Search is inextricably woven into the use of computers, but it's still a relative rarity when it comes to the mobile phone market.
That's why I was keen to try Yahoo's attempt to make the technology more approachable through its free voice-controlled search product, OneSearch with Voice. My overall assessment after trying it on a BlackBerry Pearl 8130 Yahoo lent to me: the software is useful, but it whetted my appetite more than it actually transformed my life.
Pressing the phone's 'talk' button initiates a OneSearch with Voice query.
(Credit: Yahoo)To use OneSearch with Voice, you hold down your phone's "talk" button and speak a few words into the phone. The phone sends what you said to Yahoo servers that convert it into text and run a search tailored for mobile phone users. Whereupon, the results and sometimes an accompanying ad appear on the phone.
It didn't always produce the right answer, but it did so often enough and easily enough that I found myself turning to the application more and more frequently. And its textual results were more useful for me than Google's 1-800-GOOG-411 voice-only search service.
There's no secret why Yahoo is eager for the market: mobile search is growing fast and is a powerful conduit for targeted advertising.
Google long since passed Yahoo for search on personal computers, but the mobile market is relatively immature--and it's growing fast. From June 2007 to June 2008, "the number of people accessing mobile search at least once a week grew 50 percent in Europe, with France and Spain leading at a rate of 69 percent and 63 percent, respectively," according to ComScore analyst Alistair Hill, and the number in the U.S. grew 104 percent to 10 million. But Google leads Yahoo by a wide margin for mobile search usage in the U.S., U.K., Italy, France, Spain, and Germany.
So how's does OneSearch with Voice stack up?
What's good
The best thing about the service, far and away, is that it frees you from your phone's keyboard. Even on finger-friendly phones such as the BlackBerry, typing is a pain. With voice control, you can run searches much more easily.
I'll plead the Fifth about whether I tried OneSearch while driving, but there are other times when one-handed typing on a phone keypad is difficult. One early aha moment came while I was walking through the rain holding an umbrella. Another was lugging a bag through the airport. With OneSearch with Voice, I could have my say, then check back after a few moments to see if the phone fetched what I wanted rather than trying to pay attention to typing and walking at the same time.
... Read moreUpdated on 10/10/08 at 11:35 a.m. PST with more details about beginning a voice search on Nokia devices.
You can now speak your search into Yahoo's search widget for Nokia start screens.
(Credit: Yahoo Inc.)Voice-responsive search has been available from Yahoo's OneSearch 2.0 application for select BlackBerry phones since this last April, but until this week only a few of you could to try it out.
On Thursday, Yahoo slipped voice recognition into the OneSearch 2.0 home-screen shortcut--available for a smattering of Nokia Series 60 phones--and in the Yahoo! Go 3.0 files for select BlackBerry, Nokia Series 40, and Nokia Series 60 models, such as the BlackBerry Curve and high-end Nokia and Sony Ericsson phones. Those using older versions of either of these apps will have to download them anew to get the chatty update.
Operating the voice search is simple--on BlackBerry, just hold down on the green 'talk' button and speak your search term. OneSearch will start scouring Yahoo's database for answers as soon as you let go. Nokia owners can hit the pencil key to get going. Those without pencil keys will launch tier search by pressing the right shortcut key (labeled Y! OneSearch) and speaking or typing into the search box that appears.
Although voice-recognition technology is constantly improving as a whole, many voice searches I've tried using various applications have fallen flat. It helps to launch uncomplicated searches in quieter areas. I've experienced my share of success, but have also had to punch in search terms or edit them in the search field when the speech recognition software bungled a command or when the search engines didn't return the results I had in mind. Still, it's good to have options, and as the technology improves, voice searches will save plenty of typing time and hassle.
You can download the OneSearch 2.0 with a voice start-screen widget for select Nokia Series 60 phones by navigating to m.yahoo.com/shortcut from a PC or phone. The new version of Yahoo Go 3.0 (technically 3.0.4.6), which includes the voice-supporting Yahoo OneSearch widget, can be found for some Nokia and BlackBerry models at get.go.yahoo.com from a PC or the phone's native browser.
Yahoo is under financial pressure this year, but it's shaking up management of its mobile phone group as part of a plan to make its phone and TV division profitable next year.
The company on Monday named David Ko to be senior vice president of the mobile group, which handles software, advertising, and partnerships in the mobile phone market. He reports to Marco Boerries, executive vice president of the Connected Life division, which is trying to extend Yahoo's business to mobile phones and Internet-connected TV sets.
David Ko
(Credit: Yahoo)"I am very happy to introduce today Connected Life v3.0, which is designed to take our leadership in mobile to the next level," Boerries said in a memo about the changes. Version 2.0 was about laying foundations with technology development and distribution deals, but 3.0 will be about money.
And it will be the phone group that's carries the profit burden, he added: the TV effort is still in an earlier development and distribution stage so far.
"Our goal is to become a contributor to Yahoo's bottom line in 2009," Boerries said. In other words, to make Yahoo overall more profitable, not less.
That mobile revenue comes from text and display ads, and partnerships, Ko said in an interview. Though Ko sees competition from Google and others, he's confident of Yahoo's position in mobile Internet services: "We are absolutely leading in this."
Google is aggressively expanding into the mobile market, though, with advertising, software, the Android operating system, and services. And the threat is real: earlier today, Cowen and Co. analysts said Google Maps will help lead it to dominance in mobile search.
The phone group will carry the Connected Life profit burden initially, Ko added: the TV work is still in an earlier development and distribution stage so far.
Ko replaces Steve Boom, who "after 10 years at Yahoo has decided to leave the company to pursue other opportunities," Boerries said. A Yahoo spokeswoman said Boom was leaving voluntarily. Ko was general manager of Yahoo's mobile work in Asia, a post now held by Matthias Kunze.
Also leaving Yahoo are Geraldine Wilson, who handled Connected Life business operations in Europe--her work included ousting Google to become T-Mobile's preferred search mobile search provider--and Bruce Stewart, who worked on business development in the United States.
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