All-Knowing Google to Roll Out Geographically-Triggered Shopping Alerts An update to Google Now will notify users on their smartphones when they are in close proximity to a store carrying an item they've previously searched for.
By Geoff Weiss
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On the heels of the announcement that Google Shopping Express is expanding same-day delivery in New York and Los Angeles, the search giant has announced a new mechanism that digs deeper yet into consumer browsing habits.
A new update to Google Now introduced yesterday will notify U.S. users on their smartphones when they are in close geographic proximity to a store carrying a product they've previously searched for on Google.
Google Now is an intelligent personal assistant program available on both mobile and PC platforms that is Google's answer to Apple's Siri -- or Microsoft's newly-announced Cortana.
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While walking through a mall, for instance, "a Google Now card showing you the product and price to remind you that you wanted [it]" will pop up. Such notifications would even surface offline, Google explained in a blog post.
And in addition to browsing, the company is also looking to simplify the payment process -- by reportedly bringing Google Wallet to its forthcoming Google Glass. The company is testing a way for users to send money to friends by simply vocalizing the command to Glass, according to TechCrunch.
"Imagine you're at a restaurant and you want to send your share of the bill to a friend," describes the report. "You simply ask Glass to "send money,' swipe through the interface a few times and you're done."
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