Yahoo Voice Search for Mobile: oneSearch

Watch out Google mobile, Yahoo is gunning for the mobile search space with it’s second release of Yahoo voice search for mobile, dubbed “oneSearch“, and bloggers are all a-twitter, so to speak. The idea of voice search for mobile is definitely a good one. All mobile devices are hard to type on (yes, I know yours isn’t, whatever and voice recognition technology could eliminate the need, or at least diminish the need, to type on Lilliputian keyboards.

Yahoo oneSearch for Mobile Powered by vlingo Voice Recognition

Like any good internet company, Yahoo didn’t develop the voice search technology, they’re just “renting” it from vlingo. vlingo specializes in voice recognition for mobile phones. From the vlingo about us, “With vlingo access to your mobile internet applications is no longer held hostage by twelve tiny keys.” That sounds pretty cool, though my BlackBerry Curve has WAY more than twelve keys.

Yahoo Voice Search for BlackBerry

Yahoo voice search for mobile is really now just Yahoo voice search for BlackBerry. It’s avaliable for download directly to your BlackBerry from m.yahoo.com/voice. It took me three trys with timeouts, then a long, slow wait while the download bar crept s l o w l y across my screen. Then the download failed and I had to start over. Hopefully you’ll have better luck.

Voice Search on My BlackBerry: First Impression

Well, as I just mentioned, installation left a bit of a bad taste in my mouth. Especially since I’ve downloaded every Google mobile application for the BlackBerry and never had a single problem.

Ok…gotta’ be honest here. I’m still trying to download Yahoo oneSearch. BBIAB.

Back 10 minutes later. Whew. Once it downloaded, installation was seamless, and I found the Yahoo oneSearch program icon in my applications folder just where it belongs. A click launched the program and we’re off.

Performing a Voice Search on My BlackBerry

Actually performing a Yahoo voice search is really easy. You simply hold down the “green phone” button, the same button you’d use to dial, and say your search term. Be sure not to let up the button until you’re through saying the search term. It takes longer to process the voice search than I would think…not to perform the search, just to figure out what you’re saying. It did a decent job of deciphering what I said when I searched for yellow lab, but it just couldn’t figure out search engine optimization, Austin, TX. It kept putting in Boston instead of Austin. To be fair, I am from Texas, maybe they don’t have southern drawl filters yet.

After oneSearch (hopefully) figures out what you said, it then performs the search and serves you Yahoo search results as fast as my poor little Edge BlackBerry can serve them up.

Yahoo Voice Search Review Summary

To sum up the review, Yahoo voice search is hard to download, but easy to use. Hopefully they’ll fix that download issue. There are a couple lingering questions I haven’t resolved yet, the biggest being the Yahoo oneSearch download page says to disable WiFi in your phone if it’s supported. Why wouldn’t Yahoo voice search work over WiFi? That seems downright strange. All in all it seems to be a pretty tight application. If Yahoo and Google can keep providing apps that make search on a mobile easier, we’ll be doing SEO for mobile websites soon! I know, some people probably already are, but I brought up the topic of SEO for mobile at OMMA Hollywood to a bunch of mobile industry leaders. The room got really quiet

I guess, all things considered, the worse thing about Yahoo voice search is that the queries go to Yahoo.

Google Maps adds “Send to Garmin” - Garmin Adds Google Local Search

It sounds like a big game of “you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours”, but the end result is a great boost in functionality for end users of both Google Maps and Garmin GPS devices, including Garmin Mobile subscription service for the BlackBerry and Windows Mobile devices.

Google “Send to Garmin”

The Google “Send to Garmin” feature works pretty much just like it sounds. You map out your route using Google maps, including any points of interest you might want to see along the way, such as this cool store for high end cowboy boots in Austin, and then simply click the “send to Garmin” button. Easy Peasy.

Google Local Search on Garmin Mobile

Alternatively, if you use the Garmin Mobile subscription service, you can now use it to directly search Google local to find those cool points of interest such as the cheapest gas or even the best Barbecue in the world (it’s so good, I’m giving them that link and they’re not even a client

Google Maps on BlackBerry

Or, as an alternative to the above, if you have a BlackBerry with a GPS (also supported on many other phones, but I can’t vouch for them), you can save yourself some money and simply download the excellent Google Maps for Mobile application. I got a new BlackBerry (OMG, would someone please write them a letter explaining search engine friendly urls?) with Tele-Nav and tried that once. I then tried Google Maps for mobile and never even launched Tele-Nav again. My one caveat, if you need turn by turn talking navigation, Google Maps can’t help you…yet, though I can’t imagine they aren’t working on that.

Overall, “send to Garmin” is a good idea. I just think it’s a better idea to simply install Google Maps on your phone in the first place.