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167 Comments
- davemc500hats, on 10/12/2007, -6/+203wow... Google kills another segment. bang, dead.
- econoar, on 10/25/2007, -5/+1351-800-FREE-411 has been around for awhile but this sounds MUCH better, as it connects for free, will send you a text, and more. Go Google! Screw those $1.75 411 call charges!
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -7/+132Thank you lord Google... You are a kind and noble god.
- Blabster, on 10/12/2007, -5/+100Avoid blog spam : http://labs.google.com/goog411/index.html
- championchap, on 10/12/2007, -5/+78A stupid observation which I apologise for in advance.. but..
Goog-411 is Goog-ALL in 1337
heh, made me chuckle anyway.. sorry once more. - FlyboyP, on 10/12/2007, -2/+67That is fantastic. I just spent 15 minutes talking to the Googlebot on speakerphone.
- Thoughtgasms, on 10/12/2007, -4/+68Man, even Google hates Canada.
- Darth_tater, on 10/12/2007, -3/+66so?
i dont care if Google knows i occasionally need the phone number for round table pizza, or my local appliance repair shop. - jmanlasman, on 10/12/2007, -2/+55We don't have to sit through annoying ads like with FREE-411. The computer operator also sounds more realistic and clearer.
- monergism, on 10/12/2007, -2/+54This translates into MARKETING DATA.
- Darmichar, on 10/12/2007, -3/+54@darth tater
That's all fine and dandy, until you get used to using it, it almost becomes second nature.
Then there will come the day when you need the number for your local terrorist cell, and it all goes downhill from there.
Wow, get a little extra caffeine in your system, and this conspiracy theory stuff is actually pretty easy.
I could make up ***** like this all day. - nathanwalker, on 10/12/2007, -4/+54Well, they aren't even a real country anyway... with their beady little eyes, and their flappy little heads...
- SpacemanSpiff01, on 10/12/2007, -2/+50So you're why its so busy!
I think the digg effect has spread to telephones. - Yez70, on 10/12/2007, -2/+46Yep, for example, now Google has our phone numbers.
How many in this thread people have dialed 1-800-GOOG-411 already? - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+43Here's an MP3 recording of what a call to this service is like. (It's not my call, I just found this link.)
http://xar.ph/goog411-buffalo.mp3 - codyman, on 10/12/2007, -1/+40This is what I like about Google:
You can tell the people who brainstorm are real people like us... and being real people they go "I don't like this or that" and then set out to change whatever bothers them.. and unlike "us" who can't go about changing the world one phone call or search query at a time, Google (obviously to which has a few bucks and weight to push around) says "OK, change away" and thus the 21st century is off to a great start thanks to our friends at Google... :-) - Bob042, on 10/12/2007, -0/+38So tempted to see where the nearest "enriched uranium" shop is in my town.
- inotocracy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+35Good. Its retarded that companies charge, what, $1 to do 411 on a cell phone? I'm glad Google is gonna put them out of business, all they do is ***** the customer.
- CapeKid, on 10/12/2007, -5/+40I can't wait till Google changes its name to Skynet
- VeganBob, on 10/12/2007, -1/+34Free healthcare for all your citizens, but no free 411?
- lordcalvin, on 10/12/2007, -3/+35If you don't love Google you're a card carrying commie. I totally agree with nathanwalker.
- Darmichar, on 10/12/2007, -6/+36Wrong.
It's Google's way of compiling data on who you call so they can sell it to the Government.
/sarcasm
...Or is it? - nathanwalker, on 10/12/2007, -1/+27Thats pretty awesome. Found what I wanted fast, and it was some obscure restaurant in Austin. Voice recognition worked pretty well too. Nicely done google. Keep it up, and keep doing no evil.
- FatherG, on 10/12/2007, -0/+23Exactly. There's alot of worry about google using the information with the wrong intentions but so far they haven't been that bad about it. Maybe that's why people berate MS constantly yet (usually) hail google.
I would never trust a company like yahoo, or the rest with a universal username like google employs. Yet with google it's not even a second thought. Of course that means if they /do/ turn into evil overlords I'm totally screwed. - dsignr, on 10/12/2007, -1/+24For a product still in Google Labs, this blew me out of the water. Voice recognition is great (it even found a restaurant name in Japanese), and the automated response is amazing. Great job Google!
- kenflannery, on 10/12/2007, -1/+24This story is so spread out over digg, looks like this is one is now the winner. I'm just pumped that 411 can stop nickel and diming everyone and Google has shown, once again, that more in life should and can be free.
- AdebisiTheGamer, on 10/12/2007, -1/+23WTF? I have to speak the name of the person I want the number for? I want mind reading 411 service. Come on Google!
