Google Rebrands Google Now To Feed

Google’s Google Now, which provides mobile users information about things they are interested in, has rebranded the feature as Google Feed.

According to a report, Feed is mainly focused on content, such as news articles and videos that mesh with what a user is interested in. Google’s Feed relies on information from things a user follows but also uses Google Search and Chrome browsing history to better customize the results for users.

A new feature of Feed is the ability to follow topics from searches. Take a favorite TV show as an example. With Feed, the user can follow the show directly from a search. The same goes for movies, people, politics, sports, etc., noted the report.

“Look out for a new ‘Follow’ button next to certain types of search results — including movies, sports teams, your favorite bands or music artists, famous people and more. A quick tap of the follow button and you’ll start getting updates and stories about that topic in your feed,” Google wrote, according to the report.

With Feed, Google is aiming to make its mobile app the one place users need to go in order to conduct searches and stay up-to-date on news throughout the day — like how people check Facebook’s News Feed daily if not hourly. At least, that’s the hope anyway.

Feed will replace Google Now and is available in the Google app for Android iOS as of today. It will roll out internationally in the next few weeks.

The move on the part of Google comes a little after it rolled out a new virtual reality app, dubbed Google Blocks, in which users can build 3D models. The free app, which works on the Oculus Rift and the HTC Vive, is reportedly intuitive enough that it’s easy for newbies but also has enough features to make complex models. The objects can also be exported to be viewed online, or they can be placed in 3D scenes in both virtual reality worlds and outside them.

According to the report, Google Blocks is one of many design tools that have been developed to work with VR headsets. Oculus, as one example, has a sculpting app called Medium. Meanwhile, Google also has a 3D painting tool dubbed Tilt Brush. Artwork from both Tilt Brush and Blocks can be exported, which means they can also be combined.