Google's voice search: Why on iPhone, not Android?

Google plans to release a groundbreaking mobile application that allows users to say a search query into their phone and have it transcribed and returned as a Web search. Surprisingly, the technology won't be exclusive to T-Mobile's G1 phone, the first commercial device to run Google's Android operating system. It's only going to be available on Apple's iPhone at first.

When Google released Android, some worried that development for other mobile platforms would slow down. But Google's mobile search team works separately from the Android group, and it is more concerned with pushing innovative products out the door than it is with wooing consumers to the G1.

"I want to bring the most valuable applications to as many users as possible," said Gummi Hafsteinsson, senior product manager for the mobile team. "We treat all high-end [mobile] platforms equally."

The G1 has a built-in function that allows users to say a contact's name to trigger a call -- something lacking in the iPhone out of the box. And Android has its own app store, but currently no Google voice Web search app. "We're obviously working hard to add as many devices as possible," Hafsteinsson said.

The voice search function will be part of an update to the Google Mobile App for iPhone, a Web and contacts search app that hasn't seen an upgrade in two-and-a-half months. To use speak search, simply open the app, hold the phone up to your ear and yap your query. Voice search doesn't yet support contact look-up -- iPhone users can download Say Who Dialer (the link opens iTunes) for that -- but matching names in your address book will still show up for text searches.

Google expects that the new version of Google Mobile App will be available in the iTunes App Store later tonight or some time this weekend.

-- Mark Milian

Photo credit: Google

Comments

[Susan]

It's pretty ironic that google itself is writing better stuff for *OTHER* companies phones...than its own phone operating system.

Even google likes the iPhone.

[Rob McMillin]

Left hand, meet the right hand.

[adam computes]

People don’t do research on an iphone. They do it on their desktop or notebook or UMPC. I found some voice recognition software named Tazti speech recognition that actually is a free download and performs voice searches of Google, Yahoo, MSN, Wikipedia, Amazon, eBay and many other websites. It also lets me log into and navigate Facebook and Myspace by talking to my PC. It really works well.

Here’s their youtube demo video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1tt_aeIAM8

tazti is a free download from http://www.tazti.com

[Mylo]

Seriously, how long does it take to type a few keywords into a search field? Moreover, speech recognition isn't 100% accurate so I would imagine this would be less productive than if you were to just type your query in the first place.

[M. Albornoz]

You're missing the point. Their business is organized to encourage innovation and launch products to the masses quickly. It's brilliant. Android users will get the app once the masses have adopted the new technology.

[Jason]

Yawn,

Google already provides this service for the blackberry and has for months. Download the google maps application and press the voice activation button on the blackberry (I have the pearl and it's on the left side on my phone) and speak your search. Google returns a result and location on the map if you want it.

[Scott]

Google makes money through search, not Android (which is free). They get the same amount of money whether the search is through an iPhone, a Blackberry, or an Android phone. Android was developed to ensure Google had a mobile system open to its products and to increase the availability of Web-capable phones overall. But Google is just as happy if people used its search with iPhones.

[MIKED]

The mobile phones world changes every day with the introduction of a new technology. Having to speak your search phrase is another innovation. A few years back, wireless headsets were unheard of, now in most states it is mandatory to wear one while driving, also it is becoming a norm to wear one. The point is, as you would use the voice contact dialer while driving, you would be able to use voice search. Heck, who knows, a few years from now, you will only have to think of a search phrase and it will be displayed for you.
I say, let the innovation continue and let us experiment with it. What is hot and controversial today, is not tomorrow! We live in the GREATEST innovative nation, GOD bless AMERICA.

[KT]

Another source of frustration. I can just picture screaming into their phones as the voice recognition doesn't hear correctly what they said.

[John Cook]

I love it. The Google phone has only been out for about "10 minutes" and already you geeks are frustrated.

[anon]

opera already has this feature in opera mobile as an extension. It is called voice command and it also allows for voice based navigation. Since opera allows for custom creation of search expressions, you can use voice command to not only search google, but also facebook, ebay, etc. btw, @miked keep your religion to yourself, nobody wants to hear a sensationalist comment with godvertising inserted.

[thodu]

This highlights what is right with Google and what is wrong with Microsoft. Microsoft will take a long time and have trouble developing for anything other Windows based systems. While Google will go where the users are, irrespective of who owns the platform.

[John Daley]

Google copies Microsoft Live Search
http://livesearchmobile.com/windows_mobile.htm

[Ashwin]

The answer to Google prioritising the iPhone over Android enabled G1 is simple, iPhone outsells the G1 by light years at the moment and to Google, each additional Google app user is a customer, a revenue-generator. If only Microsoft would follow such a model instead of trying to monopolise every single market it enters into.

[George Kaplan]

@ashwin--That, plus the fact that the second-gen iPhone operates on the AT&T 3G network in large portions of the country, while T-mo's 3G network is in very limited sections currently--advantage to iPhone, since the time to send and receive the information plays a part in the satisfaction one receives from using the software.

Google isn't without its flaws, but as has been pointed out several times already, Microsoft has shown itself to be incapable of providing suitable apps for its own operating system, much less across another OS. Google doesn't impose the same limitations internally on its software writers, nor does it suffer from the same general level of coding incompetence as Microsoft.

[Anders]

@ John Daley:

This is just google attempting to monopolize its market in a smarter way than microsoft. Google's market is search, NOT mobile OS software. They don't make money off of Android, they make money off of Android users who click that dedicated search button.

Google is in the business of making search as easy and accessible to as many people as possible. This is their purpose for Android (NOT to sell more phones for HTC, Sony-Ericsson, or Nokia), and this is their purpose for their Google mobile app for iPhone.

They make just as much money off of someone searching from an iPhone as someone searching from a G1

[Steven Ru]

MS has done this on windows mobile phones for years.

[wm4evah]

"groundbreaking"? TellMe has been doing this for years now, and Live Search for Windows Mobile has has voice searches with GPS location for over a year. Apparently, Apple's inferiority distortion complex now extends to Google, where *everything* is the fastest, best, first, or greatest, facts be damned.

[Marlee]

Yahoo! has had this feature for a long time on mobile phones.

Apple is trying to compete with google MSG and yahoo. with the introduction of the voice app. It take apple back two to step in the quest to compete with that large scale. That's why apple won't let the app run on the iPhone. It just another fustrating quest of domanation of the market. Like no flash, cut and paste, voice nav , but behind close doors apple is working on their creations of those app to change the way we use the iPhone. I just wish apple hurry cause time is running out, before someone comes and changes the game. Cause what goes up must come down if their not on time.

[James Doocy]

I don't get it techies.
People lossing jobs, homes, etc. and you guys go loco over one feature on an overpriced gaget. Please just get a phone that already has voice recognition standard and don't bother the world with techie trivia talk.