you and bring things up when you need them doesn't work for me. It brings up the directions to work almost at random, and has recently decided to start to alerting me whenever I'm near a pub, as a 'point of interest.

However, the search within Google Now is really good, and on the odd few occasions it has actually worked, when I've been looking for something I can go into Google Now and it'll give me a link to 'continue researching', which is quite nice.

Jake wrote:I like the idea, but can never really get it to show anything other than weather and directions.

http://www.addictivetips.com/android/go ... ards-list/

it certainly worked better than siri for most things when i tried it, but like a lot of voice activated technology, i actually find it quicker just to type it in. it's great for novelty purposes, but i can't say i've been able to apply it in a real world situation in such a way that i thought ... "yes... i get the point of this technology now".

My issue with it is that it is built around Google Web History being always on.

And I don't like seeing what i've previously typed into Google in one a big list.

Why worry, its in a big long list at your internet service provider, anyway?

Yes, but I don't want or need to see it. I appreciate that the internet is anything but anonymous, but that doesn't mean I want my search history to be used to built up a profile on me, which it still gets wrong. The answer - leave it on and let it build a more accurate picture of who you are, they say.

Nah, not interested.

When I did try Web History on for a while, I signed in at work to check email one day, then just continued to use Google as normal - but was still signed in. I get home and Google Now is telling me "It looks like you enjoy researching Transport. Here's some links" which I was working on for a proposal that day. Er no. Next day I was researching certain health policies. The thing just doesn't quite work for me.

It also tries to autocomplete-as-you-type your search box based on things you've typed in before. This could lead to all sorts of potential embarrassments reappearing, or even just innocent gift/holiday ideas or surprises being found out.

I rather like it. It's not perfect, and gets confused by the fact that I work shifts (therefore don't really care how long it takes me to get to work today, thanks), but it does have lots of neat little features.

those of you in London will have probably seen the custom header images:


when I was away last weekend I discovered they've added photographic headers for places without Google artwork:


which is a neat touch.

I was *near* London the other week and noticed the artwork changed, which was a nice touch. The top image normally defaults to a hilly field where I am, which is a bit bizarre as I do not spend most of my time in the countryside - I would have thought a generic city would be more appropriate for towns, etc.

The 'time to' thing rarely works for me, suggesting at all times of the day how long it takes to get to work, when it is supposed to 'learn' when I'm at work. It also keeps popping up with 'XX to new place', which is a pub I must have passed the other day, which it seems to think I will now frequent.