Google unveils voice and sight search

by Sylvie Barak on 8 December 2009, 11:44

Tags: Google (NASDAQ:GOOG)

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But pursuing the theme of location, location, location, Gundotra said the firm was making strides in Google Suggested items based on where a person was actually searching from. So for instance, if a person typed in the letters "RE" in Boston, one of the first suggested results would be "Red Sox" whereas in California the same two letters would yield a suggestion for "real estate".

Also, a quick search for a Canon EOS camera returned not only results but also which shops nearby had them in stock.

For those not into shopping for Canon cameras nearby, Gundotra also unveiled a "near me now feature", which, as the name suggests, points the user to anything of interest near them, be it restaurants, shops, banks or other boredom busters. Not good enough, you say? Google delivers the options ranked in order of user review.

Google hasn't neglected sight search either, with Google Goggles providing possibly the most impressive feature of the day.

Simply snap a picture of an item, upload it and within seconds the search engine has not only identified the object, but pulled up a load of useless information about it too.

Gundotra demonstrated how it could easily be used by travelers to attain information about various foreign landmarks - a sight which would have Lonely Planet writers shivering in fear for their jobs.

Well, it certainly looked impressive during the demo, but a sight search that really works? Bah, we'll believe it when we see it.

 



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Heard about the latest search innovations from Google? They have to be seen to be believed.