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Google Now set for Google homepage, leaked code suggests

Google Now could be jazzing up your Google homepage -- like iGoogle of old -- if leaked code is any guide.

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Nick manages CNET's advice copy desk from Springfield, Virginia. He's worked at CNET since 2005.
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Google Now might be escaping your brand-new Android device and landing on your computer in the near future. Snippets of code, from a site that Google uses to test new features, suggest Google's personal assistant could be coming to your home computer.

Included in the code -- spotted by Google System, an unofficial Google blog -- is the phrase, "Get started with Google Now. Just the right information at just the right time," alongside code that allows you to set your current, home and work locations. Google is yet to confirm or deny its validity, but it all looks very promising.

This follows Google's acquisition of Behavio, a startup that uses information collected about people and their locations from their phones to predict their future behaviour.

Unofficial extensions are already available to include versions of Google Now in Chrome (pictured above), but this leak suggests Now will become an official part of the Google ecosystem across multiple platforms, at least as an option.

Google Now debuted last year as a key feature of Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, and has become an irreplaceable part of the operating system. It provides you with live, relevant and contextual information, such as weather, how long it will take you to get home and what time that film you Googled is on at a nearby cinema.

This is all based on your search history, location and information from other Google services that you use. Yes, it does sound a bit 1984, but you have to see it in action to understand how mind-blowing it is. 

It seems Google Now might be replacing the much-forgotten iGoogle home screen, which is closing down on 1 November. Launched in May 2005, iGoogle allows you to customise your Google homepage with tabs featuring information such as news and weather, but Google Now easily trumps it, providing real-time contextual information. 

Last month, Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt confirmed Google Now is also headed to iOS, and is currently awaiting approval from Apple. Hopefully we'll hear more about this closer to next month's Google's I/O conference.

Do you want Google Now... now? Let me know in the comments below or on our completely contextual Facebook page.

Additional reporting by Alex Calvin.