This week, Popular Science announced the winner of their annual Innovation of the Year award. In years past, they’ve named the Atari gaming system and also the iPhone as winners, but their Editor-in-Chief made a special point for Google Now, marking it as the first time that the thin line between humans and their devices was crossed with such pleasant ease. Google Now “innocently” collects our data, tracks our movements, and then offers suggestions for things before we even think about it.

Last night, and possibly because the month of October came to a close, Google Now started showing a new card to a number of our readers. That new card is a pedometer that has been tracking their steps and miles biked over the last couple of months, behind the scenes. I say “behind the scenes” because this is a card that we have yet to see or hear about. In fact, I took a quick look through Google Now settings and could not find this feature mentioned. 

You may as well start thinking of Google Now as one of the backbones to Android going forward. It’s clear that Google and the Android team are going to make this the most robust and feature-rich service on Android going forward. Sure, they’ll turn the camera software around, make UIs smoother, and tweak little things here and there, but the future is in Google Now and its ability to make your life easier. In the latest update to Google Search, that was released today, new Google Now cards and behind-the-scenes integration are more advanced than ever. 

There are a ton of new things to discuss today, but one of the really cool features that was introduced in Android 4.2 this morning is a new and improved Google Now. A ton of cards have been added to its repertoire, including package delivery information, day-of hotel check-ins, concerts, restaurant reservation information, and a whole lot more. All you Google Now fiends, this is your day. 

When Google introduced Jelly Bean (Android 4.1) at Google I/O this past summer, the most popular new feature was Google Now, by a landslide. Google Now, combined with Search, turned your phone into an automated and incredibly intelligent tool. There were the beautiful cards for weather, sports, travel, and appointments, plus the knowledge graph displayed in a crystal clear way. With Google Now on your phone, you instantly became the best trivia night cheater in the building. But how can you access it? 

With Jelly Bean (Android 4.1.1) now out in the wild for the DROID RAZR M, we figured it wouldn’t be proper if we didn’t take it for a spin. So in the video below, we look at some of the major JB features to make sure they are all there. You know, like Google Now, new notifications, etc. Sure enough, they are. Take a look! 

Update:  Well, folks, this information about Android 4.2 is apparently all fake. Some random assclown spent hours of his time trying to deceive multiple Android sites and got one to bite, Android and Me. I guess that’s part of the game. So all of this Android 4.2 feature talk, ignore it. There is still a better than average chance that LG has a Nexus on the way and that it will run Android 4.2. It just won’t have anything that was rumored in this post.

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Since many of you will likely not upgrade to LG’s oft-rumored Nexus when it drops next month, you probably care more about the version of Android that will ship on it rather than the device itself. According to a massive rumor post today from our buddy Taylor over at Android and Me, the list of new features could be extensive, as the build gets bumped up to Android 4.2 (probably still Jelly Bean). 

Update:  Google Now appears to have returned. All good for you?

According to our inbox, many of you realized that Google Now servers are down and may be affecting your main Gmail account that is attached to it. Basically, if you are running Jelly Bean, you cannot connect to Google Now. I’m sure the world will not be ending and that Google is on it, so in the mean time, feel free to see how many times you can beat Granny Smith before service is restored.

Google accounts that are not connected to Google Now do not seem to be affected. In fact, the two other Gmail accounts on my device are working just fine.

For those running Jelly Bean ROMs, a Nexus 7, or a Galaxy Nexus, you are the targets of this post. Let us know if and when your service is back up.

We’ll update this post as we have more info or when your Google Now fun is no longer interrupted.