Google got US patent for a voice interface for search engines.

In a win-win for Google, co-founder Sergey Brin along with three other persons has been granted a US patent for a voice interface for search engines.

This essentially means if and when Google has a product to show for its patent, users will be able to phone an internet search query or say it aloud instead of typing it in - the way they do presently. Of course naysayers predict that not all patent applications necessarily translate into prospective product announcements for the company.
Alexander Franz and Brian Milch - authors of the patent application, had written about such an interface in their 2002 academic paper dubbed "Searching the Web by Voice". Brin and company filed the patent in 2001, post which Google did make the voice search feature available though briefly through Google Labs, its veritable hotbed for just-out-of-the-egg ideas.

The patent filing is reportedly worded, "there exists a need for a voice interface that is effective for search engines". The document suggests that Google will be utilizing the reams of its stored text and audio queries to enhance speech recognition and relevance.

Although analysts are betting upon the chances of search engines treating speech and speech-related issues as the hot new topic; for entities such as the US Department of Justice and others, this could well be reason for some more sleepless nights over concerns regarding individual privacy.