Google Data » Julie Z https://googledata.org Everything Google: News, Products, Services, Content, Culture Fri, 10 Apr 2015 22:28:52 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=4.1.1 Introducing Voice Actions for Android in the UK, France, Italy, Germany and Spain https://googledata.org/google-mobile/introducing-voice-actions-for-android-in-the-uk-france-italy-germany-and-spain/ https://googledata.org/google-mobile/introducing-voice-actions-for-android-in-the-uk-france-italy-germany-and-spain/#comments Fri, 16 Sep 2011 08:08:00 +0000 https://googledata.org/?guid=d8052c7f5299a5ac674e5d4e2bde647f we introduced Voice Actions, a series of spoken commands that let you control your Android phone or tablet with your voice. You can call businesses and contacts, send texts, browse the web and complete other common tasks, all just by speaking into your phone.

Today, we’re pleased to announce that users in the UK, France, Italy, Germany and Spain can now use Voice Actions in British English, French, Italian, German and Spanish.

To use Voice Actions, tap the microphone button on the Google search box on your home screen, open the Voice Search app, or press down for a few seconds on the physical search button on your phone to activate the “Speak Now” screen. You can see how it works in this video.



Speak any of these commands to perform a Voice Action on your phone:
  • send text to [contact] [message]
  • call [business]
  • call [contact]
  • go to [website]
  • navigate to [location/business name]
  • directions to [location/business name]
  • map of [location]
And of course, you can still conduct a Google search using your voice.

Use Voice Actions to get directions, or send a text using just your voice

Voice Actions is available on phones and tablets running Android 2.2 and higher. If you don't have Voice Search on your phone yet, you can download it from Android Market - if you do have Voice Search, you can just start using Voice Actions.

We think Voice Actions helps you get things done on your phone faster and easier. Give it a try, and let us know what you think!

Posted by Bertrand Damiba, Product Manager
]]> https://googledata.org/google-mobile/introducing-voice-actions-for-android-in-the-uk-france-italy-germany-and-spain/feed/ 0 Your smartphone camera is now smarter with Goggles 1.6 https://googledata.org/google-mobile/your-smartphone-camera-is-now-smarter-with-goggles-1-6/ https://googledata.org/google-mobile/your-smartphone-camera-is-now-smarter-with-goggles-1-6/#comments Wed, 14 Sep 2011 17:04:00 +0000 https://googledata.org/?guid=07b9868fa5f76c0a93adb5404f1a6c17 can recognize, the app will notify you.

Let’s say that I’m going on vacation, and I decide to use my Android-powered phone as my primary camera. Goggles would identify landmarks, paintings and other interesting objects in my photos. I can share these facts about my vacation with my friends right from my Goggles search history.

  
(l-r) Goggles has found a search result for this popular landmark; Find out more about this item in your photo within Google Goggles

Photos you take with your phone’s camera will only be seen by Goggles if you enable the Search from Camera feature. Here’s how:
  • launch Google Goggles
  • tap Menu > Settings > Search from Camera

Manage your opt-in status from the settings menu

Google Goggles 1.6 is available for Android 2.1 and newer devices. Download by clicking here or by scanning the QR code below:


Posted by Pavel Vodenski, Software Engineer
]]> https://googledata.org/google-mobile/your-smartphone-camera-is-now-smarter-with-goggles-1-6/feed/ 0 The J. Paul Getty Museum collection comes alive with Google Goggles https://googledata.org/uncategorized/the-j-paul-getty-museum-collection-comes-alive-with-google-goggles/ https://googledata.org/uncategorized/the-j-paul-getty-museum-collection-comes-alive-with-google-goggles/#comments Mon, 27 Jun 2011 20:40:00 +0000 https://googledata.org/?guid=84b512c6de9ac66af78ee8575a3076d4 Google Goggles app on your phone to take a photo of a painting from the collection and instantly access information about it from the Getty’s mobile-optimized website and the rest of the web. It's possible to fit only a small amount of information on the wall next to a painting but visitors with Goggles can now enjoy the full story online.

Google Goggles results and the Getty webpage for Portrait of the Sisters Bonaparte

Learn more on the Official Google Blog.

Posted by Shailesh Nalawadi, Product Manager
]]> https://googledata.org/uncategorized/the-j-paul-getty-museum-collection-comes-alive-with-google-goggles/feed/ 0 Google Goggles learns Russian and gets a new view https://googledata.org/uncategorized/google-goggles-learns-russian-and-gets-a-new-view/ https://googledata.org/uncategorized/google-goggles-learns-russian-and-gets-a-new-view/#comments Wed, 22 Jun 2011 16:15:00 +0000 https://googledata.org/?guid=020ef541a46ef0127457ce460f34aa25 Inside Search event. Starting today, we’re pleased to introduce some additional new features, including a map view of your Search History and the ability to copy contact and text results to the clipboard. We’ve also changed the results interface to make it easier to view and navigate through your results.

Russian optical character recognition (OCR) and translation
Since Google Goggles first launched in 2009, it has been able to recognize and translate text in a number of different languages, as long as the language used Latin characters. With the launch of OCR for Russian, Goggles is now able to read Cyrillic characters. Goggles will recognize a picture of Russian text and allow you to translate the text into one of over 40 other languages. Russian OCR is also available for users of Google Goggles on the Google Search app for iOS. Очень полезно!

You can take a picture of Russian text and translate it into over 40 languages.


Map view of your search history
If you’ve enabled search history on Goggles, your history contains a list of all the images that you’ve searched for, as well as some information about where you performed the search if you chose to share your location with Google. Sometimes this can be a pretty long list, so we wanted to give you another way to sort and visualize your Goggles results.

We’ve added a map view, which shows your Goggles image search history on a map so you can quickly zoom and pan to find a query from a particular location.

Easily toggle between map view and list view with the button in the upper right.


Copy contact and text results to clipboard
Finally, imagine that you wanted to grab a URL or telephone number from a sign and email it to yourself. Now, Goggles gives you the option of copying the recognized text to your phone’s clipboard, allowing you to paste the test into a number of applications.

To try these new features download Google Goggles 1.5 from Android Market, or scan the QR code below with your phone.

Posted by George Nachman, Software Engineer
]]> https://googledata.org/uncategorized/google-goggles-learns-russian-and-gets-a-new-view/feed/ 0 Google Search app for iOS, now even faster and easier to use https://googledata.org/google-mobile/google-search-app-for-ios-now-even-faster-and-easier-to-use/ https://googledata.org/google-mobile/google-search-app-for-ios-now-even-faster-and-easier-to-use/#comments Tue, 17 May 2011 16:46:00 +0000 https://googledata.org/?guid=b6985c1edcc2f035abf0af3295822f58 redesign of the Google Search app for iOS. We were happy that many of you liked the new look and interactivity of the app. However, we also heard your feedback about the app’s speed. Today we’re introducing changes that make the app more responsive as well as other visual changes that make search results even easier to read.

Faster app performance

This version of Google Search app is up to 20% more responsive as you type search queries and interact with it. As part of the speed improvements, a feature called “Just Talk” will now be off by default. Just Talk allowed you to search via voice just by bringing the phone to your ear and speaking rather than tapping the microphone icon. Turning off this feature may improve app performance, though you can easily re-enable it under the Settings > Voice Search menu.

Turn Just Talk on or off


Improved look & feel for search results

When searching on a phone, the small screen sometimes makes it difficult to read small fonts or to tap precisely on a link. To help you read and tap with ease, we’ve made the font of our search results bigger and the entire search result is now a tap target rather than just the link.

See the difference between previous (left) and new interface (right) with results now easier to read and select


Thank you for your feedback. Please continue to let us know how we can improve your experience by going to Settings > Help and Feedback > Feedback.

Google Search app is available for devices running iOS 3.0 and above. Download it from the App Store or by scanning the QR code below:


Posted by Nirav Savjani, Software Engineer
]]> https://googledata.org/google-mobile/google-search-app-for-ios-now-even-faster-and-easier-to-use/feed/ 0 Personally Yours on the Go – Personalized Recommendations in Google Maps 4.7 https://googledata.org/google-mobile/personally-yours-on-the-go-personalized-recommendations-in-google-maps-4-7/ https://googledata.org/google-mobile/personally-yours-on-the-go-personalized-recommendations-in-google-maps-4-7/#comments Tue, 16 Nov 2010 03:30:00 +0000 new local recommendation engine that helps you discover places you’ll love based on opinions from you and your friends. Here’s how to get the benefits of Hotpot on your phone:

Rate places on the go — Now you can write and publish ratings and reviews from your mobile phone. We make it quick and easy with a new rating widget designed for rating places on the go. Install it from your homescreen by going to Menu > Add > Widgets > Rate Places. You can also post ratings and reviews directly from any Place page. So, when you polish off the crispiest carnitas taco you’ve ever eaten, you can pull out your Android phone to celebrate the event and give that taqueria the public love it deserves.



Get personalized recommendations — Why rate the places you’ve been? First, your ratings will personalize your search results by customizing them according to your tastes. Even better, when you add friends to the mix using Hotpot on your computer, your ratings will point them in the direction of the best enchiladas in town the next time they crave Mexican food, wherever they happen to be.

Of course, this works the other way too — so to reap the rewards, you’ll want to add friends to get recommendations for the places they love. Notice how John Hawkins, a colleague of mine in London who knows a lot about English pubs, recommends The Grenadier below.


Get Google Maps 4.7 for Android 1.6 and above everywhere Maps is already available. Just search for Google Maps in Android Market (or tap here from your phone).

By the way, if you’re an iPhone user, good news: we’ll soon have a Places app that allows you to rate and get place recommendations as well. Alternatively, you can rate and get place recommendations from your phone browser (iPhone and Android) in the US. Just visit the Places tab at google.com as we roll out over the next day.

We hope you enjoy getting and giving personalized recommendations to make place finding better and more fun.

Posted by Mat Balez, Product Manager
]]> https://googledata.org/google-mobile/personally-yours-on-the-go-personalized-recommendations-in-google-maps-4-7/feed/ 0 Google Mobile now on Twitter and Facebook https://googledata.org/google-mobile/google-mobile-now-on-twitter-and-facebook/ https://googledata.org/google-mobile/google-mobile-now-on-twitter-and-facebook/#comments Thu, 13 May 2010 21:08:00 +0000 Want to know what's on our minds or what we're up to more regularly? In addition to our blog and our YouTube channel, Google Mobile is now on Twitter and Facebook.

On Twitter, @GoogleMobile will share announcements, cool uses and product tips for Google products on mobile platforms, behind-the-scenes musings from Googlers and general goings-on in the mobile world. Simply go to twitter.com/googlemobile, sign in (or sign up), and choose "follow". You can also see our most recent Tweets on the right hand side of the Google Mobile Blog and follow us from there.


Google Mobile also now has a Fan Page on Facebook. On this page, you have the freedom to contribute just about anything you want - submit photos and videos, post suggestions and comments on our wall, and strike up discussions with other fans of Google Mobile.


To become a fan, just go to www.facebook.com/GoogleMobile and click “Like”.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Posted by Julie Zhou, Product Marketing Manager
]]> https://googledata.org/google-mobile/google-mobile-now-on-twitter-and-facebook/feed/ 0