Comments on: Google 'Voice Search' hands-on verdict: Awesome

Google's updated Mobile App for iPhone is finally here, and it works as advertised.

[monoclemonkey]

You can get the update to the Google App through the App Store on the iPhone. It may be easiest to go through the desktop, but i was able to pull it off over the air http://tr.im/16pw

[purpleLightning]

Yes, it is pretty awesome. Certainly made the Google Mobile App worth installing and leaving installed on the iPhone, finally. I thought it was a nice touch that launching some of the other google apps from the Mobile App would allow you to hit the back button in Mobile Safari to get right back to the Google Mobile App.

[daveoreardon]

Great idea. But not yet awesome with an Australian accent...

Say "Kate", get "Tight"
Say "Silversix", get "Chinese Arithmetic"
Say "Arrested Development", get "Didn't get that."

[assman]

Probably only designed for American accents for now..

[StevieD377]

haha and what exactly does an "American" accent sound like?

[FourOnTheFloor]

um, there are a few different American accents. Boston, NY, southern, midwest...not sure what is comical about that comment ?

[StevieD377]

that was exactly my point....it's impossible to define one "American" accent. a little slow are we?

[itsaspork]

It's AWEsome! I tried some difficult names of friends - got right results in 2 - 3 tries. WOW

[bonesbautista]

It didn't work worth a hoot the first time I tried it - returning "PA" for "pizza". Meh.

After that, it was freakishly accurate - it even nailed addresses the first time. Sign me up.

[hwilke01]

One of the best parts of this new feature is asking it math problems or conversion questions. Just like you can use Google as a calculator- you can now verbalize math problems... or conversions, or currency exchange rates or whatever... "1 gallon to liters", "5 pints to ounces" "30,000 Japanese Yen to US Dollars", "Square Root of Pi"... and the answer comes back in seconds. I haven't been amazed like this since the first time I surfed the Internet back in 1994.

[mooreoftom]

I'm literally lol !

[3rdalbum]

Everyone is saying about how freakishly accurate it is... wanna bet it's actually sending your voice to Google, and they've got hundreds of operators typing in what you're said into Google and sending back the page? :-P

[Marc1000]

No, more likely they are creating a voice print for you so they can match it to any other voice files on the web so you can be identified. Gov't surveillance, call centers, etc.

Kinda like the facial recognition that is now suddenly popular. Those who identify pictures with their names will later learn that they have been identified every time they walk into a mall, a store, or down the street (that is, if they aren't carrying a phone that will do the same with GPS).

Welcome to 1984.

[twitter_1963]

Didn't get WalMart

Didn't get my name

Didn't get Star bucks until 2nd attempt

I can still see lots of car crashes. Leads you into false sense of security but you've got to look down and up and down again to see if it's worked... It's not very responsive so not good for car...

[worksforme2]

Just downloaded and tried it. It got Walmart and Starbucks right on the first try for me.

[cabrillo24]

You shouldn't be using your phone for this function. Seriously. Google searches while driving? I thought it was scary when people were just talking on the phone while driving, now you have people texting, doing google searches, reading blogs...seriously....

[sting7k]

Well for some reason when I update on my iPhone it says I already have the version that is out, even though it says there is an update. I downloaded it on iTunes and did it that way.

All I can say is, Wow! This thing is a lot better than I thought it would be. You don't even have to push a button, just hold it up to your ear like your going to make a phone call. It makes a noise and starts recording. I've asked it all kinds of things so far, it has transcribed everything perfectly and quickly. Now how long until it tells me that, "All systems nominal".

[alskiontheweb]

...Try it with a cold and let me know how awesome it is. In a nice quiet room, it missed 9 out of 10 for me. I bet it would miss 10 for 10 in a noisy area. Nice idea though...

[richard petty--2008]

Please post some samples of your speech. I'll bet it's interesting.

[anilsudh]

What did you expect? It's going to work with your thick Indian/Middle Eastern/Asian accent. Please give me a break.

[purpleLightning]

Of course it's going to be hit-or-miss on voice recognition but the basic implementation of hold to ear, wait for beep, speak, wait for response is very stable and makes me more willing to try again when it doesn't get something right the first time.

Having had more time to play with it, I do wish the voice search results would incorporate the address book, so I could say a name and see the entries in my address book for that name. Why only have this when you're typing the search term?

[morbidsaint]

Microsoft Live search has these features and has been out there for a long time, so whats the big deal?

[amigahead]

My Amiga has these features and has been out there for a long time, so whats the big deal?

[coderedd]

Your Mom has these features and has been out there for a long time, so whats the big deal?

[iff2mastamatt]

Chuck Norris has these features and has been out there for a long time, so whats the big deal?

[sanjayb]

These comments were way too funny!! Thanks for the good laughs!! :-)

[shamisattar]

the iphone itself is a huge deal and now add this to that.... the deal keeps getting bigger.

[shoonya]

The Live Search (Mobile) has this feature for a while so there is nothing new here except that its now available on iPhone. In my experience with Live search 411 and Google 411 services, they both are good however Live search 411 has edge over the quality and performance.

[WebBuddha]

x2. I've been using voice via Live Search on my WinMo 6.1 phone for quite some time. I am not understanding why the article doesn't mention that at all. Apple and Google aren't always the first ones out of the gate with tech innovation anymore. For all the maligned treatment they get, I think Microsoft is quietly releasing some pretty cool tech lately.

[slecalvez]

It's definitely an interesting app, and kudos to Google, but it's far from being AAWWWWSOOOOME.... The writer should be a little less biased. OK we get it, you love Google... To me this app as well as Google, they are overrated...

[rshah29]

Meh. It's useful, but it's voice recognition; nothing new. It's only as good as the recognition algorithm they're using, which they probably licensed or bought from someone.

Give me the ability to find a contact from my iPhone's native contact list, and that's of real value. Voice Command for the iPhone.

Any developers out there reading this?

[BLipman72]

rshah29,

Check out the iphone app say who. When running you can say the persons name or also use a nickname if ones asignned to it and it dials it.

[oakhurstbill]

In the App Store you can download a free app named 'Say Who' that will use voice recognition and dial a number from your contact list. It will also dial a number that you announce into the microphone. It works quite well.

[ibdrmac]

Certainly not at Apple. Voice recognition has been part of the Mac OS since Ch***t was a corporal. Not to have voice dialing borders on malfeasance considering Apple is HQd in California, a state with a cel phone hands free law. My dumb moto has that!

[neoviky]

The Google Voice search for iPhone

read more on

http://neoviky.blogspot.com

[Shankland]

I tried "CNET" and got "Julio," and I have an American accent. I also have a cold.

[clickanywhere]

Worked for me over 3G, but when I used WiFi, the hand off between the app where I'd click on a link and the Safari browser always to took me to a broken page. It sent me to http://localhost/ instead of the desired page.

[kurtjr]

Holy balls. It recognized "supercalafragilisticexpialladocious." I got a WikiAnswer for what the word means. Eat it Mary Poppins.

[zach2324]

of course it did... the longer the word is, the easier it is to understand it. Its all those 1 syllable words that cause problems because they all sound the same... like, and, band, hand, etc... understand? nothing at all sounds like "supercalafragilisticexpialladocious" so why would it confuse it with something else? when it guesses what word you spoke, it choses the closest match. nothing is close to supercalafragilisticexpialladocious. duh!