While Google’s Android Operating System is giving the Apple iPhone a run for its money, Google has already started concentrating on voice search, which is likely to be the next “big thing”.
Last week, at an event in San Francisco, Google announced a new voice function called Voice Actions, which will allow users to perform various functions such as sending emails and finding and playing music through the voice search application.
Google’s director of product management, Hugo Barra said that 25% of those using Android 2.0 are already using voice search. According to Google, their voice search feature is 70% accurate, which is far higher than their telecommunications service, Google Voice.
Voice Actions is a cloud-based service. It joins the likes of Google Goggles and Google Navigation on the cloud, making the convergence of mobile technology and cloud computing a thing of the very near future.
As a whole, voice search now refers to any voice-to-mobile interface that enables different actions like search, looking up locations, looking up phone numbers and placing a call, navigating to a locations and even browsing.
Apple already has a similar feature, acquired from Siri, for which they are believed to have paid $200 million. Microsoft has also hinted that the upcoming Windows Phone 7 will have voice-activated features.
About the Author
Farhad is the Group CEO of AccuraCast. With over 20 years of experience in digital, Farhad is one of the leading technical marketing experts in the world. His specialities include digital strategy, international business, product marketing, measurement, marketing with data, technical SEO, and growth analytics.
