voice search
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Roku OS 10.5 adds better voice support, 5.1 Roku speaker configurations
The Roku OS 10.5 update, which will roll out to players and TVs in the next few weeks, will be jam-packed with features to make your streaming life easier.
Roku saves you from signing into accounts on a new device
Roku is about to make life much easier if you're tired of signing into all your accounts when you get a new media player. It's releasing a Roku OS 9.1 update that, among other things, adds automatic account linking. So long as you've previously logged into a supporting service on Roku-based hardware, you won't have to do that again when setting up a new Roku device. It's not comprehensive when there are "nearly 10" services that work with the feature today (including Sling TV and Pandora), but more are expected in the future.
Android users can fire Google Now and replace it with Cortana
Microsoft recently unveiled plans to launch its Cortana digital voice assistant on arch-rival Google's Android OS, but until now, you could only use it as a standalone app. However, the latest beta (1.0.0.204) lets you activate Cortana instead of Google Now by pressing and holding your Android home button. That's a new way for Android users to test the app's friendly ways and be tempted away from the businesslike Google Now. Since Cortana relies on Bing, it's also a sneaky way for Microsoft to do an end-run around Google search.
Break me off a piece of that YouTube bar
Remember when Google teamed up with Nestle and went and named a flavor of Android after a four-fingered chocolate bar? Turns out it wasn't the last we'd see from this unlikely partnership. To celebrate 80 years since the KitKat went on sale, the two companies announced today that 600,000 "limited edition" packs will feature the name "YouTube Break" instead of the familiar KitKat logo in the UK. According to Nestle, it'll form just one of 72 different "breaks" that will feature on more than 400 wrapper designs. The plan is to produce 100 million packs, with the search giant only playing a small role. That said, YouTube will get involved, allowing smartphone owners to watch the day's top trending videos with a "OK Google, YouTube my break" voice search. If you didn't think things could get more sickly sweet, Google and Nestle just proved you wrong.
Google Search for iOS gets smarter with conversational voice search
Google's just updated its search app on iOS, and in doing so it's made the voice search feature much more useful. With Google Search version 4.0, using voice becomes conversational -- you can ask follow-up questions in addition to simple queries like, "What's the weather?" Once you know it will be sunny with a high of 95 tomorrow, you can ask Google "How about this weekend?" and get more info. As Google's voice assistant competes with Apple's Siri and Microsoft's Cortana, more sophisticated, context-specific features like this are definitely important.
Google's voice search could soon be baked into Chrome, no extension required
Back in November, the folks in Mountain View trotted out the beta version of a Chrome extension that brought "OK Google"-enabled voice search to the desktop, no clicks required. That's all fine and dandy, but what if it said control was a standard option on the desktop, capable of being toggled on or off with a click? Well, the Chromium folks are working on just that, with options for the browser to stop listening after five minutes and working incognito. Items like this that pop up in Chromium have a tendency to turn into standard Chrome features at some point. There's no telling when we'll be able to use spoken word as a standard search tool, but there's always the beta add-on for sorting hands-free queries in the meantime.
