Fresh off of Google I/O in San Francisco, Google on Thursday dresses up an event space in New York into several showcase areas that demonstrate some of the company's newer features.
A Googler demonstrates the voice-activated Google Now (or Google Search on iOS) feature. In a mock start to the day, she demonstrates how to find a nearby coffee shop, check the results of last night's Yankees-Mets game, and get alerts on her next meeting. The voice-command demo isn't smooth, as she has to repeat several phrases to get them to work.
Google brings in Hilah Johnson, who stars on a cooking show on YouTube, to demonstrate some of Google Now's features. You can use the feature to look up measurement conversions, such the number of cups in a quart (four), create a grocery shopping list that will alert you when you get to the market, and look up recipes.
Chef Hilah Johnson makes a stack of pancakes in front of a crowd of journalists. Google announces that its Google Now service will include nutritional information, so you can look up how much sugar there is in maple syrup.
Another Googler demonstrates the Hangout feature on Google+. In this scenario, she chats with her two friends in different parts of the U.S. about the latest episode of "Mad Men." She also shows off the ability to share screens with her friends as she looks up information about one of the actresses. She uses a technique called "Hot Wording," where she says "Okay, Google," to the computer and says her search query.
The Googler also demonstrates a way to take a YouTube video playing on her Nexus 4 and move it to the television, which runs on the same Wi-Fi network. She notes that Google TV isn't required, just a common Wi-Fi connection.
In this poolside scene, the Googler is in Brazil and wants to ask for juice in Portuguese. She asks her Nexus 7 for the translation, and it says it back to her.
On the rooftop of the event space, Google shows off its latest bit of hardware, Google Glass. A company representative demonstrates the turn-by-turn walking directions that you can access with Glass. As he turns his head, so does the orientation of the map.
