VoiceSearch
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Google is phasing out the old Voice Search in favor of Assistant
The familiar microphone icon in Google's search bar might soon be a thing of the past, according to some recent changes spotted by 9 to 5 Google. On some phones, Google's old-school "Voice Search," with the prompt "Say 'Hey Google,'" has been replaced by the four-dot Assistant logo and the term "Ask your Assistant." As a reminder, that's just like the one at the bottom of Google's Pixel launcher. It still opens the same interface as before, but the search is now performed by Assistant and displays the results in a slide-up card.
Pandora's new voice search feature knows what you want to hear
It's been almost two years since Pandora launched its on-demand music streaming service. In that time, the company has done a solid job of fixing some of the issues that cropped up at launch and even adding some features the competition hasn't got to yet (like downloading songs to an Apple Watch for offline playback). Today, Pandora's adding another feature that some of its competitors have: Voice Mode. But, as usual, Pandora believes that the amount of information it has on both the music in its catalog as well as its users will set its voice features apart.
Apple's revamped Store app now features voice search
Next time you fire up the Apple Store app to look up the MacBooks, iPhones and compatible accessories you can buy, just say the keyword out loud. Cupertino has rolled out voice search for its Store application on iOS -- you only need to tap the mic icon in the search bar to get the app to recognize your words.
Roku aims to take over home audio with its wireless speaker platform
No, Roku isn't building a wireless speaker, despite rumors hinting at that. Instead, it's approaching home audio similar to how it tackled TVs: By offering its technology to other companies. Specifically, Roku is unveiling a new wireless audio platform, Roku Connect, that it'll license to third parties. The company also put together a hardware reference design for a smart soundbar and speaker, which will guide partners as they develop their own hardware. The goal? To make it even easier for consumers to put together their own theater systems and spread speakers throughout their homes.
Sky Q is getting system-wide voice control
Back in March, Sky finally introduced voice search for its next-gen Sky Q service. With it, you can request specific TV shows and movies, or look through its vast library by mumbling the names of actors, directors and film genres. Now, Sky is going a step further with "enhanced Voice Control." The update will let you change channels, play recorded TV shows and fast-forward or rewind with simple commands like "skip back 30 seconds" and "watch from the start." You'll also be able to nip around the Sky Q menu with "go to Sky Store," "go to Sky Sports" and similar phrases.
Sky Q's promised voice search feature is finally here
Ever since Sky first started talking about its next-gen TV service, Sky Q, voice search was pitched as one of its fancy features, though clearly labelled as coming eventually. A year and change after Sky Q launched, it's finally arrived. Subscribers can now -- or, by the end at spring of the latest due to a staggered rollout -- pick up their glossy Touch Remotes, hit the dedicated voice search button, and well... you get the idea.
Next up in your News Feed: Gear VR livestreams
It looks like announcing 360-degree photos and videos for the Gear VR app was a teaser of what Oculus had in mind for this week. Now, Facebook's $2 billion baby is pulling back the curtain on the mobile VR live-streaming it teased last October. Assuming you aren't stateside, it's rolling out to the public today. Domestic users will be able to livestream their VR gameplay from Face Your Fears or Wands, a sorcery simulator, directly to Facebook "in the coming weeks," according to TechCrunch.
Hands-free 'Ok Google' commands come to Google Maps
The "Ok Google" command has expanded since the debut of Android KitKat, allowing devices to respond in various smart ways to those two words. Now, Google Maps on Android has this ability too, whether you're in the middle of a road trip or doing something else. Once it's enabled in settings, you can choose whether it works only while Maps is open or from any screen. Say the magic phrase then follow it up with something like "find a gas station" or "How's traffic ahead?" and it will let you know.
Microsoft's AI no longer listens to 'Hey Cortana' on Android
Less than two weeks after Microsoft introduced its hands-free AI helper, Cortana, to Android mobile devices, the company has yanked the feature from the US market. Users used to be able to say "Hey, Cortana" and then issue a command, just like "OK, Google" natively does for Google Now. However, the feature appears to be incompatible with Google's voice recognition system and, in some cases, could make the phone unusable for commons tasks -- like making phone calls.
'OK Google' voice-activated search removed from latest Chrome release
Some of the most notable changes to the latest version of Chrome are what's going away, rather than what's new. A few days ago, Google confirmed that it was removing the notification center in Chrome for Mac, Windows and Linux, and now with Chrome 46 out users are noticing another missing feature. It looks like you can no longer automatically kick off a Google search by using the "OK Google" activation phrase. The feature originally got its start in Android, but as of last year you could say "OK Google when you had a new Chrome window open (or were on Google.com) to start voice search. If you got hooked on voice search on the desktop, you can still initiate it by clicking the little multicolored Google microphone, but Chrome is no longer listening for your command. If you're a Chromebook user, though, this feature will stick around. The Chrome releases blog has more details on what's changed in Chrome 46.
Google voice search can now hear what you've got to say
Need a better reason to say "OK Google" in public? Well, the search engine just announced a refinement to voice search on its research blog. Now, it can more accurately pick out your voice even in noisy surroundings, and perform the necessary analysis in real-time. This is all made possible by software that can make faster phoneme predictions by listening further ahead in a user's speech.
