VoiceSearch
Latest
With an Android search update, you can tell your phone to 'call Mom'
One of Siri's cleverer tricks is its support for terms of endearment -- you can tell an iPhone to "call Mom" rather than saying your mother's name every time. Today, that handy shortcut is reaching Android through a Google search update. You can now rely on shorthand when using the search app to call or text family members. If you haven't already established the appropriate relationship in your contacts, Android will ask you to clear things up. The feature is already live, so you can test it out right away -- we're sure your folks would be glad to hear from you.
Google's new Chrome voice extension lets you search hands-free (video)
Google promised that we'd get hands-free voice search in Chrome back at I/O 2013, and it's delivering today with the beta of its Voice Search Hotword extension for desktop Chrome 31 users. As long as you're either sitting at Google's home page or have a new browser tab open, the add-on lets you start a search by saying "OK Google," much as you would in Android 4.4 KitKat. Anyone eager to move beyond mouse-and-keyboard queries can grab the extension today from the Chrome Web Store.
Google app for Windows Phone now lets you sign in, instantly shows what you speak
Google may not always be kind to Windows Phone users, but it's showing them some love today with an update to its self-titled search app for the platform. The new release lets users sign into their Google accounts, preserving their search history as they hop from device to device. It also shows voice commands as they're spoken. While the app still doesn't include Google Now or many other perks from the equivalent Android and iOS clients, the improvement is large enough that searchers will want to swing by the Windows Phone Store for an upgrade.
Chrome 29 for iOS brings voice search with pronouns
Google loves to throw small-yet-sensible interface updates into many Chrome releases, and the new Chrome 29 for iOS represents a textbook example. The browser's voice search now supports contextual pronouns like "her" or "them;" ask a question and you can run a follow-up search without mentioning the subject by name. The update also lets you quickly jump back to search results if you visit the wrong result, and it's now easier to view bandwidth savings if you have access to the experimental data compression feature. Should you like the smattering of new features, you can grab Chrome 29 now through the App Store.
Sony's Google TV box gets a refresh, NSZ-GS8 adds voice search ready remote
Sony has just announced a new Google TV set-top box, the NSZ-GS8. Apparently replacing last year's NSZ-GS7 that lead the charge of second generation ARM-powered Google TV hardware, this one appears to be quite similar. As seen in the picture above (check after the break to see the old remote for comparison) it adds a microphone this time around, necessary to enable the voice search features added to the Google TV platform last fall. We're not seeing any other changes, but we'll let you know if we hear of any differences. In lieu of actual new devices, Google TV fans can at least take heart that Sony is continuing development on the platform -- good to hear after the NSZ-GP9 Blu-ray player that was also announced last year ended up being cancelled prior to its release. Like its predecessor, the NSZ-GS8 carries a sticker price of $199 and should reach stores by early July.
Chrome for iOS update adds voice search, faster reloading for cached pages
As promised, Google's delivered an update to its Chrome app for iOS that bypasses Siri for the tech giant's own voice-controlled search. Now, users living in Cupertino's curated kingdom can talk at their screens using the Chrome browser's omnibox and watch as those inquires are quickly displayed in realtime. Google's voice search will also now talk back (politely) to users, relaying answers to specific queries. And thanks to some additional under-the-hood tweaks, cached pages should reload faster -- helpful when dealing with spotty connectivity issues -- while links from other iOS apps can now be opened in Chrome. You can grab it at the source now or, if you're already leaning on Chrome for your iOS browser fix, wait for the App Store update.
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's conversational search goes live with latest version of Chrome
After revealing it at I/O 2013 only days ago, Google's new conversational voice search function is up and running on Chrome 27. If you've got that version, you'll now get a spoken response on top of a web page display when using the voice search function (the microphone in the main search window), for starters. More interestingly, the new feature also includes semantic search, meaning you can ask follow-up questions without repeating needless info -- for instance, "who's the CEO of GE?" can now be followed up with "how old is he?" and Google will know who "he" is. We gave it a spin for ourselves and found that when it worked, it worked well, however, the system may be overwhelmed by the launch and is giving us a "no internet connection" message most of the time -- not exactly what we're looking for.
Google's conversational voice search reaches the desktop through Chrome
We're used to Google's mobile search apps letting us ask questions as we would with real people, but the desktop has usually been quite stiff. That's changing today: Google is bringing conversation-like voice search to our computers through Chrome, with no typing required. Web denizens just have to say "okay, Google," ask their question, and get back a spoken response similar to what they'd hear on their phones. The company hasn't said just how soon Chrome will incorporate the new voice features, however. %Gallery-188469%
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.
DirecTV adding voice search to its iOS and Android phone apps, beta coming this summer
Now that it's finally got an Android tablet app to speak of, DirecTV is returning its attention to phones: the company announced today that both its iOS and Android applications will be receiving voice search starting this summer. As the company describes it, the app is meant to address the age-old problem of there being "nothing on TV." (And also, the fact that searching for things on your television is damn tedious.) In particular, you can use the app to search by person, title, channel show time or genre, using commands such as "find comedy movies," etc. Like other voice-control services, too, you can give follow-up instructions like, "with Bill Hader" and it'll narrow down your results instead of starting a new search. Considering DirecTV whipped up its own search algorithm from scratch, it seems to work intuitively. Still, the fact that the landing page is filled with sample queries suggests there's very much a right and wrong way to ask for what you want. If you're using the app away from home, you can set your DVR to record different shows. When you're on your home network, though, you can have the search results show up on your television, at which point your phone transforms into a remote you can use to scroll through menus and the like. With the TV, too, you can wade through various programs, as well as search for sports content or ask the app to switch to a certain channel (saying either the channel name or number will work). You can even tell the app to go back through menus, but you can't use your voice to access features like the settings menu. No word on when the beta will roll out, except that it'll happen sometime this summer.