Google: Voice Search coming to Chrome for iOS soon
Yesterday TUAW showed you how voice search on Chrome for Mac has improved, now providing eerily Siri-like functionality in Google Search. According to a post yesterday on the Google Chrome Blog, the next target for voice search is iOS -- and we should see the update in just a few days. The update won't require users to point Chrome at the Google home page. Instead, whenever you tap on the omnibox (the combination address/search field), a microphone appears. Tap it, speak your search query and your results appear in a flash. As with the Chrome for Mac update yesterday, some of the results come back in the form of both a screenful of information and a spoken response. The Googlers say that the update will also enable "faster reloading of web pages by using the cache more efficiently when the network is slow;" perfect for when you're using Chrome on the road. Other iOS apps will also be able to give you the option to open links in Chrome and then return to the app with one tap. We'll update this post as soon as the update is available. [via iMore]
Google Now added to search app on iPhone, iPad
Google has updated its search app for iOS to version 3, adding a tool that until this point was available only on devices running Android 4.1 Jelly Bean or better -- Google Now. Now adds some impressive features to your device. As Google notes, it adds "the right information, at just the right time" to your iPhone or iPad. Back in March, a very official-looking promo video for Google Now on iOS leaked out. The same video is prominently featured in the new version of Google's app, so it seems that it was legit. To enable Google Now, update or install the Google Search app, sign in and then swipe up from the bottom of the display screen. Google includes a short video explaining how the app works, providing "cards" full of contexual information where and when you need it. If you're about to drive to work, the app can tell you how long it's going to take to get there and route you around traffic. If you're near a public transit station, you may get information on when the next train leaves, and if you're heading out on a trip you may well see your flight info displayed in a card. Google's powering Now by looking into your data on other Google services (calendar, search, contacts and maps among them) so if this sort of oversight makes you twitchy, you can choose not to turn the Now capability on in the search app. %Gallery-187052% Voice search has improved in the new app. Previously, users could tap a microphone icon to enter search terms; not that exciting, really. Now you can pretty much ask Google Now anything and get responses almost immediately -- the service both seems to understand your requests better and responds faster than Apple's own Siri, so it will be a great addition to the iPhone for those of us who like to carry on conversations with our handheld devices.
Google pulls back the curtain on its new voice search, sums it up in this graph
Google has revealed just how it harnesses your idle curiosity on every subject imaginable to supercharge its voice search. A database of 230 billion googled words was fed into a language model that can then work out the probability of what you're going to say next. Mountain View researcher Ciprian Chelba explained that one example of this is if you say "New York," you're statistically more likely to say "Pizza" than "Granola," regardless of any new year's resolutions. If you'd like to learn more, you can find the algebra-packed original paper down at the source link.
Apple snags Amazon's A9 head to lead Siri team
Companies poach each other's employees and execs all the time. But, Apple's latest score, William Stasior, is a pretty substantial one. For the last six years he has served as president and CEO of A9, Amazon's search and ad subsidiary. Before that he held other search-related roles at Amazon and worked at AltaVista, departing around the time of the Yahoo! acquisition. In his new role at Cupertino, Stasior will be leading the Siri team. The MIT Ph.D will be taking the helm of the voice-powered virtual assistant, which has led some to speculate that Apple could be stepping up search and advertising game. Considering the on-going drama between Mountain View and the purveyors of all-things-i, we wouldn't be entirely surprised to see the two go head to head on Google's home turf. But we'd say such a move would be a long term goal, at best.
Google TV v3 demo video teases better search, mini-guide overlay and tablet control (Update)
During Google I/O this summer the Google TV team promised more features were on the way -- the upgraded Google Play app just arrived -- and now it's posted a "sneak peek" video (embedded after the break) that shows us a few. As promised, there's second screen integration allowing users to browse live TV and streaming content on the app, then choose it so it starts playing on the TV. Much of the demo is focused on the big improvements it says it's made to search, with voice search that works across TV and the internet to quickly pull up specific content, content by genre or perform specific tasks like tuning in a particular channel or website like Google Maps. There's also a new mini-guide overlay based on its personalized TV & Movies app so you can get an idea of what else is on without jumping completely away from what you were watching. Getting cheaper hardware available from more manufacturers is just one part of the puzzle, we'll see if these improvements make Google TV a desired intermediary between broadcast television and internet streaming. Update: Someone may have goofed and released the vid accidentally, because it's been marked as private now. We did manage to grab a couple of snapshots though, check them out after the break. Update 2: As we suspected, this was definitely an accidental early release of the video so while these updates are certainly on the way, they may not be right around the corner. According to a Google spokesperson "We're excited to bring users the next version of Google TV's software in the months ahead, but have nothing further to announce at this time." And so the waiting game begins.
Google Maps Navigation for Android hits nine MENA nations, adds Arabic voice search
If there is one thing you can't say about Google's mapping team, it's that they are a lazy bunch. Update after update puts paid to any of that kinda talk, and again, here's another example -- navigation for Android is now available in nine more countries. It's the Middle East and North Africa that get the attention this time, with Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon, Qatar, Algeria, Bahrain, Kuwait, UAE and Saudia Arabia all getting the update. The service comes complete with Arabic voice search as well as "search along route" for routes to near-by POIs that won't take you the long way round. You'll need Android 4.0 or above if you want in on the action, but it's available now for those that do.
Google's Voice Search on Android adds support for 13 additional languages
Even though it's also on iOS now, Android is still the first love for Google's Voice Search and the company announced today it's adding support for an additional 13 languages on the platform, bringing the total to 42 languages and accents understood in 46 countries. The list includes Basque, Bulgarian. Catalan, European Portuguese, Finnish, Galician, Hungarian, Icelandic, Norwegian, Romanian, Serbian, Slovak and Swedish. Just like it has since at least 2010 when Voice Actions were introduced it will require Android 2.2 or higher, and is easily accessible either from the search box on your home screen or in the Voice Search app. We should note that it still only understands one language at a time and you may need to change some settings, also the new languages weren't showing up yet on every device we tried -- just some of them. Hit the source link for a few more details on how machine learning was used to extrapolate the pronunciation of all Swedish words based on thousands of samples from native speakers, or just grab a nearby phone or tablet and have Pau Gasol speak some Catalan to it -- although obviously Salvador Dali would be preferred, were he available.
Google's revamped voice search coming to iOS, tackles Siri on her home turf
Google has been offering the ability to search the web with your voice using its iOS app for some time. But, it always just spit out a pile of links. While the next version wont be getting quite as creepy as Google Now, it'll be bringing with it the vocalized responses that debuted as part of Jelly Bean's revamped search offerings. The UI is also getting an overhaul to bring it inline with Now and Mountain View's recent aesthetic tendencies towards sharp lines and limited color schemes. Obviously, the new app also taps the Knowledge Graph, allowing you to make natural language queries like, "what's the weather like in San Francisco," and get a detailed vocalized response. According to Google the update should be hitting the App Store in "the next few days," but don't expect it to keep tabs on your favorite sports team for you.
Google Places for iOS becomes Google+ Local, adds voice search in the process
It was only a matter of time before Google+ Local started spreading to the mobile space, and iOS looks to be its first landing spot through a rebadge of the Google Places app. Apart from achieving harmony with Google's rapidly swelling social universe and letting us check Zagat ratings for nearby establishments, the update slips in the same voice search that Google has had in its primary Google Search app: we won't have to search for the best Vietnamese cuisine with that archaic keyboard. The refresh makes it similarly easy to find locations that aren't directly close by, and there's a tighter login process to keep that bar search history away from prying eyes. If you're a social adventurer with an iPhone or iPod touch, Google just gave your expeditions a shot in the arm. [Thanks, Bono]
Ask Ziggy: the Windows Phone 7 counter to Apple's Siri (video)
Ask Ziggy has actually been on the Windows Store for right around a fortnight, but there's an updated version hitting soon that brings an astounding amount of Siri-ness to Microsoft's own Windows Phone 7 platform. Developed by Shai Leib, the app is a free (and even ad-free) program that can "translate human speech into transcribed text." According to Leib, the text is then "analyzed for patterns to detect commands or general queries, while commands are interpreted and routed to routine phone tasks such as emailing, texting, calling, social network updates, and getting directions." If you're asking a more generic question, the app uses a hodgepodge of technologies and web searches to find the answer, and we're told that "several passes may be required to find a concise answer." Still, what's shown on the video just past the break is impressive -- particularly for a gratis app from a single Earthling -- and you can expect the latest edition to pop up in the Store within the next couple of days. Just don't ask it if it's hot for Siri, okay? [Thanks, Alex]
Verbalizer: the open-source wireless microphone of your Arduino-loving dreams
Google's Voice Search for desktop is nifty and all, but what it's really been lacking is a worthy way to trigger it into action. The Verbalizer is an open-source dev board made specifically to be used with the search giant's new tools from up to ten meters away. This microphone-shaped piece of circuitry was made with Arduino compatibility in mind, which means that voice search is just the beginning. The company (who happens to be the same folks behind the brilliant Instaprint) will be distributing schematics and source code through its website, and promises to give away a "limited run" of kits for free in a drawing starting today. Head on over to the source link if you feel like testing your luck, but not before checking after the break for one more shot of these mini masterpieces on display as well as the nitty gritty PR.
