Disqus
Google has already played with voice search on their vanilla app, but now they’re bringing the technique to their mobile maps application on Android. More importantly, they’re including transit and walking directions in the update. It’s actually pretty funny timing, since I’ve been playing around with the Rogers HTC Magic (review coming this week) and one of my first complaints was the lack of transit directions that the BlackBerry app has already been enjoying for awhile. Another interesting and new feature is called “Updates”, that lets you append a message to your Latitude location for friends to see; something along the lines of “Hey guys, I’ve got a great view from over here” or “Don’t come over here, there are, like, a TON of zombies”. It would be cool if this feature were public so you could just talk openly to whoever was in the area, like a localized Twitter. To get the update, find Google Maps in the Market and get downloading.
Update: Just installed, and I can’t seem to find Street View or figure out how to make the voice recognition go… Hmm… Now you have to long-press on a road and tap the address bubble for Street View.
[via Google Mobile Blog]
About The Author
Simon Sage
Simon Sage’s education largely surrounded writing, technology and online community, leading him to begin his blogging career at www.BlackBerryCool.com and to quickly discover a vibrant and active community surrounding BlackBerry and mobile technology. In exploring RIM’s platform, he has learned what enterprises are looking for in mobility as well as what makes the innocuous BlackBerry so appealing to them. Recently Simon’s been covering RIM’s gradual move into an already-crowded consumer market, and the impact of burgeoning challengers, such as the iPhone, as well as long-time leaders, like Nokia, on BlackBerry’s advancement. With plenty of content under his belt, Simon will be branching off a bit to see what other smartphone manufacturers are working on while still using BlackBerry as a barometer. At IntoMobile, you can count on his posts being even-handed, well-informed and thought-out.
