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Google Chrome 25 beta introduces speech recognition API

Lewis Leong

Lewis Leong

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Google’s Chrome development cycle is insanely quick. Google Chrome updated just four days ago but there’s already a new beta release of Google Chrome out. The big news with this beta release is that Google has introduced a speech recognition API for developers to tap into. This means extensions and applications developed for Chrome will soon be able to recognize your voice. This means dictation and voice controlled games are a possibility.

What makes me excited about the speech recognition API is the possibility of Google Now coming to Google Chrome. It would be great to pull up information from Google Now without having to reach for your phone or tablet. The speech recognition should also allow users to wake Google Now by saying, “Google,” giving you the ability to search for something without touching your keyboard.

Speech-api-test-with-Chrome-25-Beta1

There are also some security enhancements in Google Chrome 25 beta. In previous versions of Chrome, extensions could be installed via a Windows registry mechanism but that ability has been abused by some app developers. Google will now automatically show users a popup asking for explicit permission to install the app or extension. If you didn’t approve of that extension, you will be given an option to delete it. Some currently installed extensions may be deactivated and will have to be manually approved in this beta.

You can download the Chrome beta for Windows and Mac.

Lewis Leong

Lewis Leong

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