Google personal digital assistant is about to get a whole lot more powerful. Google Now—which recommends websites, keeps track of reminders and appointments and acts as every Android-user’s personal digital butler—will soon provide developers with an open API, product director Aparna Chennapragada told an audience at SXSW on Saturday. Just about every kind of app would be able to communicate with Google Now to provide even more tailored notifications and recommendations to users. As a result, Google might leave competitors from Apple and Microsoft choking on its digital dust. User Activity To Guide Recommendations Chennapragada explained that Google Now’s predictive abilities have gotten much smarter since the service first launched in 2012. At first, the Google Now team simply guessed what notifications and apps would be most useful. But after extensively polling users and their activity, the team has refined Now’s recommendations. When Google offers the open API, however, there will... - Web2024