Yeah should be an API. A limited API would be fine. Otherwise it just went from Google only to Google and Google-sanctioned only. Cortana has an API, there's no reason Google Now doesn't by now.
Voice recognition has been a publicity stunt in the last 30 years and it will forever be the same. Its always going to be faster to do one tap on the weather app in 100ms than asking "Google now: how is the weather today?"
And they try to monetize it. My guess is quarter results pressure, "cost optimization".
Setting an appointment is much faster when using voice. In fact, I'm not even sure how to set an appointment manually as I've always used voice recognition for that. So there are certainly cases where it's faster, anything that takes more then 1 tap of course.
Then there's all the hands free possibilities. Sending text while I'm driving etc.
You don't just mean the Hotword detection part do you? So saying "OK Google" instead of tapping the mic icon and using voice then? Because that I agree with, using a bunch of battery to say "OK Google" instead of making 1 tap doesn't make much sense to me unless it can be activated with the screen off ala Motorola for a true hands free experience and is supported by hardware for minimal battery drain.
It works with the screen off on my Nexus 5 when plugged in (ideal for the car/desk), I thought they expanded those capabilities on newer Nexus... Dunno, I never used voice search much, been using it a bit more with my Moto 360 tho.
to be fair, 10 years ago you had to train dragon naturally speaking for half an hour and even then it made lots of errors.
Voice recognition in the smartphone era is actually usable.
The technology is finally here, now the problem is doing something useful with it. It isn't worth it for certain stuff, but it definitely is for doing stuff when you're driving a car.
It's always going to be safer to talk to our devices than to be poking at touch-screens while driving, so it seems dumb to call this a publicity stunt.
Amazon Echo proves that there's a benefit in voice-activated devices. It's the perfect bathroom music/news/weather device.
Not sure about your version, but I can say, "Ok, Google" "Weather" and it pulls up and reads the current weather based on my location. N5 with Lollipop.
My immediate reaction about this news is not positive, however - just think it will be more ads and more resource hogging.
Technically how do these work? Are they based on something like XPC, or are they more like old-school plugins or COM?
The point, in other words is - how isolated are they from host processes? For both security and crash resistance.
- how structured is the communication between the host process and the card? Tight structure (like Apple imposes) is optimal for security (meaning things like you can control when 3rd party keyboards do and don't see text, and what they can do with that text). Non-structured communication means people can define new protocols as they wish, without requiring Google's intervention --- but mean that malicious cards have much more flexibility to cause problems, definitely on the spamming (ie write) side, maybe on the privacy (ie read) side.
Aren't all the cards served from Google's servers? I imagine the can exert as much or as little control as they want, or are apps now able to serve cards without going thru the back end?
We’ve updated our terms. By continuing to use the site and/or by logging into your account, you agree to the Site’s updated Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
19 Comments
Back to Article
nathanddrews - Friday, January 30, 2015 - link
Nearly every complaint I had about Google Now just disappeared in one fell swoop.Stephen Barrett - Friday, January 30, 2015 - link
sameshadowofthesun - Friday, January 30, 2015 - link
I'm extremely happy to see that they're doing the obvious thing (opening Now to third-parties), but in a slow and deliberate manner.The last thing I want is some F2P game with yet another avenue to spam me.
Alexey291 - Saturday, January 31, 2015 - link
I've got a new one.I will now be spammed with ads instead of useful information. GREAT where can I sign up?
Nuno Simões - Friday, January 30, 2015 - link
Does anyone have this update yet? I'm interested in how it works with Duolingo.coburn_c - Saturday, January 31, 2015 - link
Not an API, not even a join-able program, just the programs Google wants you to see.Alexvrb - Sunday, February 1, 2015 - link
Yeah should be an API. A limited API would be fine. Otherwise it just went from Google only to Google and Google-sanctioned only. Cortana has an API, there's no reason Google Now doesn't by now.wyewye - Saturday, January 31, 2015 - link
Voice recognition has been a publicity stunt in the last 30 years and it will forever be the same.Its always going to be faster to do one tap on the weather app in 100ms than asking "Google now: how is the weather today?"
And they try to monetize it. My guess is quarter results pressure, "cost optimization".
blzd - Saturday, January 31, 2015 - link
Setting an appointment is much faster when using voice. In fact, I'm not even sure how to set an appointment manually as I've always used voice recognition for that. So there are certainly cases where it's faster, anything that takes more then 1 tap of course.Then there's all the hands free possibilities. Sending text while I'm driving etc.
You don't just mean the Hotword detection part do you? So saying "OK Google" instead of tapping the mic icon and using voice then? Because that I agree with, using a bunch of battery to say "OK Google" instead of making 1 tap doesn't make much sense to me unless it can be activated with the screen off ala Motorola for a true hands free experience and is supported by hardware for minimal battery drain.
Impulses - Saturday, January 31, 2015 - link
It works with the screen off on my Nexus 5 when plugged in (ideal for the car/desk), I thought they expanded those capabilities on newer Nexus... Dunno, I never used voice search much, been using it a bit more with my Moto 360 tho.noll - Saturday, January 31, 2015 - link
What does voice recognition have to do with adding new Google Now cards? Have you ever used Google Now?Murloc - Sunday, February 1, 2015 - link
to be fair, 10 years ago you had to train dragon naturally speaking for half an hour and even then it made lots of errors.Voice recognition in the smartphone era is actually usable.
The technology is finally here, now the problem is doing something useful with it.
It isn't worth it for certain stuff, but it definitely is for doing stuff when you're driving a car.
JeffFlanagan - Monday, February 2, 2015 - link
Amazingly usable. I was surprised to see that modern voice recognition still works while having a bad cold and very croaky voice.mr_tawan - Sunday, February 1, 2015 - link
It's much faster to do the input (if the voice is recognized properly) on the phone than typing in. I use it for searching/googling all the time.Alexvrb - Sunday, February 1, 2015 - link
Voice is great while you're driving.JeffFlanagan - Monday, February 2, 2015 - link
It's always going to be safer to talk to our devices than to be poking at touch-screens while driving, so it seems dumb to call this a publicity stunt.Amazon Echo proves that there's a benefit in voice-activated devices. It's the perfect bathroom music/news/weather device.
MichaelLC - Friday, February 13, 2015 - link
Not sure about your version, but I can say, "Ok, Google" "Weather" and it pulls up and reads the current weather based on my location. N5 with Lollipop.My immediate reaction about this news is not positive, however - just think it will be more ads and more resource hogging.
name99 - Saturday, January 31, 2015 - link
Technically how do these work? Are they based on something like XPC, or are they more like old-school plugins or COM?The point, in other words is
- how isolated are they from host processes? For both security and crash resistance.
- how structured is the communication between the host process and the card? Tight structure (like Apple imposes) is optimal for security (meaning things like you can control when 3rd party keyboards do and don't see text, and what they can do with that text). Non-structured communication means people can define new protocols as they wish, without requiring Google's intervention --- but mean that malicious cards have much more flexibility to cause problems, definitely on the spamming (ie write) side, maybe on the privacy (ie read) side.
Impulses - Saturday, January 31, 2015 - link
Aren't all the cards served from Google's servers? I imagine the can exert as much or as little control as they want, or are apps now able to serve cards without going thru the back end?