Google Now Ported from Jelly Bean to ICS

Like what you saw from Google's incredible voice-driven passive information product, Google Now? If you don't mind getting your hands a bit dirty, you might just be able to get it on your phone. Provided, of course, you have Android version 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich.

The port comes thanks to the awesome folks at XDA Forums, pretty much the premier mobile hacking site on the internet. Member Febycv discovered that there isn't anything too important keeping Google Now tied to Jelly Bean, and managed to extract the APK (Android's executable format, like Windows' EXE) from a Jelly Bean rom. He has even written up steps for how you, too can get Google Now running on your ICS smartphone.

Of course, part of the advantage of Google Now in Jelly Bean is just how integrated it is into the operating system. You can access it from many places and the new features are present all throughout the user experience, even if not immediately noticeable. You're not going to get as seamless an experience in Ice Cream Sandwich. But hey, what did you expect from a hack?

You can find the original install instructions here, but be warned that it involves editing some of your phone's configuration settings. You could break your device. An alternate install method was demonstrated later in the thread, and you can find it here. Also note that this might not work on your device and might even break voice search.

Now, with those disclaimers out of the way, feel free to go hacking. Having played with Google Now, I can say it is worth it.

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