Where is Google voice-powered search?
Reporters were put into a frenzy this week when Google announced it was set to launch version two of its mobile search application for the iPhone that included the addition of voice-powered search, allowing you to skip the keyboard altogether. But now the question is, where is it?
My colleague Josh Lowensohn reported on the application on Thursday, and duly noted on Friday afternoon that it still wasn't available in Apple's App Store. But as of Saturday afternoon, the application was still MIA. A search on the App Store returned only the older version of the Google Mobile App.
According to The New York Times, Google planned to release the free application through the iTunes Store "as soon as Friday." The application, an update to Google Mobile App, is meant to allow you to talk into your phone, ask any question, and the results of your query will then be offered up on your iPhone.
One reason for the delay could be that it has been bogged down by Apple's App Store approval process, which can take days or even months. Indeed, the Google Earth app for the iPhone took several days to appear in the App Store after its release. And Buzzd CEO Nihal Mehta noted that it took three months for his company's application to arrive in the App Store after it had been submitted. In other words, it's difficult for third-party developers to determine exactly when the application is going to be made available.
Perhaps from now on, when developers release an iPhone app, they'll learn to add a caveat that while the application has technically been released, it may take several days or even longer for it to actually show up in the App Store.
Update November 18, 8:20 a.m. PST: The updated version of Google Mobile App with voice search is now available from the App Store.
Desiree Everts is an associate editor at CNET News who has focused on the digital media and telecommunications industries. E-mail Desiree. 
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http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/search/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1869898
Found something they in the last couple of years with it:
http://a-m-n.com/public/papers/mbtech.html
O'therwise will keep looking and hoping for the Apple version soon.
You could put it in your pants, maybe not your pockets, but you could definitely get a netbook in your pants.
If you see where the internet is going here... it is all Apples fault.
This story is turning into the whole Opera for iPhone all over again.
I suspect. On the day Google submitted the application someone (right or wrongly) sent out a press release thinking hey they are Google the app will be up in a few hours. When in reality the app approval process can take a lot longer.
All this hype for something that will help people dial phones in their cars. Yippee.
- by johnericanderson November 17, 2008 2:39 PM PST
- iPhone, search Mike Hunt.
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