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The battle to
deploy voice-based search technology may be heating up, according
to a recent press release.
Google Inc.
appears headed for a battle with Microsoft Corp. and others over
the technology, which can take the place of conventional directory
assistance and offer new benefits for mobile-phone users, the Wall
Street Journal reported in its online edition.
Google released a
free experimental service called Google Voice Local Search.
It allows users to dial a number, 1-800-GOOG-411, and
search for businesses in specific cities, using technology that
recognizes what callers say, the Journal said.
Google’s test
comes less than a month after Microsoft announced plans to buy
Tellme Networks Inc. for a price that people familiar with the
matter put at $800 million, according to the report.
The closely held
Silicon Valley company specializes in services that combine
voice-recognition technology with the Web, and already provides
automated directory-assistance services for AT&T Inc. and Verizon
Wireless, a joint venture of Verizon Communications Inc.
Verizon
communications could also soon enter the race, which is largely
inspired by the huge opportunity to sell ads that will run on
mobile phones and by the fact that Google doesn't dominate that
business, as it does for searches that use computers, according to
the report.
Yahoo in launched
a cellphone-search service called oneSearch that requires
people to type queries into a handset browser or to send text
messages, but Yahoo officials say spoken queries could become an
option.
Until recently,
voice recognition has mainly been used by telephone carriers and
companies to lower costs by reducing the need for live operators,
according to the story. Recently, that technology also has been
used by some new entrants to provide free, ad-supported
alternatives to paid directory assistance, such as Jingle Networks
Inc.'s 1-800-FREE411 service, The Journal said.
The latest push
by technology companies is also designed to make voice-based
searches better, not just less expensive, according to the report.
Google’s
experimental service, like the Web, can work even if callers don’t
know the name of a business they want, the Journal said,
explaining that a user can ask about a type of business, such as a
coffee shop, and specify an intersection or ZIP Code and the
service will read off a list of nearby businesses that fit the
criteria.
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