10 ways to improve Google Now

Many people have already signed up to Google services, signing into Gmail or Google docs with a third party email address, yet Now doesn't accommodate.

This could well only be a temporary thing, as the Google Now page says "Gmail cards are currently not available when using Google Now with a Google Apps account."

We hope that this means that Now will soon be integrated deeper.

4. Learn favourite restaurants

We all have preferred restaurants, and we have all been to unfamiliar cities.

Using Google Now's tie in with location services, it could easily suggest nearby restaurants when you're in a new place. Imagine how useful it would be if Google Now could say "you're in a new place, and it's nearly dinner time, here's the nearest outlet of your favourite diner".

The downside of this is that this will prove annoying if you'd been to that place very recently. This is a problem easily rectified; we would happily offer up more information through check ins. The obvious route for Google is to use its own social networking site, Google+.

In the long run, this may prove useful as Google+ looks to become an increasing part of our lives, at least if the guys at Mountain View get their way. However, a much better solution is to pull in data from Twitter, Facebook and Foursquare.

Google Now - cinema

Fancy a film? Google Now can suggest movies

5. Notify us of any deals, discounts or offers

We've all received marketing emails that let us know that we can get 10% off here, or buy one get one free there, but we forget these.

Google already sorts deals via Gmail into a Promotions inbox and this helps to some extent, but we still forget they exist on mobile as the promotions inbox isn't brought to the fore.

Packing in functionality that lets us know we've received these emails, as well as letting us choose to totally dismiss or remind us near the end date would gain Google many brownie points.

We wouldn't stop there, Google Now should go one step further. It could use location data to warn us at certain times when we're in town that we have offers for a nearby restaurant. We don't want to find out that we've eaten elsewhere when there is an offer on in the restaurant next door.

6. Create downloadable packs

One of the major downsides to Google Now is its desire to be connected to the internet to get all the data it needs. This could be solved with the creation of downloadable packs of information.

Google Maps can already be cached, but this is a very awkward process that requires typing "OK maps" into the relevant map. Apps like Here Maps work a lot better. With Google's very impressive mapping system behind it, Now needs to take this further.

It should learn when and where you're going from your emails. Book a trip to Paris and Google will know that you're gone for a weekend, suggesting downloading a pack containing language translation, currency conversion, public transport timetables and locations, maps and local points of interests.

As Google Now will know that you're only there for a weekend, it could then remind you to download this the day before you go, and then automatically remove, or suggest deletion of the data the day after you get home. On devices without microSD, or limited internal storage, this is vital.

Siri is Google Now's biggest rival

7. Tell us when Google learns something

Google Now has some pretty awesome features, things like being able to let you know when you need to leave for a restaurant to make your reservation on time, or let you know when your package has been dispatched.

Unfortunately, it is not always clear as to whether Google is following what you want it to. We like Google telling us when packages have been dispatched, but we'd also like Google to let us know that it is tracking it from the very beginning.