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Google Can't Tell The Difference Between 'iPhone' And 'Sex'

This is a stitch. British users of Google's new voice-powered search application are finding that the software isn't quite ready for prime-time. The issue? It can't understand the British accent. The outcome? Searches for "iPhone" are returning results for "sex" instead. Um, oops.

The U.K.'s Daily Telegraph reported the issue yesterday. According to readers of the Telegraph, the new Google search application isn't understanding their voice searches. Users of the application are finding that if they fake an American accent, they get better results.

Edward Parsons, an iPhone user in the U.K., said of the search app, "It actually works pretty well, but I have to disguise my (North London) accent with a terrible folksy Texan tourist voice to get results. I can see this is going to be the source of much amusement and confusion."

That's hysterical. I'd really like to hear a person from England fake a Texas accent. What I want to know is, how well does faking an accent from Brooklyn work?

Some of the mistaken results turned up after a search for "iPhone" include "sex", "kitchen sink", and "Einstein" reports the Telegraph. The Telegraph also reported that a user from Scotland was taken to a porn site after performing a search for "iPhone".

Sounds like the software that Google is using to translate speech into text isn't very worldly.

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