Tell Yahoo! OneSearch what to look for... literally

Just when you thought Google had all but Microsoft-ed and Apple-ed the search market an old dog comes back with a new digital bone. Yahoo! has officially launched their innovative OneSearch service allowing for mobile internet (that’s internet on the mobile as opposed to the dongles) users to verbally input search criteria for Yahoo! to seek out for you. Excellent stuff! I saw a demo of it in action (after an annoying load of hunting down the app link that’s not yet made... take note Yahoo! You have a good product here, don’t let it be ignored by lack of ease to obtain it!), and it’s impressive to say the least!

The potential for Yahoo! Search to become the mobile users personal “default” search engine through this is tremendous, and with it the potential to claw back lost usage from Google. Its apparent to me that four of the most widely known and used brands in modern media technology seems to be focussing in much clearer directions. Google are mapping the next universe faster than J.J. Abrams can produce good prequels, Microsoft have been slaving at Windows 7 (awesome by the way... well done) and its mobile OS, while Apple continue to cleverly harness the iPod brand revolution to wrestle Windows market share, and finally Yahoo! have hit back with OneSearch.

My interest and belief in apps, gadgets and widgets as the future of digital media consumption, advertising and brand interaction won’t be anything new to those of you who have done me the honour of regularly reading my posts. If Yahoo! have indeed spotted that the iPhone has created a tidal wave of mobile phone users who are using applications to integrate their lives via their phone, and that there is a huge open plain for them to early settle into with their services, then I think Microsoft may have to re-evaluate its purchasing decisions...

Now perhaps I’m jumping the gun and this is a one hit wonder, but I think this is a fantastic progression for mobile web. WAP was rubbish, and it flopped with no surprises from me. Did someone REALLY think we would pay for JUST B/W web, if you can even call it that!? About as clever as the bendy bus in London if you ask me... however current mobile web services are excellent. I often spend many a bored moment waiting for a bus or friend on my mobile web, in fact I noticed that I tend to read online news near enough exclusively on my mobile these days. Slap a clever Cola logo on my screen and watch me think of ‘The real thing’ while swiping my oyster. But seriously, this application of voice recognition technology to internet search on a mobile phone is a logical yet unexplored innovation up until now and for this I think Yahoo! deserves recognition.

I think this is one of the best examples of a company previously at the top and being overtaken by a newcomer due to lack of foresight into the developing technology market and consumer needs reassessing itself, its services and getting back into the game with a bold new innovation – kudos to you Yahoo! I use Google on my PC and mobile but OneSearch may sway me over for my mobile searching... maybe. Can you see this being integrated into future cars that have live internet connectivity? I know I would prefer this to the click wheel solutions currently doing the round of car cockpits – perhaps I shall hold off upgrading my car for now then.