One of the coolest features of Google Android-powered mobile phones and tablets is the built-in voice search. Just tap a button, speak your search query aloud and your phone will automatically do a Google search for you. Recently Google built the voice search functionality into the desktop version of their Chrome web browser, so now you can speak your queries on your desktop or laptop computer too! How does it work?
First, you need Google Chrome installed on your computer. You should probably have it anyways, because I think everyone at protocol 80 would agree it’s the best browser available currently - certainly a step up from Internet Explorer if you’re still using that! Once you have Chrome up and running just head on over to Google and take a gander at the search box. You’ll notice a new microphone icon located at the right of the search box which will start a voice search, click on it! Now, assuming you have a microphone attached to your computer (many laptops come with one built right in these days) just speak your query and Google will find some results for you.
As of right now you have to actually visit google.com to use voice search, but I could see Google building this feature right into Chrome in the future much like they did with Google Instant search (pictured above). I see this as further support that if you’re using Google as your primary search engine, or any of the Google services like Gmail or Google Docs, there’s no reason not to be using Google Chrome as your primary web browser! Best yet, Chrome supports the latest web standards so you’ll always see the best of the web. One thing web developers have to struggle with is designing the websites they create with older web browsers like Internet Explorer 6 and 7 in mind. Unfortunately, these older browsers don’t adhere to the latest W3C-approved web standards and don’t support modern technologies such as HTML5 and CSS3 which make features like Google Voice Search possible. Support the modern version of the web by downloading Google Chrome today, and kick IE to the curb!
If you plan on making the switch from an older web browser to a modern alternative such as Google Chrome let us know in the comments!
How to Audit your Online Marketing
If you are executing digital marketing, congratulations! You are most likely already one step ahead of your competition, and making strides to meaningfully connect with prospects online. But, how do you know if you’re seeing continual success year over year, and improving your metrics?
Without the tools in place to analyze and benchmark your efforts, it is impossible to scale your online marketing and ensure continuous success.
