How Google Is Taking Search Outside the Box — Backchannel — Medium

Final paragraphs from a Steven Levy Google I/O recap

"“It’s kind of, like, not the usual Google Now. It’s not even the usual Google Search,” says Chennapragada of Google Now On Tap. “This is saying, look, how do you break Google out of the search box? Why can’t you take Google with you? Because you are spending time in all of these apps, why can’t you just put the power of Google to work for you when you need it and then forget it when you don’t need it?”

Liberated from the search box, Google wants to be your constant companion, ready with a search result whenever you ask and even when you don’t. You know that phone you’re holding in your hand? It’s actually a search field. That is Google’s view of input and output in the second decade of the 21st century. As easy as breathing."

How Google Is Taking Search Outside the Box — Backchannel — Medium