“Annyeong Haseyo! “안녕하세요” to Google Search by Voice in Korean

The creation of the Korean alphabet by Sejong the Great was a wonderful advance, enabling literacy for the masses. However, even with the latest smartphone keyboards, entering the characters of the Korean alphabet is still challenging.

Less than two weeks ago we announced Google Search by Voice in French, German, Italian, and Spanish, and today we are happy to announce support for Korean.

Google Search by Voice in action on Android and iPhone

Google Search by Voice will be available soon, pre-installed, on the Samsung Galaxy S and the Nexus One. It is also accessible in the Android Market and via Google Mobile App for the BlackBerry and the iPhone. You can download Google Mobile App at m.google.com

So if you speak Korean, grab your phone and bid Google Search by Voice a hearty Annyeong Haseyo! 안녕하세요!

Posted by Amir Mané, Speech Technologies PM, and Haimin Lee, Korea PM

The Iterative Web App: New Compose Interface for Gmail on iPad

In April 2009, we announced a new version of Gmail for mobile for iOS and Android. Among the improvements was a complete redesign of the web application's underlying code which allows us to more rapidly develop and release new features that users have been asking for, as explained in our first post. We'd like to introduce The Iterative Web App, a series where we will continue to release features for Gmail for mobile. Today: New Compose Interface on the iPad.

Today we’re happy to announce an improved experience for writing emails on Gmail web interface for iPad. When you write an email you’ll now get a big full screen compose window instead of splitting the screen between your inbox and the compose view. More text is visible at once and there are no more distractions with messages on the side. We’ve also fixed problems that prevented scrolling on long messages. Thanks to everyone who reported the issue via the ‘Send feedback’ feature at the bottom of the screen.



We’re continuing to experiment with the large touchscreen and tablet form factor so send more feedback if you have suggestions. To try out Gmail on the iPad, just go to gmail.com in Safari. Please note that the new interface is only available in US English for now.



Posted by Craig Wilkinson, Software Engineer, Google Mobile

Settle trivia debates anytime, anywhere

Last month we launched a way to provide short answers to search queries, and it's now available on your iPhone, Palm WebOS or Android-powered device in English. If you’re like us, you may sometimes engage in trivia matches with friends on topics as far ranging as, what continent is Turkey in?, Star Wars release date?, or Augustus’ successor? Now you can settle that debate there and then by searching Google from your mobile; you can speak your question into Google Search on Android or Google Mobile App for iPhone, or you can visit google.com from your mobile browser to type your search.

If your friends challenge the answer provided in Google Search results, you can corroborate the information with a list of websites by clicking on the “Show sources” link. The source list includes the relevant text from each page so you can quickly verify whether Google interpreted the context of the answer correctly. You can also click through to the original website to get all the details.

We continue to work on providing short answers to more questions. Here are some additional examples to try:

• Who’s taller? [height of kobe bryant] or [height of paul pierce]
• Geography trivia? [capital of massachusetts], [language in netherlands]
• Literature trivia? [author of les miserables], [george eliot’s gender]
• Movie trivia? [release date of shrek], [director of harry potter 3]
• Music trivia? [composer of four seasons], [birthday of lady gaga]

Posted by Nick Fey, User Experience Designer and Mike Buchanan, Software Engineer, Google Mobile Team

Fun on the Autobahn: Google Maps Navigation in 11 more Countries

There’s nothing quite like driving through Europe in the summer. In the past week, I’ve seen the beautiful Val d’Aosta, the Swiss Alps, the Cathedral in Chartres, and travelled through the Channel Tunnel as I road-tripped from Milan to Geneva, Zürich to Stuttgart, and on through Paris to London. Why the burst of mileage? Well, I’ve been testing Google Maps Navigation version 4.2. Yes, road-testing it around Europe was a grueling process, but somebody had to do it :)

Today we’re launching Google Maps Navigation version 4.2 in Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and Switzerland for Android devices 1.6 and higher. Google Maps Navigation is an Internet-connected GPS navigation or ‘satnav’ system that provides turn-by-turn voice guidance as a free feature of Google Maps.

On my test trip, I found a number of Navigation features useful:

• While driving through the Loire Valley, I put my French language skills to the test by finding my destination with Search by voice (now launched in French, German, Italian, and Spanish for Android 2.0 and higher);
• I previewed a typical British roundabout with Street View to see exactly where I’d need to exit before getting there in person;
• I satisfied my craving for moules frites by searching for it along my route;
• I kept the gas stations layer on to ensure I’d always know where the nearest petrol station was, just in case;
• And, of course, the turn-by-turn voice guidance kept me on-track to my destination -- despite my sometimes spotty connection in mountain tunnels -- thanks to the way Maps Navigation saves the route on your device when you start.

