Google Mobile app brings voice search to BlackBerry

BlackBerry users are in for a real treat with the latest version of the Google Mobile App. This new version of the application features Voice Search and My Location. Voice Search is a self explanatory term of course. It essentially means that BlackBerry users will be able to look for data online without having to type anything into a designated field but by simply speaking into the handset while pressing the green ‘Call’ button.

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My Location, similar to the existing feature prevalent on the Google Maps application will allow users to search for places and information based on their exact location. It’s more of an automated system
that pretty much means that you can search for business, weather and movie information without specifying where you are, i.e. if you’re in Colaba, Mumbai, you can simply search for ‘Movie Theater’ and the application will automatically locate all theaters located around your current position.

Google Mobile App for BlackBerry now allows users to reduce typing on the Research In Motion smartphones by carrying out mobile Web searches for a location using their voices or the search giant's My Location application, or both.

Users also now have search-by-voice functionality for their BlackBerrys, a feature already available to users of the iPhone and the Android platform. Say the word "bookstore" and Google will generate local results and a corresponding link to Google Maps.

Other features also include -

• Google Suggest. Get relevant search suggestions as you type, saving you keystrokes
• URL suggestions. Get to popular web sites quickly by tapping site web address suggestions
• Search history. Get instant access to your previous searches
• Contact search. Quickly find contacts in your address book
• Easy access to other Google products. Launch other Google products like Maps, Gmail and News from the Apps tab

As of now the Storm is not equipped to handle this feature, but all other devices running on OS 4.1 or later will support the new version, with the search by voice available on all versions subsequent to 4.2.

The features that the new Google Mobile app introduces to the BlackBerry owners are voice search and My Location. The first of those allows you to initiate a Google search without ever needing to touch the keyboard. All you need to do is speak the desired search string while holding the Call key,as simple as it gets.

The My Location feature enables users to make searches based on their current location. This means that when you need a place to eat nearby you no longer have to type "restaurant near X", you just type "restaurant" and the Mobile App will give you a list of places in the vicinity.

The Google Mobile app is available to all devices running BlackBerry OS 4.1 or later with the search by voice available on all versions subsequent to 4.2.