You Can Actually Call Your Mom by Asking Google Now
Google Now supports relationships, allowing users to say commands like "Call Mom."
Over on Google Plus, the company reveals that Google Now will know who to dial when a user says "Ok Google, call Mom." Google Now can also send a text message when the user says "Ok Google, send Mom a text."
"Starting now, the Google search app on your Android phone will be able to pull up the right contact for you—and if you don't have Mom saved as "mom," it'll help you set that up quickly," the company reports.
Here's an example of how to establish a "relationship." After hitting the microphone icon, say something like "Ok Google, call my wife." Google Now will then ask "Who is your wife?" and prompt the user to pick a contact.
Once that's done, Google Now will ask to confirm the relationship, and then pull up all numbers associated with that contact. Google Now will then vocally ask which one to call, and in the case of this example, Home, Work or Mobile are options. Say aloud the appropriate option, and Google Now makes the call.
You can do the same with texting. Merely say "Ok Google, text my wife." Google Now will ask the user which phone to text, and then ask for the message. After dictating what the user wants to say (by now my wife is tired of me blowing up her phone), Google Now will display the message, and then ask if the user wants to send.
This is a big deal for Android because it prevents users from having to manually dial a number or text a message while on the road. Just unlock the phone, hit the microphone, and Google Now will do the rest of the work. Got your hands full and need to make a call? Google Now can help. Of course, you need to establish the relationships prior to these scenarios.
Technology is great, but Google Now can be somewhat sluggish on my DRIOD RAZR HD. As previously stated, this should be an ideal tool when typing on the touch screen isn't the best option. Now bring this tech to the desktop, and we'll be happy little Googlers making hands-free calls left and right.
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Kevin Parrish has over a decade of experience as a writer, editor, and product tester. His work focused on computer hardware, networking equipment, smartphones, tablets, gaming consoles, and other internet-connected devices. His work has appeared in Tom's Hardware, Tom's Guide, Maximum PC, Digital Trends, Android Authority, How-To Geek, Lifewire, and others.
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jimmysmitty ReplyTechnology is great, but Google Now can be somewhat sluggish on my DRIOD RAZR HD
I had a Droid Razr HD Maxx for a work phone and that thing was just horribly slow. Of course I compared it to my personal Galaxy S4 but still it was slower than it should have been. I could do a factory reset and it would speed up but after some time, it slowed down again.
As for the Google Now tech, I have this feeling it will require all kinds of permissions and this info will also be sold by Google. Remember, Google stated that anything that goes through their servers is not considered private and Google Now is a online based app. -
danwat1234 "You Can Actually Call Your Mom be Asking Google Now" Correction, "You Can Actually Call Your Mom by Asking Google Now, Now."Reply -
JD88 Reply12667068 said:
As for the Google Now tech, I have this feeling it will require all kinds of permissions and this info will also be sold by Google. Remember, Google stated that anything that goes through their servers is not considered private and Google Now is a online based app.
Nonsense Jim. Google does not "sell" data to anyone. They use data collected to target advertising. This is Microsoft PR shill at it's finest and they do the same thing with Bing.
Anything anyone posts online is not private. The majority of the world has their friends and relatives publicly view-able on Facebook. Google does not care who your mom is and if you use social media of any kind they probably already know. -
JD88 Reply12666933 said:Can we proofread the titles of our articles, please? :/
Before I even looked at the author of this article, I knew it was Kev. The majority of what he posts here is either ridden with sloppy errors, misleading, or downright factually inaccurate. -
SchizoFrog I swear more and more of these articles are written via smartphones on the go. E isn't even near Y so it must be an auto-correct error which, obviously is quite ironic. Journalists have become so lazy and have the worst excuses as they claim that they don't even have time to use a spell-checker, let alone actually proof read their own article. Whatever happened to 'Pride in your work'? I would be so disappointed in myself to find this sort of error in my forum or even Facebook comments, let alone published articles that I get paid for.Reply -
ta152h The only reason I read the article was because I was hoping it would make some sense of the title.Of course, it was just the writing of a dim-wit, but at least I got an answer.Reply