Google Maps Adds Voice Search Feature to Chrome Desktop

If you talk to your desktop PC, it's probably for all the wrong reasons--usually to hurl expletives at the machine for not working properly. Well, users of the desktop version of Google Chrome now have a more productive reason to get chatty with their computers. Google has added voice search for Google Maps to Chrome, offering users a (sometimes) faster way to get directions.
The main Google Maps interface in Chrome now includes a microphone icon. When you click it, a "Speak Now" dialog appears.How well does it work? Pretty well in my brief testing, albeit with a few hiccups. When I said, "Petaluma to San Diego," Google Maps understand me perfectly and posted the map below.And when I asked Google Maps to find my address in Gurgaon, India, it got it right, displaying a Street View thumbnail and a map of my  residence. Manu, this one's for you.Maps isn't perfect, though. Can you say a name and city, and get a correct street address? I tried using my own name. "Manu Rana, Gurgaon, sector 47" came out as "yahoo Manu, gurgaon, sector 47."

OK, so Google Maps' voice search isn't perfect--particularly for somewhat exotic-sounding places and names--but it seems fairly reliable overall.And since smartphone users already use voice input to get directions and other info, it's good to see that desktop PC users can get vocal too.

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