As voice recognition virtual assistants become more prevalent (i.e. Siri and its Android alternatives), what's the next step?
With Google Now, Google appears to be making the attempt to leapfrog apps which solely focus on improving the quality and reliability of the recognition software, by building an application which anticipates what you need. In other words, if successful, Google would effectively remove the "Voice" from "Voice Recognition". A recent c|net article goes into more detail:

"Google Now gets you just the right information at just the right time, and all of it happens at the right time," Barra said. For example, "Google Now figures out when you commute from home to work and back, tells you how long your commute takes usually, and give you a faster route if there's lot of traffic. On public transit, if you're on the platform at a subway, Google tells you when the next bus or train will arrive."

It'll also show nearby restaurants when you're walking down the street, and what a restaurant is famous for, he said. It'll tell you sports results based on teams you've shown interest in before. And it's tied into the calendar.

"If you have a calendar appointment, Google will help you get there on time. Google will tell you how long it'll take you to walk to the bus stop, when the next bus will arrive, and how long that bus ride will take," he said.

It could be compared to a stalker (ex?)girlfriend who has that eerie ability to always know exactly where you are and what you're doing....

At this point, I bet some of you are asking, "How does this relate to CRE?!"

Well, the next time you're out of town and have back-to-back-to-back meetings, it may come in handy.