While Google waits for it Android mobile operating system to mature, the search giant is launching a sophisticated voice recognition tool for iPhone.
The software, set to release some time Friday, will be part of Google's free, long neglected mobile app [iTunes Link] on iPhone, and it will allow users to perform a Google search by simply dictating a query, according to a story in the New York Times. Examples: "When was Michael Crichton's birthday?" or "Japanese restaurants in San Francisco," or "400 kilometers into miles."
Google's app might sound groundbreaking, but similar speech recognition services are already available on iPhone. DialDirections, a startup, recently released a free app called Say Who, which allows you to dial a contact by either dictating the phone number or a person's name. Also, in October, DialDirections released Say Where, which enables users to look up business listings or Google Maps by dictating a city, state and address or name of business.
A major distinction in Google's voice-recognition app is that it will use the iPhone's GPS capabilities to pinpoint your location and display location-based advertisements. Google believes it can charge higher rates for such ads. Of course, that means Google is planning to release its voice-recognition software on other handsets after launching it on iPhone.
