Google integrates Google Now into Chrome desktop browser

Google has integrated its Google Now service, which has been available for some time on mobiles running on iOS or Android, into the desktop versions of Chrome. The feature was previously testable in the Canary builds of the browser.

In Google Now, current information is displayed on so-called maps that may be relevant to the user at that time. For example, the app can provide traffic information or show the intermediate and final results of sports competitions. The preferences of the user play an important role in this. The service has been available on mobiles since mid-2012, but in January it became clear in an early Canary test build that Google Now should also be included in the Chrome versions for Windows, OS X and Chrome OS. Google announced Monday that its Now service will now also be usable in the official Chrome versions.

New notifications are announced on Windows and OS X systems after logging in via an alarm bell icon. On Chromebooks, an icon is shown showing the number of messages still to be read. For the time being, the information shown on Google Now is only in English, but the internet giant says it is working on other languages. Whether Google Now will eventually also work in the Linux versions of Chrome is still unclear; the current versions still show the message that Google Now is not yet available in the so-called flags settings.