By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla
The Google invasion of iOS continues with the much anticipated Google Now search service becoming available to iPhone and iPad users. Users who update the Google Search app today will be greeted by a tutorial and an entirely new set of search tools as well as the Cards interface that pull's up sports scores, distance and GPS information, news items, nearby destinations and other location and predictive search based info.
The difference between the 'always-on' Google Now on Android devices and the app on iOS is the lack of integration to the OS. Google Now will not display notifications on iOS and it won't work in the background as seamlessly as it does on an Android device, that is to be expected.
This is still a big coup for Google and excellent news for iOS users who now have one of the best search tools at their disposal. So much so that anyone considering moving to Android just to have Google Now will be happy staying with iOS since 22 of the 26 types of information Cards will be available on the iOS platform.
Best of all, iOS users now have Siri coexisting with Google Now and its much more robust and expansive search and content delivery ecosystem. That's definitely a big win for iPhone and iPad users. I'm hoping Google plays it smart and ports Google Now to all their existing search apps on Windows Phone as well as Windows 8 and RT as well.