Google Now is a mobile virtual assistant. It’s Google’s version of Apple’s Siri . According to Eric Schmidt, the app is waiting on App Store approval from Apple.
Techmeme editor Mahendra Palsule was watching a live stream from a tech event in India where Schmidt was speaking. Moderator Alan Rusbridger asked Schmidt about Google Now for iPhone. Schmidt said , “You’ll need to discuss that with Apple. Apple has a policy of approving or disapproving apps that are submitted into its store, and some of them they approve and some of them they don’t.”
Alan: “When can I get Google Now on my iPhone?” Schmidt: “You’ll have to ask Apple” #BigTentIndia
— Mahendra Palsule (@ScepticGeek) March 21, 2013
Last week Engadget published a roughly rendered video produced by Google that demonstrates how Google Now will work on iPhones and iPads. The video was first leaked on YouTube and then taken down. Engadget saved a copy and we have that below. The demo used the same voice over actor as the official Google now video for Android. It’s also produced in the same style.
Before Schmidt’s confirmation that Google Now has been submitted for approval, we weren’t certain that the app was really on its way to iPhone and iPad anytime soon. Now we know.
As a loyal iPhone user, I’m excited about Google Now.
It seems more helpful that Siri, and unlike Siri, it should be available on older phones too.
The app is design not just to answer questions, but to help users manage our days. It will keep track of things like digital boarding passes, appointments, restaurant reservations, birthdays, traffic issues, and weather.
Google Now is really an everything-about-your-life app. Rather than having one app for converting currency and another that acts as a digital wallet and another that alerts you about stocks, Google Now organizes all of those things into a single life management system.
UPDATE: Apple told CNET that the Google Now app has NOT been submitted for App Store approval in response to a story similar to this one.
[iframe id=”viddler-a66cf352″ src=”//www.viddler.com/embed/a66cf352/?f=1&offset=0&autoplay=0&secret=44725867&disablebranding=0″ width=”545″ height=”349″ frameborder=”0″ mozallowfullscreen=”true” webkitallowfullscreen=”true”></iframe]