Google Now - Voice Assistant That’s More Than Search
It can be called in all kinds of ways - "OK Google", voice search, Google Now, and usually belongs to voice assistants. And yet Google Now is primarily a search service that understands both text and voice commands, so it would be more correct to call it a personal assistant. And though it is not as "human" as its competitors - Siri and Cortana, in fact it is a powerful tool that is capable of much.
What is Google Now and how does it work?
Google Now was introduced with the release of Android 4.1, and later - in the launcher Google Start and a separate Google application. Initially, Google Now knew a little, understood commands only in English and was aimed at English-speaking users. Voice search on a mobile device running Android 4.1 could be activated by clicking on the microphone icon in the search bar or by saying "OK Google" in the app. Google Now maximized its capabilities with the release of Android 4.4, where it was integrated into the system. The voice assistant could be called out with the phrase "Ok, Google" from the desktop without launching the application. And soon the service received the support of other languages. Our custom essay service can write more papers on this topic.
Main Features
Most users can still restrict themselves to using the phrase "OK Google" only to search for information on the Internet, but Google Now has more advanced features that some may not know about.
"OK Google" on any screen
The latest version of Google Now allows you to launch voice search not only from the desktop, but also on any screen, in any application and even when the screen is off (if the device supports it). By default, this feature is disabled. To enable it, you need to go to Google Settings - Search and Google Now section - Voice Search - Okay, Google recognition and activate the "On Any Screen" option. You can also turn on voice recognition to save a sample of your voice, for example, to unlock the smartphone. The availability of this option may also depend on the device used.
Answers to subsequent questions
Asking the Google Now service various questions, you can see that the assistant perfectly remembers what (or about whom) the previous question was and can find the relationship of the subsequent question with the previous one. For example, if you ask "Who is Mark Zuckerberg?" And then "How old is he?", Google Now will easily answer this question. If you need to find the best thesis writer to create a paper for you about it, visit our website.
Music Recognition
The identification of music with the help of a voice command, unfortunately, works not in all countries yet. But this option works in manual mode. At the moment when music is playing, a note icon appears in the voice search window, which, in fact, triggers the music recognition process. Search for the corresponding melody occurs on the basis of Google Play Music. To know more about making money on YouTube, follow this link: https://star-writers.com/blog/should-you-quit-your-job-to-make-money-on-youtube
Notes, reminders, alarm clock and more
Create a note, start a timer, put an alarm, mark an event in the calendar, build a route and start navigation - all this a voice assistant can easily do for you. In addition, Google Now will tell you about your plans for the nearest future or tomorrow, viewing the scheduled events in the calendar. With Google Now, you can also create reminders not only for a specific date and time, but also depending on the location. However, for this you need to activate the voice service tips.
Calls and messages
Another important feature of a personal assistant is the ability to send messages and make calls without touching the phone. Just say the command "Call [CONTACT]". If Google Now is in difficulty to whom exactly you need to call, it will suggest choosing a contact from the found options.
The same algorithm of action is also suitable for sending emails and messages to Skype, Viber, WhatsApp, Telegram and other popular instant messengers. Of course, all this works when you have these applications on your device.
System settings navigation
At the end of 2015, Google Now received support for new additional voice commands running on Android 5.0 and higher. Among them is the ability to enable / disable some system settings. For example, the voice assistant learned to switch on Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and a flashlight. Commands for other system functions, such as GPS, airplane mode, DND, volume and brightness, Google Now understands not in all countries yet.
Running applications
Google Now also has no problems with running of installed applications. The command "Start [APPLICATION]" works correctly, the main thing is to clearly pronounce the name of the program. This can be useful if you want to quickly launch a program or can not find it among the huge number of applications on your smartphone. Our skillful writers will help all those who wish to pay someone and ask ‘to do my essay’ on the Internet.
Translator, unit converter
Google Now fully implemented the function of a translator. Using the appropriate command in the voice search you can get an instant translation of the phrase and hear its pronunciation on another language. Google Now is also a calculator, currency and various units converter.
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Personal information cards
The main purpose of Google Now is to predefine and display all the information the user needs before he or she requests it. Therefore, all its potential the service demonstrates with the activation of personal tips.
