A couple of weeks ago, Google quietly released a desktop-centric version of Google Now for Chrome Canary, the experimental build of Chrome primarily designed for developers and early adopters. On Monday, however, Google announced that it was taking the next step toward making Google Now more widely available to desktop users by integrating it into Chrome Beta, which is a much more stable build than Chrome Canary but that still has a lot of Google’s more experimental new features.
For the uninitiated, Google Now uses your search history and location history to figure out what information users might need at what times, such as being able to tell users how long their typical commutes will be given current traffic conditions, and being able to figure out how long in advance users will have to leave for them to make appointments. It’s won wide acclaim within the tech world and was named Popular Science’s “Innovation of the Year” in 2012.
The Google Now feature in Chrome Beta lets you access all your information cards by clicking on a bell icon that will open up your notification center. The feature will work on Chrome Beta for Windows PCs, Macs and Chromebooks. We’d presume that if Google Now integration works well with Chrome Beta then Google will soon roll it out to the full version of Chrome in a future update.
