RSSIs Google's voice search victim of another App Store 'delay?'
By Jacqueline Emigh | Published November 17, 2008, 3:48 PM
Some people seem to have held their breaths all weekend waiting for Google's new voice search feature to show up on Apple's iPhone App Store. But in this case, that feature has yet to make its anticipated premiere.
As of 2:30 pm Eastern time today, a highly touted voice search feature from Google -- anticipated by many to have been posted last Friday -- still hadn't appeared on Apple's App Store. Over the weekend and through early Monday, pundits mulled the possible implications.
The new feature, which allows for hands-free searches, was announced last Thursday on Google's Web site. Rumors then starting making the rounds that the feature would appear on Friday through an update to Google's existing mobile search application on the App Store.
When App Store watchers didn't see Google's update online by Saturday or Sunday, some conjectured that even the mighty Google is now falling victim to the political games Apple is accused of engaging in with smaller developers.
Apple has often been charged by developers with playing favorites around which apps get admitted to the online store -- as well as with sometimes taking its sweet time around releasing apps even after they are accepted.
According to another school of thought, however, Google's update didn't make it to the App Store simply because Apple didn't think it was ready to go yet.
Maybe the supposed Friday availability date was just wishful thinking on somebody's part, or even an attempt by Google to force the posting of the update on the App Store.
Although Google's voice technology didn't attract much attention back then, way back in April, the US Patent Office issued Patent #7,027,987 to the company for a "voice interface for a search engine," describing the technology as follows:
As is Google's tendency these days, it announced its voice search applications last Thursday not through a conventional press release, but by means of a blog entry on its Web site. Google's blog was accompanied by a video showing how the feature works.
After you place the phone next to your ear, you can ask just about any question, such as "How big is a giant squid?" or "Pictures of the Golden Gate Bridge at sunset," according to Google's video. The voice file is converted to a text file and sent to Google search servers, which then come back with the answers immediately.
The search results are also location-aware. If you utter the words, "movie show times," you'll get show times for the area where you live. The voice search feature supports "Google suggestions," too, viewers of the video are told.
But at the tail end of the video, a Google staffer says, "If you want to give it a try, go to App Store on your iPhone and search for 'Google mobile app.'"
The update containing the voice search feature, however, hadn't been posted on the App Store at this writing -- and it clearly wasn't up there last Thursday.
The source of the "Friday" rumor seems to be an article in The New York Times late last week in which reporter John Markoff wrote that, "Apple is expected to make the feature available as soon as Friday." But Markoff wrote, "as soon as Friday," not, "on Friday." So is there any real delay here, anyway?
foxfyre: I didn't mention anything regarding the iPhone being in the enterprise.
Apple makes other products other than the iPhone. And for you to think that App Store Policies doesn't effect the adoptation of the iPhone in the enterprise is ludicrous.
Currently, there are a number of useful business applications in the app store and if a enterprise adopts the use of that application and a critical update is released but nowhere to be found within the app store, then Cupertino we have a problem.
foxfyre: Life's not always about finding the next cup of joe or keeping up with Debbie who's on Loopt.
Also, I suggest you do a little more research on the subject at hand before assuming this is the only article on the internet regarding the events that occured.
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Interesting for cell phones but what about desktops?... I found a new desktop speech recognition application that is a free download. It's named tazti (tasty). here are a couple of links about it. It works with iTunes, Facebook, Myspace and all the search engines... Not just Google.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1tt_aeIAM8
http://www.download.com/...col&cdlPid=10869126
http://www.popsci.com/ge...09/hands-free-computing
http://www.tazti.com
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Regarding the comment below, iPhone app policies have NOTHING to do with issues surrounding the use of the iPhone in the enterprise!
Push email, security, and other issues totally dominate the issue.
As far as Apple goes, their anal policies reflecting Steve Jobs historical control freak mentality are well known. No news here.
But it is fascinating to listen to authors as well as commentators continue to SPECULATE as to the nature of the problem rather than reporting simply that they do not know the cause of the delay.
What would be refreshing would be for said authors and commentators to wait until the FACTS are known and then comment until their heart is content.
Until then, the preponderance of the article, as well as the comments, are simply emotional noise reflecting the authors' angst.
The story so far: "App delayed, reason unknown." But I guess that wouldn't be much of a story, would it?
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Finally the negative feedback Apple needed about the App Store. The lack of communication between Apple and the developers of iPhone applications is rude and unprofessional. It clearly shows why Apple does not have a significant share of corporate America's business. Wake up Steve O' and don't push the developers who are helping to increase sales to another platform.
“We must never confuse elegance with snobbery.”
e.g. Yves Saint Laurent b.1940)
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