Google voice search knows where you are and responds appropriately
One of the biggest problems with voice search is that, for consistent results, you have to use specific words and phrasing. The process often feels unnatural, and you spend most of your time trying to second-guess the sort of sentence Google will interpret properly. Well, Google is making it a little easier now with location aware queries. It means that your Android or iOS device will take your current position into consideration and pair your questions to nearby points of interest. So If you ask "how big is this lake" or "what's the name of this park," Google should know what you're referring to and provide the relevant information. The feature was shown off at the Search Marketing Expo in Paris and appears to be live right now for some iOS and Android users. If nothing else, it should keep you amused until Google releases Android M and its ambitious Now on Tap service.
SoundHound takes on Siri and Google with new voice search app
While SoundHound hasn't seen the tune-searching success as Shazam, the company behind it is taking a similar stance as the competition. Like Shazam's recent addition of product queries, SoundHound is looking to tackle more than songs too, and it'll do so with a new app called Hound. It's more like Siri or Google Now (taking some design cues from the latter), handling searches for weather, directions, hotels, stocks and much more. And yes, the know-how from SoundHound is baked in as well, so you won't have to wield two apps just in case you need to identify a track by humming.
Google Maps for Android lists your events, flights and reservations
Google Maps' Play listing doesn't quite elaborate on what's new with the latest version, but the update's definitely more than just a bunch of bug fixes. Android Police has discovered that the app can now mine your Gmail account for info whenever you search for these particular key phrases: my events, my flights, my reservations and my hotels. "My events" will list your Calendar entries, while the others are pretty self-explanatory. Unfortunately, these key phrases only work for the Android version of Maps at the moment -- the good news is that they're not exclusive to Mountain View's navigation service. You can actually type those key phrases or use them as voice commands on Google search or on Google Now. So long as you're logged into your account on a browser or a relevant app, they'll work perfectly whatever your device or platform is.
'OK Google, Shazam this song'
Siri started handling song queries when iOS 8 arrived, and now Google's voice commands recognize Shazam as a prompt to do the same on Android. That's right, Android devices now recognize the "Shazam" command, in addition to "recognize" or "name" for "track," "song" or "tune" identification. It's not the only one either, as a few other apps like NPR One, TuneIn, Zillow, Flixster and TripAdvisor (a complete list is here) are also enjoying early access to the Custom Voice Actions feature. Previously you could search apps that way, but with this access developers can get more specific. It seems like the perfect kind of feature to use along with something like Android Auto, just when your phone is slightly out of reach.
Microsoft's Android voice search app now works without a watch
Microsoft's Torque is handy if you want to search the web through a quick shake of the wrist and a voice command, but you've had to use an Android Wear smartwatch to try the Bing-powered app. That's not much help if your wrist is bare, is it? You won't have sit on the sidelines any longer, though. A revamped version of Torque now runs on any reasonably modern Android phone (4.3 or later), no wearable required; you only have to shake your phone to bring up a mini window and start speaking. The app also provides streamlined answers for more of your questions, including flight statuses and events. Torque is still a bit superfluous when Android is virtually built around Google search, but it's worth a look if you can't (or just don't want to) use "OK Google" to get a quick answer.
Google finds that teens use voice search more than grownups
Want to do what all the cool kids do? Talk to your smartphone, apparently. Google has commissioned a study showing that American teens are considerably more likely to use voice search on their devices than adults. About 55 percent of the 18-and-under crowd uses Cortana, Google Voice Search or Siri more than once a day, while 41 percent of grownups do the same. That number climbs to an even higher 75 percent for teens glued to their phones 11-plus hours a day. Younger users aren't worried about social stigmas, either -- they're far more likely to use voice commands when friends are around (57 percent versus 24 percent). About 45 percent of adults, meanwhile, are self-conscious about their geekiness when they speak to their devices.
Google voice search adds car rentals and reminders that work like they should
Car rentals is typically an exercise in utter frustration. Now, even if a little, Google's latest voice search update might help. "When is my rental car reservation?" are the magic words, pulling together your booking numbers, pick-up and drop-off dates in a card that's been part of Google Now since last year. More broadly, the voice search can now program reminder alarms, too, completely hands-free. Oddly, the voice-based reminders prior to this update required a button-press to set the alarm, which pretty much defeated the point of the thing.
Ask Google Search on Android to 'play some music' and... it will
Sometimes, having your entire music collection in your pocket can be a bit overwhelming. When there are hundreds (or in our case, thousands) of tracks at your disposal, where do you even begin to listen? To help thwart that paralysis of choice, Google is going to do the guessing for you with its latest tweak to Search. From Google Now or the search bar, simply say the magic words "play some music" and your Android device will start playing a random Play Music "I'm feeling lucky" mix that's based on recent listening habits. With its deep catalog of tunes, it's pretty easy to imagine that this feature's benefits increase exponentially if you're paying for Mountain View's All Access service, too. Subscriber or not, though, if you're stuck in a Nine Inch Nails rut, this could be the ticket out.
Chrome's hands-free voice search is coming to everyone, no add-on required
If you've wanted hands-free Google voice search (à la Android's Now Launcher) on the desktop, you've so far had to install a Chrome extension. No more -- the company has released a Chrome beta that builds the feature into the browser. Any time you visit the Google homepage or open a new tab, you can say "OK Google" to ask a question or perform a command, such as scheduling a reminder. Testers running Chrome in US English should see the feature go live sometime within the next few days, and a matching Chrome OS update is coming soon. Don't worry if you'd rather not be an early adopter. Google typically releases finished versions of the software several weeks after the beta, so touchless voice search should be available to every Chrome user before long.
