The iPhone twang: Google's new voice recognition tool stumped by British accents



Divided: It's great if you're American, but Brits are struggling with Google's new voice recognition service for the iPhone

Google's new voice recognition search engine for the iPhone has hit a glitch - it is stumped by British accents.

The application developed in the U.S cannot recognise regional twangs.

Users say the technology mistook the word 'iPhone' for 'sex,' 'Einstein' and even 'kitchen sink'.

The Google Mobile App is designed to work just like the traditional search engine. Rather than typing a query on the iPhone, users speak their search term and then view the results on the screen.

Saying the word pizza should spring up a selection of local pizza restaurants and invite you to call them with a single click of the phone.



And uttering 'Barack Obama' should bring you all the latest Google results about the new U.S. president.



But one user with a Kentish accent was clearly unhappy with his experience.



When Roger Ellinson, 26, from Maidstone asked for her nearest pizza take away, it delivered 'something about volcanoes.'



Asked about his nearest pub, the screen flashed up 'some kind of weird dating website.'



'I'll have to try to put on my best American accent to get it to work,' he concluded.



Online forums have shown a dramatic trans-Atlantic divide in response, with US users waxing lyrical about the service but British users stumped.



A user from Lincolnshire said his Irish lilt was a drawback.



'Irish obviously isn't the best accent to have. I tried about 20 different 2-4 word phrases and not one came out right,' he wrote.



But a spokesman for Google said the tool is not designed for UK accents.



He said: 'The product is for U.S. English. You're welcome to use it, but we can't guarantee it'll work with British accents.'



