Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 |
GOOG-411 Google's Free Talking Phone Search
GOOG-411 (or, more completely, 1-800-GOOG-411) is a new beta service offering from search engine megacorp Google. Just say what you want, and Google does its best to hook you up with it - for free. That's right - your 411 is free.
(GOOG-411 - Just ask for what you want via cellphone)
GOOG-411 is a fully-automated local search service; just dial the number, and tell the service where you are (city and state). Then, say the general category of what you want (for example, "restaurants"). Then, state your food preference (say, "pizza"). GOOG-411 uses voice-recognition software to determine your needs.
Once it has this data, GOOG-411 searches through Google's regular local search information to find what you want, and then let you decide what sounds good over your phone.
Once you've made your choice, GOOG-411 will connect you to the business and even provide you with a Google map and directions via SMS or email.
I've tested this service in relatively noisy environments (like airports) and the voice recognition seems to work very well, despite being a beta program.
I'm constantly looking for my favorite science fictional devices in the real world, and GOOG-411 is testing a key enabling technology for the holy grail of PDAs, the joymaker from Frederik Pohl's prophetic 1965 classic The Age of the Pussyfoot.
The list of predictions associated with the joymaker is impressive:
- List of callers on joymaker
- Use joymaker as credit card
- Administer medications with your mobile device
- Voice mail on joymaker
- Virtual kiss via tactile net
The joymaker was shaped somewhat like a small scepter - it had no display and no keyboard. It had a voice-activated interface and full voice-recognition. Eliminating the need for a display and a keyboard is a key advancement - you can't use regular Google - even from a cellphone - when behind the wheel of your car, for example.
...the programmed software includes procedures for translating most normal variations of voice, idiom, accent, and other variable modalities into a computer-oriented sim-script and thence into the mathematical expressions on which the computers operate.
(Read more about Frederik Pohl's joymaker)
GOOG-411 seems to be bringing us closer to the age of the pussyfoot.
Find out more about GOOG-411 Google Local Voice Search.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 8/23/2007)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 0 )
Related News Stories - (" Communication ")
CD, DVD Bit Rot And PKD's Civic Notification Distorter
'...copy two of the original document no longer can be superimposed on copy one.' - Philip K. Dick, 1965.
Zoom Education Idea Is 100 Years Old
'... the frosted glass squares began, one by one, to show the faces and shoulders of a peculiar type of young men.' - Harry Stephen Keeler, 1915.
'A Sign in Space' Gives Practice In Decoding ET Messages
'... it will be easy to form an alphabet which shall enable us to converse with the inhabitants of the moon.' - Jules Verne, 1867.
MyManu Titan 'Screenless Smartphone'
'...the programmed software includes procedures for translating most normal variations of voice, idiom, accent, and other variable modalities into a computer-oriented sim-script.' - Frederik Pohl, 1966.
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
Current News
Barista Robot Perfects Latte Swirl With Multi-DOF Wriggle
'It's done with a flip of the third joint of the tentacle on the down beat.'
Vendetta 2023 All-Terrain Skateboard Could Use Neal Stephenson's Smartwheels
'If you surf over a bump... If you surf over a pothole...'
Safe Street Rebel Autonomous Vehicle Luddites And Schachner's 1931 Robot-Deranger
'Then the spreading beam of the deranging ray struck them, and they stood an instant transfixed...'
The Electric Balance Bicycle And The Decline Of Western Civilization
'Noiselessly, on rubber-tired wheels, they journeyed...'
'Droplet' Battery Microscale Power Pack
'...a power pack the size of a pea.'
ARX-5 Doing Robot Arm Dancing
It's Data's day - at last.
CD, DVD Bit Rot And PKD's Civic Notification Distorter
'...copy two of the original document no longer can be superimposed on copy one.'
Inbiodroid Prometheus 2.0 Telepresence Avatar Robot
My prize robot, tall, dashing would speak and act for me...
Amazon One Is Frank Herbert's Palm Lock
'A palm lock must be keyed to one individual's hand shape and palm lines.'
DroneDog Ground Security Robot Dogs From Asylon
'I have transferred the ego of a dog to a synthetic dog brain in the skull case of a robot dog.'
Who Knows What Might Be Found When Visiting A Metal Asteroid?
'...inspect the tiny speck of matter that swam toward them out of the bottomless void.'
Giant Lunar Surface Test Bed Built On Earth
Astronauts first walked the site, then flew over the site at a few hundred feet in a small Cessna.
FlyCroTug Drones Work In Teams Now
'It slid smoothly out of its cell like a metal wasp emerging from its nest, and hung in midair.'
Zai Pits (West Sahel) And Dew Collectors (Dune)
'Each is planted most tenderly in its own little pit.'
Delivery Robots Being Bullied, Robbed
'Robots have worse problems than anybody.' (A Present for Pat)
Zoom Education Idea Is 100 Years Old
'... the frosted glass squares began, one by one, to show the faces and shoulders of a peculiar type of young men.'
