Yahoo! oneSearch 2.0 Allows Text and Voice Search

AT CTIA Wireless 2008, Yahoo! unveiled Yahoo! oneSearch 2.0 mobile search service. Key enhancements will allow users to initiate searches faster using text or voice. Yahoo! also plans to provide more detailed search results by opening up Yahoo! oneSearch to publishers to integrate content, simplify search input with Search Assist and voice-enabled search, and make search instantly accessible on the idle screen of many phones.

By enabling publishers to integrate relevant content into the Yahoo! oneSearch results, it is more likely that consumers will be able to find exactly what they’re looking for. For example, whereas today’s search results for “Italian restaurants” includes information such as addresses and phone numbers, open results could also include information from restaurant booking companies displaying the number of available reservations. Or, as another example, search results for “London” might provide transit schedules from public transit providers such as upcoming arrival and departure information.

Open search results are expected to debut with initial partners in Q2 2008.

Yahoo! oneSearch will also inclue a Search Assist which is made to ease your text input. Search Assist will predict your text and as you begin to type, Search Assist surfaces the most common search queries in real time that match the letters you have submitted so far. At launch, Search Assist is available for the iPhone and is expected to become available on additional AJAX-compatible devices over the coming months.

Yahoo! is partnering with vlingo to enable voice-enabled version of Yahoo! oneSearch, consumers can search for anything, including flight numbers, locations, Web site names, local restaurants, by simply speaking. While using voice as an input, you can also complete the text input via the keyboard at any time.

Available beginning today for select Blackberry devices including the 8800 series, Curve, and Pearl in the United States, the new voice-enabled Yahoo! oneSearch can be downloaded from http://m.yahoo.com/voice.