Tested: Google Hindi voice search
If you didn’t believe that India has become one of the most important smartphone market, then Google’s announcement on Monday should make you think again. The company announced the Indian Language Internet Alliance and also added Hindi voice recognition and keyboard support to Android.
As we always do with these new things, we decided to take it for a spin and see how useful it is right now. We were at the launch, so we got a first look at the services and we’ve been working with them for over a day now. So, without further ado, here’s what we think of Google’s latest attempt at making deeper inroads into the Indian market.
Hindi Voice Recognition
We’re impressed. The system crisply recognises words spoken in Hindi and is very fast in bringing up the results. We tried a number of queries and Google Now never got any of our words wrong. We tried some pretty difficult words and the system recognised them all quite easily. Moreover, it even corrected the input itself when the area was too noisy and compensated for different accents.
Search Results
This is where it gets disappointing. The search results aren’t very relevant and frankly Google isn’t the one at fault. The lack of content is why the search results are that way, which is what this initiative is all about.
In our tests, the system sometimes returned results in English, possibly because of the lack of Hindi content.
DIGIT
MOBILE PHONES
Tested: Google Hindi voice search
Google has announced a Hindi keyboard for Indian users along with Hindi voice recognition for search. We find out how it works.
By Prasid Banerjee05 – Nov – 201412:35 PM
Comments
Learn Intel Perceptual ComputingHow to use Intel Perceptual Computing to develop engaging apps for all in one PCs
Click to know more
Peer to Peer Connection in AndroidHow to setup the peer to peer connection between two Android devices
Click to know more
Sponsored
Tested: Google Hindi voice search
RELATED STORIESGoogle Maps now available in Hindi, voice…Opera Mini for the iPhone gets testedGoogle Maps v8.3 update brings Hindi voice…Twitter app for Google Glass reportedly…Apple iPad 2 and Motorola Xoom: tested, rated,…Google Maps now lets you explore Moon and MarsIf you didn’t believe that India has become one of the most important smartphone market, then Google’s announcement on Monday should make you think again. The company announced the Indian Language Internet Alliance and also added Hindi voice recognition and keyboard support to Android.
As we always do with these new things, we decided to take it for a spin and see how useful it is right now. We were at the launch, so we got a first look at the services and we’ve been working with them for over a day now. So, without further ado, here’s what we think of Google’s latest attempt at making deeper inroads into the Indian market.
Hindi Voice Recognition
We’re impressed. The system crisply recognises words spoken in Hindi and is very fast in bringing up the results. We tried a number of queries and Google Now never got any of our words wrong. We tried some pretty difficult words and the system recognised them all quite easily. Moreover, it even corrected the input itself when the area was too noisy and compensated for different accents.
Search Results
This is where it gets disappointing. The search results aren’t very relevant and frankly Google isn’t the one at fault. The lack of content is why the search results are that way, which is what this initiative is all about.
In our tests, the system sometimes returned results in English, possibly because of the lack of Hindi content.
At one point, we asked the system who the Prime Minister of India is and the top search result was an Infibeam link to some book about the the Indian Prime Minister. Then we tried to ask who the President of the country is and were given a link to a list of Indian Presidents, which included everyone except the Pranab Mukherjee, the current President. It’s not the Wikipedia link for list of presidents mind you, it’s a Hindi website, which has a list of its own. In English, Google would have returned a lot more, while also telling you through voice that it is Pranab Mukherjee. Of course, the system needs to be refined much more.
The results are much more relevant when you ask for current news though. This is because more news websites and content are available in Hindi and the algorithm finds it much easier to direct you to these websites. The same happens when you try Indian names, especially if they belong to a celebrity.
Ok Google
Nope, you’ll have to wait for that one. The voice commands in Hindi don’t work the way they do in English. There is no Hindi voice command to wake up your phone right now. We talked to some Google personnel and they said it’s in the works.
Navigation
In English, you can say ‘Take me to xyz place’ or ‘Navigate to xyz place’ and Google Now gives you the navigation options. Not so in Hindi yet. This is another feature that we were told is in the works. The Hindi equivalent right now returns a keyword based search, with some relevant results. They aren’t quite as relevant as in English though.
Overall
While the voice recognition is very good, there is a lot of work left to be done. In fact, Google talked about this at the launch yesterday, noting that this is the first step in providing deeper Internet coverage in India in native languages. We were quite happy with the voice recognition and it is a very good first effort. With more content and more additions to the intelligence of the system, this would be a really good boon for users.
IMPORT:-digit.in