Google Maps Navigation (beta) with Search by voice is available in version 4.2 of Google Maps, on Android devices 1.6 and higher. To download Google Maps version 4.2, search for Google Maps in Android Market.

Try Google Maps Navigation in your local country and language today -- and have a great time touring around the Continent this summer if you get the chance!

Posted by Michael Siliski, Product Manager, Google Maps for mobile

Salut! Willkommen! Benvenuto! ¡Bienvenido! Google Search by Voice in French, German, Italian and Spanish

Here’s a test for the German speakers out there: which is faster...saying Geschwindigkeitsbeschränkung (German for speed limit), or typing the same query character-by-character?

Voice has always been the most natural way to interact with a phone -- speaking is typically faster and easier than typing. We first developed Search by voice for English, and then for Mandarin Chinese and Japanese. Today we’re excited to welcome speakers of French, German, Italian, and Spanish.

Images of Google Search by Voice in Italian (Android), German (iPhone), Spanish (BlackBerry)

Our goal is to bring Google Search by voice to speakers of all languages. We follow a rigorous process to add each new language or dialect. Working directly with native speakers in each country, we spend weeks collecting spoken utterances to create the specific models which power the service. Our helpers are asked to read popular queries in their native tongue, in a variety of acoustic conditions such as in restaurants, out on busy streets, and inside cars. We also construct, for each language, a vocabulary of over one million recognizable words. It’s no small feat, but we love doing it.

Note that our new language models are designed for accents from Spain, France, Italy, and Germany. If you speak one of the new languages with another accent (for example, German in Austria, French in Switzerland, or Spanish in Mexico), Search by voice may not work so well for you.

How you get started with Google Search by voice depends on what kind of phone you have. If your phone runs Android 2.1 or later, and you have the Quick Search Box installed, all you have to do is tap the microphone icon to start a voice-powered search. iPhone and BlackBerry users who already have Google Mobile App installed can enable voice search by selecting the new languages from the settings panel within the app.

If you have Android 1.6 or 2.1 (Donut or Eclair), and you have already installed the Search by voice application, starting later today voice search will return recognition results for French, German, Italian or Spanish if your phone has one of those languages chosen in ‘Language and keyboard’ settings. If you do not have the Search by voice application, you can install it from Android Market on your phone - search for ‘voice search‘. This application is only available in the Android Markets for France, Germany, Italy and Spain.

To get Google Mobile App for iPhone, search for ‘Google Mobile App’ in the App Store or follow this link. BlackBerry and Nokia S60 users should visit m.google.com using their phone’s browser.

Learn more at http://mobile.google.com and select your country in the footer.

So if you speak French, Italian, German, Spanish, grab your phone and bid Google Search by voice a hearty Salut! Willkommen! Benvenuto! ¡Bienvenido!

Posted by Amir Mané, Product Manager, Google Speech Technologies

Making AdSense for Mobile Applications Work With More Ad Networks

We’re always working to help people grow their mobile business with ads. Today we’re making our tools even more flexible by allowing publishers participating in our AdSense for Mobile Applications beta program to use third-party mediators. Mediation lets app developers use multiple ad networks simultaneously - reaching a greater pool of advertisers, and focusing more time on building their apps, and less time managing ad inventory.

AdSense for Mobile Application beta publishers will now be able to manage their ad inventory using third party ad serving mediators, as long as their apps meet these conditions, including:

• Using the latest version of the AdSense for Mobile Applications SDK
• Abiding by the AdSense for mobile applications terms and program policies
• Agreeing to Google’s privacy policy

We think this is great news for our AdSense for Mobile Application publishers because it will allow them to easily optimize and fill their ad inventory. We believe this also shows our commitment to develop the mobile advertising ecosystem by ensuring that the most optimal ad is shown to users, and enabling our AdSense partners to earn more regardless of which networks they use.

To learn more about monetizing for mobile, or to learn more about how to apply for the AdSense for Mobile Applications beta program, please visit www.google.com/mobileads/developer.

Update 6/3/10 10:30 PST: We had previously written that this helps developers avoid implementing individual SDKs from each ad network, but this is not the case.

Posted by Jim Kelm, Product Manager, Google Mobile Ads