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Comment by zmanian | Hacker News Reader

I'm a bit surprised that the iphone version of Google Now beat the Chrome version of Google Now.

In my mind, Google Now is about carving out a space on devices where they can actually show high value contextual advertising outside of search. Their pitch to advertisers will be much stronger if they have a foothold on every device.

I'm also surprised that this was released before Google I/O. Between near confirmation that Android will be 4.3, and the string of major product releases of the last couple of months, it looks like any major announcements will have to come from left field. The Google X people have been dropping hints about some sort of Control Systems thing....

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Chrome Dev channel has a new 'New Tab' design that is moving towards something that could easily become google now. It has its own search box and looks a little like the google homepage. If there was going to be "google chrome now" its the place for it.

> I'm also surprised that this was released before Google I/O

I haven't been at the Google I/O but it wouldn't be surprising if they did not want to have anything to do with a competitor mentioned at their conference.

Last year at I/O, one of their big keynote announcements was Chrome for iOS.

I'm not surprised at all. The mobile market is a much more compelling _user scenario_ than desktop, both in terms of the user-need and the user-interface. On mobile, the user-need can be satisfied much better with additional sensor data that aren't common in computers today. The user-interface, too, is why it's a much more compelling mobile offering than a desktop offering (collating all that information in mobile between multiple apps would be annoying, not so much with a multi-tabbed browser or multiple windows)

Besides, Google has been killing it on iOS recently.

They really have been doing very well on iOS recently. So much so, most of the stock Apple apps have been replaced by a Google app. It is really making me think about switching to Android.

Unfortunately the Gmail app for instance is better on iOS than on Android... I'm jealous. Hopefully Mailbox for Android will come soon.

Yeah, I find in general that Google's Android apps are more focused on functionality (regardless of if that makes it a bit in your face), whereas iOS they've focused a lot more on simpler design. I guess it matches the cultures and users of each ecosystem, but it's too bad that the Android apps don't look as pretty as iOS.

"The Google X people have been dropping hints about some sort of Control Systems thing...."

Wasn't there suppose to be an X labs announcement this month? Maybe they're saving it for I/O. There is a ton of potential for Google Now to function as a controller for your home (android) devices. For example, you're going home from work on a hot day and a card pops up asking if you want to turn the A/C on so the house is cool when you get home.

IMO you're assuming that folks would use Google Now on their desktop browser more than their smartphone. I wouldn't assume that. The data collection they'll get as a result of iOS is FAR superior (+ a bit more relevant for the current cards they're offering).

WRT "Google NOW" on the desktop, read the wikipedia article about Pointcast the dotcom. From $450M to $7M in two years, to zero by the third year.

Its basically the same idea.

Pointcast was basically a feed reader / screensaver. It didn't have any of the predictive elements of Now (as I recall... I had it installed back in the day.)

Basically, it turned your idle monitor into a poor-man's version of a TV tuned to MSNBC. One of the major problems was that selling ads on an idle computer screen is a hard sell.

The whole point of Now is that it's _not_ a generic news feed / portal. It's all stuff customized to you, and it's not intended to be just passively viewed.

Mobile devices have much better context information than desktops. And they're more likely to be present during offline spending decisions.

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