And now its Google Now...

 Smarter smartphones! That's the aim of Google, at least at its developer conference held last week in Califonia, U.S.A. The tech titan has shows its new software upgrades and even some sneak peak into its Android M which should hit the stores later this year. The apps that seems to be at the centre of the storm is Google Now, the programme which is voice activated will comptet wih Apple's Siri and Microsoft's Cortana.

Google will take the software a step further by allowing users to activate the assistant software, even if they are using another application, to find relevant information on their phones.

Google Now cards on smartphones already tap into calendars, emails and other information, with user permission, to do things such as remind people when to leave to catch flights or where they parked their cars.

Broadening the reach of Now also lets Google's money-making services tag along with smartphone users shifting from using web browsing programs to accessing online services directly from individual applications.

Developers will essentially be letting Google index applications learn more about people's habits and behaviors to better target ads and keep people loyal to its online services, according to Current Analysis research director Avi Greengart.

----AFP