Tuesday, August 21, 2012

7 Ways to Speak to Your Nexus 7

One of my favourite features of the Nexus 7 has to be the Google Now feature which makes the Nexus do many things at the command of your voice. I've listed a few ways you can integrate Google Now into your daily life.

1. Set my Alarm - To set your alarm, open up Google Now and press the microphone then say "set alarm for 8:30". The Nexus will then set the alarm for you.

2. Navigate to a Destination - When Google Now is told to "Navigate to Oxford University", Google Navigation will start up and start giving you directions how to get to Oxford University.

3. Play a Song - Google can also be told to "Listen to Pachobel's Canon" which will activate a search on Youtube for "Pachobel's Canon". That's pretty cool...

4. Leave Note to Self - You can also leave a note for yourself with the instruction "Note to Self" "Do not take West Ring Road" and Google will create a note on your screen for your reference later.

5. Send Text/Email - This is a little more tricky because Google can sometimes find it hard to understand names but you can actually tell Google to "Send text/sms/email to Ben" and it will look for Ben in your contacts list. Then it will wait for you to tell it what to say to Ben via email/text.

6. Go to a Website - You might wonder why someone would want to speak to Google to go to a website but for example, there are websites which tell you where the closest speed cameras are to your current location. In that situation, you may be in the car and you may tell Google to "Go to PerthSC.com" so that you can quickly glance at the screen to see where the speed cameras are... which you wouldn't do because it is illegal to operate a phone whilst driving!

7. And finally.. Search for Anything with your Voice 
Here's an extract from Google's own helpful hints and tips for searching stuff using voice commands.

What you wantWhat to type or sayExamples
Sports information[team’s name]San Francisco Giants
PicturesPictures of [topic]
images of [topic]
Pictures of San Francisco
Images of cats
Convert measurements[original measurement] in [new measurement]30 degrees Celsius in Fahrenheit
Movie showtimesMovie
Movie [location]
[movie name]
Movie
Movie Chicago
The Horse’s Mouth
Word definitionDefine [word]Define campanile
Weather forecastWeather
Weather [location]
Weather
Weather Detroit
Identify an area codeArea code [###]Area code 215
Identify zip codeZip code [#####]Zip code 46202
TimeTime
Time [location]
Time
Time in London
Flight information[Airline] [flight number]American airlines flight 390
TranslationTranslate to [language] [phrase]Translate to Spanish, Where is the Palace Hotel?’
Calculator[A math phrase]75 divided by 6
Food[Type of food]
[Type of food] in [location]
Mexican food
Mexican food in Urbana, Illinois

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