Mobile searches to soon have a voice, thanks to Google

14.11.2008
Back when the App Store was just a gleam in eager developers' collective eyes, Google was among the companies clamoring for a place in Apple's yet-to-launch virtual marketplace. Vic Gundotra, Google's vice president of engineering, told Macworld that it expected to have applications available from "Day One" of the App Store's launch.

Indeed, Google delivered on that vow with its , which lets users search address book contacts, Web sites, and businesses near their current location. The company subsequently released , a mobile version of its popular 3-D mapping and search tool. But that's been it for the Mountain View, Calif.-based search giant.

That's about to change, according to which says that the release of an app allowing voice-activated searches is imminent. As in "sometime Friday imminent."

Google's latest offering will enable users to speak their search queries, with the app spitting out results in a flash. Or as Times report John Markoff puts it:

Users of the free application... can place the phone to their ear and ask virtually any question, like "Where's the nearest Starbucks?" or "How tall is Mount Everest?" The sound is converted to a digital file and sent to Google's servers, which try to determine the words spoken and pass them along to the Google search engine.

The search results, which may be displayed in just seconds on a fast wireless network, will at times include local information, taking advantage of iPhone features that let it determine its location.