Apple received great praise when it unveiled Siri alongside the iPhone 4S, but that’s old news by now. What is new is Google Now, one of the biggest highlights of Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. When Google decided to make a better voice input method, they didn’t just try to copy what Apple did; the innovated. Instead of creating another “personal assistant,” they created a new way to search, one that adapts to the user.

Well, it looks like at least one major publication took notice, as Popular Science has declared Google Now as their pick for Innovation of the Year. This is the second of Google’s services to receive the honor, following Google Maps. Their Editor-In-Chief even went as far to call out Apple, stating “Voice interfaces like Siri seem outdated by comparison. With Google Now, you don’t pull the phone out when an idea occurs to you. You pull it out when an idea occurs to it.”

Those are strong words indeed, and it’s great to see Google Now receive quite the honor. It looks like Apple is once again playing the catch up game, and Google has dominated yet another market.

Popular Science via Android Central