Google Maps Mobile now features voice search capability for BlackBerry - that is, if you own a C 8110, 8120 or 8130 BlackBerry model and live in the US. Already a highly useful free mobile application, Google Maps Mobile has now been enhanced to enable users to simply speak their query into the phone instead of having to enter it manually.
This new experimental service is effectively an amalgamation of the existing Google Maps Mobile service combined with the free Goog-411, a directory assistance speech recognition service that was launched last year.
Still in its early days and currently unavailable in Europe, the service should prove useful to anyone in a situation in which they are unable to type - such as whilst driving and using a hands free kit. In addition, it will be handy when the name of the business or location being searched for is too long to be typed, or when the user is not sure of the exact spelling of the place they are looking for.
However, voice search on Google Maps Mobile is still in its experimental stages and therefore not up to its full compatibility yet, even with the extremely limited number of devices that the service supports. Owners of BlackBerry Pearl 8130, for instance, seem to be reporting particular difficulties.
Until now Google was the last of the major providers to offers users "voice search" capabilities on its map service. However following the amount of training and development that Goog-411 has undergone since its initial release, it is also liable to be one of the more robust voice processing systems available for mobile users.
How well it will compete with the likes of the existing voice search enabled maps for RIM handsets, like Yahoo's Vlingo integrated oneSearch or Windows Live Search 411, remains to be seen. Windows Live Search's offering, for example, was released just last year and already provides extras such as local fuel prices, movie times, and various other search functions in addition to simple directions and maps.
What does seem certain however is that this will be just the start of a wider scale roll out of the service and is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Google's integration of voice search into its mobile services.
