Google offers it, now Yahoo Japan offers it, too (on smartphones): voice search. Yahoo Japan Labs today released an iPhone app [iTunes link] on the Japanese App Store that lets users access the site via voice controls.
In this video (not embeddable), you can see the user “asking” for the current weather in the Minato district in Tokyo, a map, directions in the Tokyo metro etc. Yahoo Japan says that all users have to do is to shake the iPhone to make the app ready for a new search (I just tried out the app myself, and it works pretty well).
The app was developed in cooperation with Tokyo-based Advanced Media.
Click to enlarge: