Alphabet Soup: Android "L" Will Have The Best Moto X Feature

With Android "L", consumers will be getting a lot of small changes, but one stands out as immediately more useful. In the next version of Android, the "Ok Google Now" hot-word is coming to almost every screen, just about every time. Once relegated to the home screen, it's now going to be available whenever you like. Sound familiar?

This ability to use Google Now was one of (and still is) the best features on the Moto X. The latest flagship from Motorola was widely applauded for making changes to Android where needed, but leaving the base OS widely untouched. The ability to use Google Now whenever we want, though — that's neat. Android "L" just pinched that feature, and was smart to do so.

Google is improving on the always-on mode, too. the Moto X gave us the pleasure to use Now, but it isn't always foolproof. The phone may not recognize what you're saying at every turn, but "L" might. The incoming version of Android will have something called Auto History, which learns your voice to gauge how you annunciate.

One of the best features of the Moto X is coming to us all, and that's pretty amazing. The ability to caw out a command when your phone is just sitting on a desk or — more importantly — in a cradle on your car dash is handier than many might realize. Auto History will only build on that, and save you the frustrations of autocorrect when speaking.