In the battle of digital assistants, it looks like Google Now has notched a victory over Apple's Siri and Microsoft's Cortana — at least when it comes to directly answering questions asked in a voice-search query. A team from Stone Temple Consulting asked each program 3,086 different queries. In the end, it decided that Google Now gave definitive answers — as opposed to "potentially helpful" or useless answers — to questions about 88 percent of the time, compared to 53 percent for Siri and 40 percent for Cortana. It also decided that Google Now's results included a more helpful blend of additional facts and links. The study concentrated solely on search queries, leaving out things like event calendars, driving directions and many of the other features that people demand from digital assistants. Still, if you desperately need to find out the answer to "What is the tallest mountain in the world?" it might be best to pull out your Android phone.
IN-DEPTH
- Digital Assistant Showdown: Cortana vs. Siri vs. Google Now
- Apple Unveils iOS 8 and Plays Catch-Up With Competitors at WWDC
- Ten Things You Didn’t Know Google Now Could Do