Vizio Co-Star update brings new Google TV UI, native Amazon and Vudu
Vizio's Co-Star hub is still one of the cheapest points of entry into the Google TV world, so it's comforting to see the set-top box getting an update -- albeit somewhat behind Google's own pace. The previously promised release mostly focuses on giving it the third-generation Google TV interface, including the mini-guide, YouTube pairing and (through a future Android app update) voice-guided search. Viewers on the prowl for more content get a few additional perks through new apps for M-Go and Vudu video streaming, as well as a truly native Amazon Instant Video app. Should Vizio's tiny media center inhabit your living room, you can expect the upgrade to arrive over the air within the next few weeks.
Google TV gets voice search and a quick guide to make content discovery easier than ever
Thought Google TV emptied its bag of tricks with that nifty new YouTube feature that lets folks shoot videos from their phones to their Googlefied TVs with a single tap? Think again, friend. GTV's far from a one-click pony, and today the platform's getting voice search and a new quick guide to make finding your favorite shows, movies and videos a more painless experience. Voice search allows users to now access channels and apps by simply speaking their names into either a Magic Remote or Android phone with the GTV remote app -- it's rolling out to folks with LG Google TVs this week, while other GTV hardware should get the update in the coming months. Searching by show titles and movie genres is supported, and it returns results from YouTube, live TV, Netflix and more. Plus, the system can also answer natural language queries with results from the web, too.%Gallery-170870% In addition to voice search, GTV has renamed its TV & Movies application and added a quick guide version of the app to let folks find other video content without having to navigate away from what they're watching. Called PrimeTime, the quick guide is a less obtrusive means for finding shows, videos and movies. It still uses the suggestion engine to make recommendations based upon viewing habits, and, of course, the full PrimeTime app experience is still available. We got to chat with Google TV's Director of Product Management, Rishi Chandra, about the updates, so join us after the break to hear what he had to say.
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.
Siri vs. Google Voice Search: may the best robot helper win
Google released an update to its free search app that includes much better voice searching. It offers a challenge to Siri in terms of speed and search capability, although there are points of comparison and there are differences as well. First, I have to say, Google Voice Search is fast. Very fast. You see your query in real time as your are speaking it. Conversely, Apple's Siri often takes several seconds to reply to a query and, in my experience, often misses what I've said. Google Voice Search never did this in my testing. Here's an example. I asked Siri for the latest news on Hurricane Sandy. It replied by offering to search the web for news about Hurricane SANDE. %Gallery-169969% Siri then completed a Google Search for "Hurricane Sandy," and proceeded to display a list of information. It likely saw Steve Sande in my contacts and made a best guess, but that seems a pretty big miss. Google did it right, and delivered a lot of useful data. Google doesn't do as well as Siri on finding nearby points of interest. In my tests, asking Google Voice Search for the nearest BBQ restaurants, it quickly provided a response, but the closest listed was 17 miles away, while the nearest restaurant is actually two miles away. The list from Google was not ordered by distance, so it consulted my location using GPS, but didn't bother to put them in a useful order. Siri has a nice graphical display with restaurants listed by distance, Google just provides its standard web page. As a contrast, editor Victor Agreda, Jr. tried to find middle schools in his area using Siri and it found none. Google found all of them. The results still suffered from ordering issues, but all versus none highlights the work Apple has yet to do when conducting searches. I asked both apps about the latest presidential polls. Siri asked if I wanted to search the web, and delivered an identical list to Google's (as its web search uses Google anyway). Google Voice Search conducted a web search without confirming if that's what I wanted, which is by design. Editor Megan Lavey-Heaton reports that Google Voice Search on the iPhone is a bit faster than the native app on her husband's Galaxy Nexus running Android. Also, she notes that app launching via Google on the Nexus is not as fast as with Siri on the iPhone. Siri launches apps almost immediately, she said, while the Galaxy Nexus took about five to 10 seconds to launch an app. It's easy to look at Siri and Google Voice Search the way we look at Google versus Apple Maps. Apple Maps is pretty as are Siri's graphical repsonses, but Apple Maps can't touch Google Maps for depth of information. That's where Google Voice is. It produces more relevant information. Of course you can't launch apps with Google on the iPhone, or add events to your calendar, or dictate an email or a text message. Siri is deeply wired into iOS, where Google Voice Search gets no special privileges. Both Siri and Google have a few "Easter egg" responses. Try telling the Google app "I'm bored," for example. And if you ask "what's the best smartphone?" it will tell you "No one smartphone is right for everyone" and show you the relevant Google search results for "best smartphones." Siri typically suggests the iPhone is the best. A joke, perhaps, but also perhaps not funny to someone who genuinely wanted to know where to go for reviews. I like Siri, but it's often slow and occasionally unresponsive. Google Voice Search is amazingly quick and relevant, and has more depth. I also think the the Google app has a better voice. I'm using both, and have moved Google Voice Search to my home screen. If you have some thoughts, please share them with us.
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.
