-Please continue.
-Tsuzukete kudasai.
-Google has introduced a way that you can talk to your browser, and unlike an unruly child, it won't talk back, but it will do your bidding.
Hi, I'm Seth Rosenblatt for CNET and today I'm going to show you how to use Google Chrome's speech-to-text feature.
First off, be sure that you're using Google Chrome 11 or later and that you've got a microphone, like this one.
Next, you have to navigate to a site that supports the new speech-to-HTML API.
At the time that we're making this video, that's limited to Google Translate and a few test sites, but expect that to change quickly as site developers begin to take advantage of this new feature.
Because this is a brand-new feature, it's also currently limited to translations originating in English on Google Translate.
Click the microphone and speak the sentence you want translated.
"I like pizza."
When you're done talking, Google will automatically translate it.
You can also use the site's listen option to hear what the translation sounds like.
-Watashi wa pizza ga suki.
-This site that I discovered in a Chromium HTML 5 Google groups forum has implemented basic YouTube compatibility using the new speech API.
"Green Lantern trailer." If I scroll down, you can now see search results for the Green Lantern trailer.
If I say, "Play official trailer," it will begin playing the official Green Lantern trailer, which is pretty cool.
"Stop." There we go.
It stops the trailer.
To resume, all I have to do is say, "Play," and it starts playing the trailer again.
"Stop." There we go.
This isn't an official implementation since that would appear on the YouTube site, but this certainly gives a strong indication of what the API is capable of.
Unfortunately, you have to tap the microphone icon on the screen every time to get it to work.
You might as well just click the pause button yourself.
What this likely will be extreme useful for, though, is accessibility within the upcoming Google Chrome OS.
If you're spending your entire computing time in the browser and as you will be in Chrome OS
and using the keyboard isn't easy for you, then having on-demand speech-to-command options are a must.
Still, talking to your browser is cool, but really, Google, where's my browser app that washes my dishes and does my laundry.
What you get on that.
Sheesh.
For CNET, I'm Seth Rosenblatt.