Google announces Search by Image and Voice Search for desktop, revamped mobile search
Google's done a ton of talking about search at its Inside Search event today, and two of the biggest new developments are on the desktop. It's just announced that Android-style Voice Search is headed to Chrome (with support for English only, initially), and that it will be joined by a new Search by Image feature (also available in Chrome, or Firefox with an extension). To use that latter feature, you simply drag and drop an image or cut and paste an image URL in the search box, and then Google tries its best to recognize it and deliver relevant results -- including identifying the location in an old vacation photo, for instance (though Google notes it isn't doing face recognition). Both features will be rolling out over the next few days, but you can get a glimpse of them now in the demo videos after the break. In other news, Google's announced Instant Pages (also demoed after the break), which promises to speed up browsing by prerendering results when its "confident you're going to click them." It's available in the latest developer version of Chrome today, and will also be included in the next public beta. Lastly, Google took the wraps off a number of revisions to its mobile search offerings, including a new set of shortcut icons, enhanced search options, and faster local results when browsing on a phone, as well as some revamped search and image results that have been specifically tailored to tablets -- all of which are also rolling out today.
Microsoft's new Xbox 360 UI has Bing voice search across Hulu, Netflix, YouTube, and live TV
Quick refreshing of Microsoft's E3 landing page has apparently revealed some of the things it will be announcing within a couple of hours at its E3 press conference, including new features for Xbox Live like Voice Search and new look for the service. With the explosive popularity of the Kinect add-on, it looks like the system is being refashioned with support built in from the ground up as opposed to the current menu system that's more of an afterthought. Also mentioned on the page are Dance Central 2, Kinect Sports Season 2 and most importantly, two new Halo games. One is Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary which appears to be the HD (& possibly 3D) remake leaked by Joystiq previously, while the other is Halo 4 -- no explanation needed. We'll surely find out everything when the press conference kicks off live at 12:30 p.m. Eastern and of course we'll be covering all of the news live right here. Update: Microsoft's just confirmed some of the leaked information onstage at its E3 keynote, with demonstrations of a deeply integrated voice command setup powered by Kinect. YouTube has been announced as an Xbox Live partner, while Bing is coming to the console to let users search across Netflix, Xbox Live Marketplace, and Hulu all at once.That universal search also extends to new live TV partnerships with Sky, Canal+ and Foxtel. Update 2: Want a better look at the revamped Xbox 360 UI that blends in more of a Metro look with the old Kinect UI elements? Look no further than the gallery below. %Gallery-125534% %Gallery-125417% [Thanks, q & Pradeep]
Rumor: Kinect Xbox Live voice search coming to Xbox 360
And the leaks keep on coming! Joining potential announcements for Halo 4 and a bevy of Kinect games is the image above revealing Kinect voice search on Xbox Live. "Hey, Xbox, find me that demo of Too Human!" Can you imagine? The image originates from a leaked E3 page prematurely posted by Microsoft. NowGamer spotted the page, which Microsoft has since removed. Compelling evidence, to say the least -- but hardly confirmation. Stay tuned for Microsoft's keynote at 10am PT, where we'll be on-hand to transport the hot scoops right from the Galen Center directly to your brain basket.
