Your Android smartphone speaks French, Italian, German and Spanish with the European launch of Voice Actions

More than a year after first introducing Voice Actions for Android for smartphone users in the US, Google has put the final touches on a European version that can understand British English, French, Italian, German and Spanish.

Voice Actions for Android enables users to control their mobile with their voice by using a series of spoken commands. The voice actions can be used to send texts, play music, make calls, send email messages, look up websites, write notes, and find directions with just your voice.

“To use Voice Actions, tap the microphone button on the Google search box on your home screen, open the Voice Search app, or press down for a few seconds on the physical search button on your phone to activate the “Speak Now” screen. You can see how it works in this video,” explains Google in a September 16 blog post on its Mobile Blog.

iOS users that want to write texts, emails and post social networking updates using their voice can try free speech-to-text translator Dragon Dictation made by speech and imaging solutions company Nuance.

Apple is largely rumored to include a system-wide voice navigation system in iOS 5.  

You can download the Voice Search application with Voice Actions from the Android Market.