Google’s Apps Have A New Aussie Voice

Not only will the accent be familiar, but the Google app’s new voice has place-name pronunciation for Google Maps and local colloquialisms for reminders down pat. It will even reveal the mysterious history of the drop bear.

But how good is the new voice at place names? Watch for yourself:

As well as making Aussies easier to understand, Google says there are other, more subtle benefits — that ultimately lead to the voice feature being used more often.

“Australians are more relaxed when they hear a familiar voice,” said a spokesperson for Google, “Users are now 30 times more likely to use voice rather than typing requests.”

Google says mobile voice searches have more than doubled in the past year, and mobile search traffic has surpassed desktop — this is based on global figures.

Here’s some local terms you can now use: