Voice technology is pretty darn awesome. Although still considered dorky and awkward to use in a public place, talking to your technology can save you a lot of time and hassle.. and in some cases save your life !
We humans seem to stick to our guns when it comes to the way we “enter” information on a machine. Keyboards and mice have been around for ages (there are also people who track their balls) and we continue to hold on to them as our favorite input devices. When tablets came along we started looking for covers with built in keyboards and complained ‘where the mouse was’ on our brand new iPad. And when it comes to our mobile devices we insist on using our stubby fingers on those teeny weeny touchscreens. This has lead to many people bumping into lampposts or parking their car vertically in a ditch (or worse) . Time to let tech work for you and start talking to your devices.
Google has introduced voice-search for quite some time now, but the perks on using a Nexus device (like in my case the Nexus 7) is that this voice recognition software is available “offline” (so the phone can understand you even you have a flaky or even NO data connection). Aside for searching for the next “One Direction” t-shirt sale, you can also use the Google voice commands to do plenty of other things.
Some of our favorites
- Show me ( restaurants – hotels – etc) nearby.
- Is it going to rain today.
- Browse to (website)
- Send and email to (person) subject (Subject) Message (Message)
There are plenty more where these came from and it is a great way to use your technology in a safe and productive manner. And its also quite good for a giggle when Google gets it completely wrong.
Find out ALL the voice commands supported by Google Now in this great info-graphic. (Click to expand)
