Siri’s natural language processing is still very impressive though, so at this stage it seems fairly neck and neck with Google Now, features wise. Apple is also expected to open up Siri’s API to 3rd party developers sometime this year, which should make it much more useful. It’s also getting a significant boost in functionality with iOS6.

Both systems are in their infancy so it will be interesting to watch their capabilities grow over the coming years.

I’m not sure about Google Now and APIs yet, but I’d assume Google would open it up either when its more mature or if there’s a driver to open it up to 3rd party asap.

I believe they still see it as in ‘beta’ in that its more for enthusiasts than mainstream. They mention that it will keep improving as time goes on (im assuming they’ll add new features based on current beta usage for more refined features).

1. The voice sounds much more natural and-human-like.
2. Its speaks back at you less, which is good. I don’t want witty quips from my phone. I just want it to do what I want as fast as possible. Siri’s answers can be helpful, but overblown and even downright unnecessary “here, I found this for you” – yeah no shit Siri, given you’re displaying it on screen! ;-)

That being said Siri is getting a ton of upgrades in iOS6 (even simple things like finally being able to open 3rd party apps) and potentially an API for 3rd party developers to hook into, which will expand its usefulness greatly. I presume Google Now has or will have an API for devs?

i) provide navigation and suggested time to leave based on current traffic for upcoming Calendar appointments (i go by car but it also has public transport)

ii) Tell me how long it’ll take to get to work and home (need to have location tracking on i believe, and also for you to have set where work and home is). Its scarily good at knowing when you head to work and home…

Im not a sport fan, frequent flyer, or local business searcher, so I cant comment on related Google Now functionality.

Overall – at the moment I find its functionality marginally helping me (perhaps im not used to relying on it yet), but am looking forward to when they expand the functionality and relevance of Google Now.

I see the pricing as broadly in-line there.

Bring on the Pad Wars. Can't be long now….

I love it, and that it can fit into my jeans and work-pants pockets so easily. Only real issues I’ve noticed so far are lack of support for the 7″ screen in some apps (eg Commbank), and low wifi signal causing screen flickering.

I set up bluetooth tethering on my iphone 3GS, as awfully slow as that is, just to avoid using my iphone for anything other than calls/imessage/hero academy/taking photos. Because screw iOS when you have Jelly Bean. Also, not really finding myself reaching for my ipad3.

…not much else, despite it presumably having Google+ and my Google Calendar to draw from.

Google Now is, essentially, a voice command system for controlling your phone so when I run into a brick wall it is usually because of the limitation of an application, not the Now service itself. For example Google Maps, walking directions are in beta (I’m unsure if this is limited to Australia but it was something I noticed), so when it suggests directions to frequently visited place and realises you walk it defaults to public transport instead.

Basically since the knowledge graph has been implemented in Australia nothing from the Now service has been missing. I haven’t found it crippled like some of there other services have been in the past, like Maps Navigation, or the lack of Google Wallet, Phone, Magazines, Music etc.

I very nearly bought a Nexus7, but thought I’d fence sit for a bit and see how well developers take to producing some good quality tablet optimised apps for the 7″ 1280×800 form factor (even though most phone apps do scale pretty well to 7″ its not the same). I just wish it had an SD card slot too, but I realise Google had to leave at least one selling point for other cheap Android tablets.

A question to Nexus owners/experts here: How well does Google Now do in Australia? Is it crippled in a similar fashion to Apple’s Siri? (great in the US, but heavily limited in Aus by lack of local map integration). Or does Google Now perform just as well in Australia as it does in the US?