I’m not one to go gaga over voice search, or the project of voice commands in general. I have yet to see Siri really transform the lives of anyone in my circle of family and friends who use it. I’ve been reluctant to bother experimenting with Dragon Dictation software, suspecting that typing will continue to serve me just fine, thank you.

 

But with Google TV’s new voice search function, I begin to see a real benefit to voice input. Searching with voice solves several problems I’ve noticed with TV interfaces at once. Google TV’s latest update, including the voice search feature, comes out to LG devices this week, and other devices soon, says Google.

 

First of all, it should be noted that much of the power vested in voice search comes from Google already having built a strong search product for Google TV. Much of our experience with the modern, fragmented and frankly metastasized world of television is one of wandering, as through a desert. No one wants to click through hundreds of channels, and several different streaming library services. And Google TV’s search feature has mostly solved that problem.