Dive Brief:

• Both Google and Apple are working on adding features to mobile phones that deliver information before users ask for it.

• If the new technologies work, smartphones may soon deliver a variety of information to users unprompted.

• Such “digital assistants” appear to be the next big wave in the mobile technology industry.

Dive Insight:

The two companies, whose software runs practically all of the world’s smartphones, are approaching the issue from different angles: Apple with Proactive Assistant, and Google with Google Now.

Proactive Assistant will be a feature of Apple’s iOS 9 software and will anticipate how a user will behave from information stored on an iPhone, while Google Now will find data from online services and searches.

“This is a major battleground. The companies are using this to highlight their strengths,” Rich Mogull, the chief executive of the research and advisory firm Securosis, told The Wall Street Journal.

Both companies hope the new features will not only keep their users loyal, but also get them hooked on related services that rake in revenue.