Personal tips are presented in the form of information cards. This information is about the weather, the latest news, exchange rates, public transport routes and other information based on the interests of the user. The history of web search, apps, locations, and everything that is synchronized through a Google account is taken into account. When you enable the cards, take a moment to set up Google Now. The more information a personal assistant knows about you, the more accurate and informative the tips will be. In addition, Google Now is able to learn and adjusts to your schedule. If you regularly travel in one direction, Google Now will independently map the route with no traffic jams; if you are interested in sports it will inform you about the nearest sporting events. Google Now is also able to extract information from Gmail, recognize tickets, meetings, events. In another country, it can automatically offer a translation into the local language, it shows the exchange rate of the local currency in relation to yours. Currently, Google Now contains about 40 information cards, and since 2015 the service began to support the cards from third-party applications, so their number is constantly growing. If you decide to pay professional to write essay about it, we are here to help you.
The Now on Tap function, which appeared in Android 6.0 is worth to be mentioned separately. This is a new feature of Google Now, which examines the content on the screen of the device and, upon the user's request, issues information cards associated with it, offers appropriate applications and actions. Learn how to handle critique comments in this post: https://star-writers.com/blog/tips-to-calm-your-nerves-how-to-handle-comments
To the full extent the tips of Google Now work with active Wi-Fi connection and GPS. But even without an Internet connection, it is capable of issuing some personal cards, though with a warning that it works offline.
What commands does Google Now understand?
There is a lot of information about the commands that Google Now recognizes. The easiest way to find out the most available commands is to say "Ok Google" or "Need help" in the voice search. By the way, all the commands that can be set by voice, you can ask with the text. It works exactly the same. Looking for a paper on this theme, ask us ‘write my essay quickly’ and we will help.
It's no secret that the maximum capabilities for managing Google Now are provided by commands in English. But it can be also used by people whose native language in not English. Therefore, here's a little life hack - in the language settings we choose English as the main language, and our native language as an additional language. Now you can use commands, both in native and in English - Google Now recognizes them equally well. What is the advantage of this method? In this case, commands that are not available for the native language are working. For example, the ability to adjust the volume and brightness, manage the music in almost any third-party player or use Google Now in offline mode.
Recently, the site ok-google.io appeared which contains all the commands for the voice assistant. More than 150 commands are conveniently sorted by categories and presented in 1000 variations. Commands are currently available only in English, but in the plans of the site's creators is to add commands in other languages.
What can Google Now do without the Internet?
Support for offline commands appeared in Google Now relatively recently and so far only in English. Therefore, this feature works when the English language (US) is selected as the primary recognition language. To enable this feature, first of all, you need to install a voice recognition package. It is quite expected that inquiry commands do not work in this mode, but most of the commands for controlling the device work fine: enable / disable basic system settings, launch applications, make calls, send messages, create notes, set alarms, reminders. There also operates a construction of routes, music management and other commands. On our website you will find qualified essay maker to write you a good paper about it.
Google Assistant – improved Google Now
In early 2017, Google introduced on the market a mobile voice management application, Google Assistant, which will be a logical extension of Google Now. Google Assistant combines Google Now commands and OK Google search using artificial intelligence, offering an adaptive user interaction system through voice control. With the help of the assistant, you can navigate on the phone, ask questions about Internet services (search tickets, view photos, launch applications, games). The phone's voice control capabilities are, in fact, unusually wide.
At the moment, Google Assistant is available only for English-speaking users in the US, then it will be sent to Australia, Canada, Great Britain and Germany. In the course of 2017, other languages will be added to Google Assistant.
Google Assistant will also come in all devices with Nougat and Marshmallow, through Google Play, on partner android devices, including LG G6, HTC, Huawei, Samsung and Sony.
Conclusion
As one of the experts who tested Google Now said: "It causes either admiration or panic." Now we can already say that Google Now is really good, not only with its interesting features, but also with the flexibility of customization. Yes, it is not perfect, but it is learning. Google does not hesitate and offers the services of its personal assistant anywhere, on any platform. It doesn’t hide that it collects all kinds of information about users and can wiretap us all the time. All this went beyond the mobile device and is tracked, recorded and synchronized through a Google account. But at the same time, Google gives us the right to choose how we want to use Google Now and Google Assistant. This is a kind of a tool case with tools, opening which, we can use either one or all of them at once.
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