“Ok Google, Call Mom!” is now possible thanks to a new update for Google Now Voice Search. Being one of the more popular features that worked well in Apple’s Siri ever since its first release, Google Now finally steps it up in this department. The feature incorporates specific contact look up through voice, in case you have saved it by the same name, or even help you set up specific titles for you close ones. If you call it out, Google Now will pick that nick name first, and only then will look up names generally. This makes the contextual assistant more personal, and makes the process of calling so much easier. This update comes at a time when Android is gearing up to be inside cars, in which Google Now’s voice control would play a major role. With Siri already set to be inside cars, with its own mapping, Google’s efforts seem directly aimed at it.
- Husband
- Wife
- Father/Dad
- Mother/Mom
- Brother
- Sister
- Cousin
- Niece
- Nephew
- Aunt
- Uncle
- Grandmother/Grandma
- Grandfather/Grandpa
- Girlfriend
- Boyfriend
This list above is the relationship tags that one can add to Google Now, for easier voice access. With this make Google Now more useful? Yes. But most people don’t talk to their phones and the latest KitKat dialer makes it even easier to dial any number, but if Google manages to bring voice calling for infinite number of establishments from local listings, that would be a huge win and a big step over Siri or any other voice assistant. With Microsoft readying its Cortana personal assistant with contextual data from Foursquare, the battle is far from over, and it will be interesting to see how all these platforms compete in the coming months.
Source Google+ via Android Police
