Google + speech-recognition indexing of videos!

 

 Google is now utilizing speech recognition indexing of the spoken audio in videos! Users you can search for spoken text in a video, but for now, only in selected videos only (Political Videos).

 

 Check out the new feature by adding the Google Election Video Search Gadget to your iGoogle page, or view the gadget on their as a standalone page. The gadget works by adding little yellow markers to the timeline letting you know where the word occurs.

 Google isn't the first site to combine speech recognition with video search. Blinkx and EveryZing offer the services; But now that the 800 pound gorilla has entered the online video spoken audio search world - look for this market to evolve quickly, and our bet is on Google for leading the pack, of course.

 

Goog411's speech recognition goes hands-free

 

 Via eWeek - Google's superb local search service should become available over Bluetooth headsets, courtesy of a hookup between the search giant and speech recognition software maker Sensory, the companies said March 18.

 Terms of the deal aren't public yet, but Sensory will use its BlueGenie Voice Interface software client to connect to Google's voice search servers, Sensory CEO Todd Mozer told eWEEK.

 An excellent (exclusive) announcement can be read here..

 

Goog411 speech recognition to GE phones

 

 The GE Premiere DECT 6.0 28821FJ3 has a cool new "GOOG-411" button centered on the handset, that get's instant free business information calls!

 The button auto-dials Google’s free, voice-activated, speech recognition-driven business directory assistance service and becomes a feature on more than a dozen GE phones to be available in April 2008.

 Connections are done for free, leaving your dial tone provider out of luck ;-) when it comes to directory assistance call revenues.

 (This deal benefits Google in one particularly semi-interesting area, as it provides a "no brainer" option for even more users to give Google more phoneme samples it might not otherwise have gleaned, of independent spoken audio samples in it's quest for advanced speaker-independent speech recognition, as well)

 

Google -and- Microsoft; Betting on speech-based searches!

 

An article from MySpaceNews has another reference to..
"The development of increasingly precise speech recognition technology begs the question of whether Google and Microsoft will one day use it to "listen" to users, in order to serve them relevant advertising".

The article talks about how both Google, and the leader in speech recognition, Microsoft, are both building speech data banks.
Why?

Both internet giants are.. "using their free directory services to build vast, digital Petri dishes loaded with samples of users' speech patterns. Those patterns are in turn are being fed into the companies' myriad server computers, where they are analyzed in an effort to make their respective speech recognition technologies progressively smarter."

And again - why might that be, according to rumors?
"accurately understood search commands could be paired with equally relevant, and valuable, advertisements."

Nonetheless:
Rgardless of any presumed dark motives, the data these two highly evolved industry giants will quickly gather and analyze will undoubtedly become a giant leap forward in the holy grail of speech recognition to everyone - The proverbial Holy Grail of speech recognition for over a decade:
       "Speaker independent speech recognition".

What a terrific development. It's more than possible a year from now all the wireless devices across the world will be interacting with websites in very new, very exciting ways!
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Skype + Speech Recognition, powered by Google?

 

Both Rich Tehrani at TMCNet and Jemima Kiss (PDA: The Digital Content Blog) have posted articles in the last few days about a circulating rumor..

Maybe Google's looking at a Skype acquisition?

This interests us because Rich has some cool conjecture(s)..

Rich wonders..

"You don’t think there are 100 propeller heads (said respectfully – I am a fellow propeller head) in the Googleplex working on speech recognition right this moment so if they acquire Skype they can immediately run contextual ads based on what you are talking about?"

and we've known Rich for over a decade... Rich isn't often wrong!

Of course, if this happens we hope this means to Skype users everywhwere (on wireless headsets, of course :-) that they'll be generating speech recognition, without even trying!