Apple has filed its amendment to its ongoing courtroom battle with Samsung, adding the Galaxy S4 to its list of infringing devices, just as it told the US District Court in California last week. The filing specifically names five patents said to be infringed by the Galaxy S4 itself, two of which are apparently infringed by Google Now.
Google Now, the predictive information service, has received a number of updates, in how it works and what it shows. The Google I/O attendees saw Google Now showing options for new cards, including ones for dedicated reminders, as well as activating voice recognition without pressing a button, and adding it to the Chrome browser.
The Chrome OS notification center -- already in the Windows releases of Chromium and Chrome Canary -- is in the process of being ported to the Mac version of Chromium, says Google's François Beaufort. The Chromium evangelist points to a logged Chromium issue titled "[Mac][MC] Implement notification updates and relayouts." He comments that the Mac version of the notification center is still "under heavy development," but that it can already be toggled on by running Chrome with an "--enable-rich-notifications" switch.
Google has issued a written denial of claims that its new-to-iOS "Google Now" feature, which relies heavily on Location Services, is causing unusual battery drains for iPhone users. The company recently added the feature -- which attempts to predict what the user will ask based on location, direction and other factors and presents some useful information without user input -- to its Google search app already available for iOS devices. In the statement, Google says both that reports of battery drain are "incorrect" but then asks for users to contact them if they are having a battery problem.
Google has added Google Now to iOS in the form of an updated Search app. Now is the company's predictive results technology, until today available only to Android users. The feature pushes "cards" to a person based on their location and other personal information tracked by Google, such as local weather and traffic, flight statuses, and important news stories.
An update to the Google Search app on Android has added package tracking to Google Now. New cards will show updates to shipped online orders from retailers in real-time, including an estimated arrival date, according to Droid-Life. Individual cards also have an info button, providing quick settings for the card's contents, while the overall settings menu for Google Now has been reorganized with each section having their own toggle options, and a separate "My Stuff" section for quicker alterations to sports teams and stock choices.
A Google Now app has yet to be submitted to the App Store, Apple says in a new statement. At this week's Big Tent Summit, Google chairman Eric Schmidt hinted that an app might just be waiting for approval. "You'll need to discuss that with Apple," he remarked. "Apple has a policy of approving or disapproving apps that are submitted into its store, and some of the apps we make they approve, and some of them they don't."
An iOS version of Google Now has already been submitted to the App Store, Google chairman Eric Schmidt has hinted at the company's Big Tent Summit. He was asked when Now might appear on iOS during an interview. "You'll need to discuss that with Apple," he said. "Apple has a policy of approving or disapproving apps that are submitted into its store, and some of the apps we make they approve, and some of them they don't."
A low-resolution video promoting the forthcoming addition of "Google Now" services to the iOS Google search app briefly appeared on YouTube on Tuesday but was quickly taken down (not before being captured, however). The ad, which emulates the style of genuine Google videos promoting new products, shows off the "predictive information display" that offers features such as pulling up traffic maps while users are driving or flight status updates when they are headed to the airport.
Google appears to be edging closer to including Google Now into Chrome itself. Flags associated with the service have been spotted in chrome://flags in the latest Chromium build, suggesting that the search giant may bring Google Now to Chrome OS computers and desktops carrying the Chrome browser in the near future.
Google could be adding a widget dedicated to Google Now to Android in the future, in an effort to improve the user experience. The widget would in theory display the most important information that the user would require from the home screen instead of through notifications or requiring to open up the Google Now app itself.
Google may be adding Google Now integration into its Chrome browser in the near future. A notification center has been added to the company's latest build of Windows Chromium, giving developers a chance to add Chrome notifications to their applications, as well as being an ideal platform for the Google Now cards that were hinted at in December.
Google is preparing to bring its Google Now predictive search service from the Android platform to its Chrome browser. This according to a posting on the Chromium developer site. The Google Now code is currently non-functional, but its addition indicates that Google is looking to expand the reach of its digital assistant-like service beyond mobile devices.
Google released an update to the Google Now feature built into Android 4.1 today, giving the dynamically-updated search function improved capabilities. Google Now now has the ability to display nearby events, suggest content for help in research, display boarding passes from Gmail, and to search by camera when at museums and shops. It also shows weather forecasts for upcoming travel destinations, upcoming birthdays, and an approximate monthly summary of walking and biking activity.