On a side note, I welcome our Google overlords. Google is the first corporation I have ever dealt with that I look forward to dealing with. I use Google for my email, my web hosting, my maps, my searchs, my blog, my newsgroup reader, my documents, my calander, and my news feeds. Everytime I use something from Google I keep on using it because it works great. And none of it costs me any money at all!!! And people bitch because Google sells ads? LOL
I wish Google made cars, cell phones, houses, toilets, stereos and computers, because I would buy them.
Google has done more for me personally, then nearly any other company I can think of, and none of it has cost me a penny.
***** A! Google, keep it up. - KennMac, on 10/12/2007, -2/+23Wow... I'm impressed. It knew the locations of all my local strip clubs and connected me.
- agildehaus, on 10/12/2007, -0/+20I love the "processing" sound:
pew-te-too-te-too-te-tooo
It sounds like someone from Google actually recorded their own voice for it. LOL. - spiffytech, on 10/12/2007, -0/+18They need to let you get directions SMS'd to your phone. Speak your start/end addresses and you're all set. Great for people without the data plan for Google Maps Mobile
- soupcancooloff, on 10/12/2007, -3/+20not destroying, liberating
- maiku00, on 10/12/2007, -2/+19i love the "bloobityblipblipbloopbloop" sound during 'loading'
- psykiv, on 10/12/2007, -0/+16No ads, gives you the address, sounds like a real person, connects you, and the voice recognition actually works quite well. I could care less for the text messaging feature though.
Free 411 has been replaced in my phone with goog 411.
My main gripe with 1 800 free 411 was that it didn't connect you, so you had to memorize the number or write it down somehow (not too feasible when walking/driving). Oh and half the time they have to transfer me to an operator because the voice recognition sucked :(
Btw, cingular charges $1.79 per 411 call. - elnerdo, on 10/12/2007, -1/+17Yez, I tried it, and let me tell you, this is FAR AND BEYOND any free 411 service I have ever used. I simply said 'Midland park new jersey brother's pizza' I even tried to mumble a little bit so that it would have a hard time. The voice recognition easily caught it, and connected me right to the pizza place.
- EBFoxbat, on 10/12/2007, -4/+20How are 2.6 billion 411 calls a $7 billion/year market when they cost $1.25 a pop?
- greg9683, on 10/12/2007, -1/+16They also encourage user feedback to improve or come up with new products. It's nice a company actually listens to the customer. I got to interview with Google sometime back. They are definitely cool, "real" people.
- Blabster, on 10/12/2007, -4/+19No support for Canada? :(
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -3/+17does it work with adblock?
- geronimo, on 10/12/2007, -1/+15411 is traditionally the number you dial to get a phone number given someone's name / business name.
- SoundJudgment, on 10/12/2007, -3/+17Number locked and loaded into the cell-phone. My new 4-1-1.
- DigitalJester, on 10/12/2007, -2/+15For those outside the US. WTF is a 411 call?
- geronimo, on 10/12/2007, -3/+15I have been using this service from tell me for awhile:
1-800-555-TELL (8355)
while others I have found to be ... lacking regarding voice recognition, Tell Me has some very good technology for voice recognition. This is a welcome addition to the land of free 411. - gamerzworld, on 10/12/2007, -2/+14It would be cool if they expanded this to finding home phone numbers as well.
- troysteinbauer, on 10/12/2007, -2/+13I did "Santa Barbara, California" then "Pizza", its first response was "Woodstocks"
If you know Santa Barbara you know that was the correct answer. - trogdoor, on 10/12/2007, -1/+12I love that the "searching sound" you get after asking the bot a question is just a recording of some guy going "bedope bedope bedope..."
If you don't understand this comment, actually call the number and all will be made clear. - jewmanji, on 10/12/2007, -4/+14RE: Big Brother Google...
From the Privacy Policy at http://labs.google.com/goog411/privacy.html:
"If you do not have caller id blocked, we collect and store the number of your phone, along with the time of your call, each time you use the Google Voice Local Search service. We may use this phone number to distinguish you from other users, and ultimately, to personalize the service to you. If you do not wish us to record your phone number, then you may choose to block caller id for your number. For information about how to block caller id, please contact your carrier or your local phone company, as appropriate."
"We also collect and store a copy of the voice commands you make to the service, so we can audit, evaluate, and improve the voice recognition capabilities of the service" - hydratedsquash, on 10/12/2007, -9/+19Google is good people!
- Baffles, on 10/12/2007, -2/+11No you wouldn't. Google would give it to you for free, you'd just have ads on the doors and bumpers of the car. :D
- lump1, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9Now they need to make it work from GoogleTalk - I mean, I should be able to make a goog411 contact and voice-message it. Why not?
- brwright, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9Yes, finally I can call my physic reader cleo for free!
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Show 51 - 100 of 167 discussions
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