Question to UK users.....

Jcmg62

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Oct 8, 2013
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Hey guys, have any of you heard the Google Now adverts on Capital Radio (London) over the past few days.......pretty cool

The two I've heard go something like this:

Instead of reading the weather the DJ pulls out his phone and goes "Ok Google, what's the weather going to be like in London?" or "Ok Google, is it good day to visit Hyde Park?"

So the response is what you'd expect; Google Now gives a run down of the local weather (in celcius I might add). But what struck me about it was just how good the response was. It was quick, it was clear, it was precise, it was sharp.....it was a fully informative weather breakdown delivered within a second of asking the question. I mean, the DJ is a proper London lad, but Google Now is just so advanced that it gets him straight away.

Another ad earlier today was "Ok Google, what's happening with flight 5225?" The response came through in a couple of seconds "flight 5225 from Berlin is on time and lands at the North terminal of Gatwick airport at 16:23. The arrivals area on the upper floor." Friggin hell!!! Cortana would never, ever have nailed that question the way Google did. I know this because I tried.....and tried....and tried.....about a dozen times before giving up.

So why am I mentioning all this? For three reasons:

The first being that Google must be supremely confident in Google Now that they'd let a DJ give it a go in front of an audience of 1 Million + Londoners who'd never let him live it down if it went t!ts up.

And number 2; it struck me that Cortana has a loooooong journey ahead of her before she's going to be in the same place as Google. How long will it take for Cortana/Bing to become one with the rest of the Universe? Years and years would be my guess. It'll take MS as long to create a global Bing as it's taken Google to create a global Google......16 years and counting. The reality is that Bing will never catch up. I think of it like this; if NASA sent a satellite up into space would it ever catch up with Voyager1, which has a 37 year head start?

Number 3 (and possibly a slightly controversial point).....I'm pretty sure that Microsoft wants to give its customers the best possible user experience. Then why not hook up with Google and get them to power the Cortana back end? My thinking is this; Cortana needs Bing and Bing is as dumb as post outside of the USA. Let's face it, Microsoft took a short term view with Bing and created it to serve a local, American market, while Google is a truly global data bank.

MS should really consider a compromise here. By all means, hitch Cortana to the Bing bandwagon in the States. But for the rest of the world, it should be Google all the way.
 

neo158

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Oct 6, 2011
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Maybe the DJ should try asking Google Now to try predicting Football results and see what happens!!

Why would Microsoft team up with Google to power their product, they are getting the backend infrastructure in place through Bing and that takes time.
 

paulsalter

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Oct 24, 2013
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Let's face it, Microsoft took a short term view with Bing and created it to serve a local, American market, while Google is a truly global data bank.

When have Google treated all the world the same

Saying OK, Google to your phone is a new (ish) feature in the UK, it was available in USA for a long time before we got it
Google Play features are not available globally, they where available in USA and then came to most other counrties years later

What are these services that Google offer that become global from day one

Not saying MS will have a better service as google had the head start, but I would like to know how google in globally better than MS
 

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