After one of the mysterious delays pretty much synonymous with Apple’s closed and inscrutable application approval process (the roll of an i-ching disgorged from Steve Jobs’ uptight, puckered rectum), voice search has come to the iPhone Google App. It’s available now.
I like it. You need to turn it on in the Google App, at which point, you can simply push a microphone button and speak your search into the phone. Google then generates a visual wav pattern, outputs a delightful burbling audio noise to indicate that it is processing your requests, then outputs search results as normal.
How does it work? Pretty well. When you first start it up, a charming cartoon boy walks you through how to use the program, and “skateboard bulldog” works as advertised. I decided to take things up a notch, and Google voice search performed well here too, managing to keep up with a torrid stream of profanity and give me results to match. Likewise, it correctly gave me results for my name without a stumble.
Unfortunately, Beschizza did not fare so well, first returning a result for “rob dyskenesia,” which sounds like a cerebral disorder and then for “robert fisk usa.” Likewise, “Salomee Sklodowska Bronislawa” resulted in listings for various Warsawian pizzerias. Basically, you need to use some common sense: things that are not pronounced even close to phonetically will generate bad results.
Overall, it’s a big improvement over stock Google searching on the iPhone: for most searches, just speaking into your phone is about a hundred times easier than trying to type it out with the iPhone’s excellent but typo prone onscreen keyboard. Go grab it.
Google voice search app [iTunes]
‘Excellent but typo prone’… hmmmm – there’s no way it can be both unless you live inside a Jobsian Reality Distortion Field. So which is it: excellent or typo prone?
I really don’t like people having another excuse to be talking into their gadgets in coffee shops, etc… I know it’s the norm now but I really hate public cell-phone conversation… More typing less talking! Regardless, it looks fun from a tech perspective.
but not in the UK?
Not yet it would seem…
it didn’t work too well for me in “show off voice mode” at work. but worked with my normal voice as i ducked down at my desk.
Looks nifty, but people already look at me funny when somebody calls, and I look like I’m talking to myself on my blue tooth headphones..
Plus the voice recognition never really works to well anyway – Computers have a hard time making decisions on their own as to what the hell kind of accent, speech impediment, or whatever else is wrong with you that you can not speak properly.
A more useful link for those of us without iTunes:
http://www.google.com/mobile/apple/app.html
It didn’t work too well for me; it completely locked up my phone.