Look, ma: I'm browsing with no hands! The latest Chrome Beta integrates the "OK Google" voice command for hands-free searching.
Users in the United States running Windows, Mac, and Linux will gain access to the new function over the next few days. Initially available for English speakers only, support for additional languages and Chrome OS is coming soon, Google said.
"If you've ever tried to cook and search at the same time—say, when your hands are covered in flour and you need to know how many ounces are in a cup—you know it can be tricky," software engineer Ji Adam Dou mused in a blog post on the official Chrome site.

 

Forget the typing, clicking, and hard-washing. "Simply open a new tab or visit Google.com in Chrome, say 'OK Google,' and then start speaking your search.
Well, you may need to type, click, or wash you hands to open that tab, but after that, it's all hands-free!
You will be able to perform searches by asking "OK Google, how many ounces are in a cup?" or set an alarm with the command "OK Google, set a timer for 30 minutes."
And, when your kitchen fills with smoke from the too-burnt cupcakes, just tell Google to "remind me to pick up dessert from the bakery at 6 p.m. tonight."

To enable the hands-free feature, visit Google.com and click on the mic icon to "Enable OK Google."
The search giant also added the ability to import supervised users onto new computers, making it easier to keep an eye on young Web explorers. Using the new "import" option, you can now allow supervised users to browse on any PC.
Just click the Chrome menu on the browser toolbar and select "Settings." Under the "Users" heading, tap "Add new user," then "Import an existing supervised user." Select the appropriate person, and click "Import supervised user" to complete the syncing process.
The Chrome browser function is currently supported on Windows, Mac, and Linux, and will be available soon for the Chrome operating system, Google said.
Most recently, Google's predictive digital assistant, Google Now, arrived on the Chrome browser, adding notifications like those that appear in the Android and iOS mobile apps.
source ; www.pcmag.com

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Google has added hands-free Voice Search in a new Chrome beta, steadily bringing Android-like features to its desktop browser.

In the Chrome beta build, all users need to do is open a new tab or visit Google.com, say “Ok Google,” and then start speaking a search query. The software will then deliver the same voice-activated search results that Android users already enjoy. The desktop Chrome beta will be rolled out to English (U.S.) users on Windows, Mac and Linux over the next few days, with support for additional languages and Chrome OS coming soon, Google said in a blog post.

If all this sounds familiar, it should. Google added a little microphone icon to the Google.com homepage in 2011, allowing users to simply click the mic and say, rather than type, a search. In November, Google added a Google Search Hotword extension for Chrome and Chrome OS, allowing users to visit Google and not have to click the mic at all, instead using the trigger phrase “OK Google” to launch the search.

Now, by integrating that feature into a beta, Google has eliminated the extension itself. The logical next step? Total integration into the browser and the Chrome OS.

That will inevitably give some pause. At this point, users have to manually enable the “OK Google” feature. Once that’s turned on, however, Google will be listening every time you open a new tab, or visit the Google.com homepage. But Google's listening feature is turned off until either those of two actions are triggered, Google representatives said.

We’ve reached out to Google to ask if the service is “listening” when neither condition is met, and what it’s doing with the audio it’s collecting while listening for the trigger phrase. (According to a Google help page, “Your search will only be sent to Google if you say ‘Ok Google’ while on a google.com tab and the extension is active. Local processing is done by the extension on your device in order to detect when you say ‘Ok Google.’”)

After you utter "OK Google," Google then sends the sound of the next thing you say to Google's servers, the Google representative said.

Privacy issues aside, however, Voice Search is roughly equivalent to what you can do in Android: perform searches, set appointments and reminders, or set a timer. (Under Android, you can also command Google to open applications and perform other searches.)

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