Google has updated Chrome
in build 27 to include conversational voice search, a feature it demoed
on stage at Google I/O this year that allows you to search by voice,
but also transcribes your queries in real time and lets you use natural
language, asking Google straightforward questions and getting
straightforward answers, both read back to you by dictation and in
actual Google search results.
The transcription feature is awesome, since you can actually watch
Google try to anticipate what you’re going to say and then adapt in real
time to the right query. So far in my testing, it hasn’t gotten
anything wrong; this isn’t the clumsy voice input of five years ago that
got things wrong as often as it got them right. Having it understand
natural queries is also very cool, and for the first time, you get a
sense that this is what we all imagined something like AskJeeves was
meant to be, but good and effective.
Questions that are easily answerable generally are. Ask about nation
and state capitals and get the answer right away, read back to you by
Google. Ask about a location and get a map. Ask about a person and get a
brief bio. It’s a lot like having your own personal information agent
or knowledge broker, and it’s so impressive that I might even eventually
be able to get over my embarrassment of using it in public. Learn More
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