Google ‘Voice Actions’ Eases Search (& More) On Android
Life just got a little easier for U.S.-based smartphone users running Android 2.2 (Froyo). During a press event this morning, Google announced “Voice Actions,” a series of commands that lets users speak tasks that typically require typing. Danny Sullivan was at the event and live-blogged it here on SEL, and now there’s more information from Google’s blog.
Voice Actions automates a variety of common smartphone tasks. By speaking a command, users can do general web searches or local searches, look up maps, get navigation, send emails or texts, and many more things. This Google video shows many Voice Actions in … well, action.
Voice Actions is available now for U.S. English speakers only, and it’s only available on Android 2.2. You can read Google’s blog post for details about accessing Voice Actions via different smartphones, and for a list of commands.
If you follow the Google vs. Apple mobile meme, you’ll remember that Apple has similar technology in-house now thanks to its recent acquisition of Siri.
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