• November 17, 2008

Google was scheduled to launch a voice recognition tool for Apple's iPhone last Friday as part of a free mobile application allowing users to perform a Google search by speaking a query into the phone.

The voice-recognition application, made available for free through Apple's iTunes Store, is an update to the search tool that is already available for the iPhone.

Google uses the technology for Goog 411, too. The voice query passes through algorithms converting to text. The app relies on the iPhone's location awareness technology to personalize search results based on the person's geographical position.--Laurie Sullivan