Ask.com, the Oakland-based search engine, unveiled a service today for everyone who hates to ask for directions…
“Ask.com, everybody’s favorite underdog search engine, has long made great efforts in local/mobile areas. Last May, for example, they launched Ask Mobile GPS with Sprint phones. Now they are announcing the first search-engine–sponsored voice directions on mobile phones…”
Oakland, Calif. — Ask.com today introduced a free voice-activated capability to its Ask.com Mobile Directions service, the first of its kind from a search engine.
Called “Click to Speak,” the new service is designed to let people simply speak their location and desired destination to receive directions on their web-enabled mobile devices.
Easy to use, it eliminates typing addresses, which can be slow, error-prone and, in some cases, unsafe. Available immediately, “Click to Speak” incorporates unique technology from Dial Directions, the leading provider of voice-activated location-based services.
“Voice input is one more way Ask.com Mobile helps searchers find exactly what they are looking for faster and easier,” said Doug Leeds, senior vice president of product management, Ask.com. “The new ‘Click to Speak’ service is quick, free and accurate, and makes getting driving or walking directions a breeze.”
Instead of pulling over, rolling down a window and flagging down a passer-by, drivers can connect to the free “Click to Speak” service; say your location and the address of where you want to go or the closest intersection. Within a few seconds you will receive a text message with a link to directions that can be used for walking or driving. No need to type in addresses.
People can access the directions service through the browsers on their phones by going to “www.ask.com or m.ask.com” and selecting the “directions” link. Or they can enter the phone number 347-627-0115.
This offering from Ask compliments their other mobile offerings well. In the mobile arena, Ask has strongly emphasized their local- and mobile-specific offerings, and consistently tried to streamline their mobile experience.
The first question, of course, is “How much does it cost?” Good news for the frugal among us: it is free (though carrier charges may apply).
Freeing up users from using their hands will eventually have great value if every mobile service is made this way. Of course, it could also prove more distracting because users will be speaking aloud for every command, which could make morning train commutes rough.
“Voice input is a natural complement to the Ask.com Mobile Directions service,” said Amit Desai, co-founder and chief product officer of “Dial Directions” (www.dialdirections.com).
Dial Directions new spoken location interface technology offers a dramatic improvement over typing addresses on mobile devices. We look forward to a continued relationship with Ask.com as they look for new ways to further improve the mobile web search experience with Ask.com Mobile.
“Ask’s directions service differs from competitors like Google’s 1-800-Goog-411 or Microsoft’s 1-800-free-411 in that its singular focus is delivering directions, not looking up phone numbers, and requires fewer steps.”
Click to Speak builds on the award-winning features of Ask.com Mobile:
Unique Interface for Streamlined Searching: Designed to minimize thumb strokes, the Ask.com Mobile home page offers links to key mobile categories, making it easier to navigate to relevant results.
Instinctive Tools: Including Smart Answers, which provide shortcuts to answers and tools at the top of the search results page and Zoom Related Search, which provides conceptually-related suggestions to narrow or expand queries.
Platform Independent: Ask.com Mobile works on any mobile web browser so consumers don’t have to worry about which carrier they are signed up with or which mobile device they have.
Nothing to Download: Ask.com Mobile does not require a download to get started, yet still offers features like street and aerial map views.
Ask.com is the first of the large search engines to provide a voice-activated service of this type, but there are other companies, like Microsoft’s Tellme, that provide business listings, maps and directions for mobile users who want to use their voice instead of their hands.