11. A method of interacting through speech with a web-connected server system using a browser program, the method comprising the steps of: establishing a connection between a client device and the web-connected server for communicating speech related data; providing a variable distributed speech recognition engine configured to generate a recognized speech query from an utterance; wherein said variable distributed speech recognition engine can be configured to permit partial or full recognition of said utterance at said client device and/or a server device based on respective resources available to said client device and server device and further considering a latency requirement specified for said speech query; presenting data content associated with one or more web pages to the browser program, such that data content transmitted to the browser program is controlled by said recognized speech query.
11. A method of interacting through speech with a web-connected server system using a browser program, the method comprising the steps of: establishing a connection between a client device and the web-connected server for communicating speech related data; providing a variable distributed speech recognition engine configured to generate a recognized speech query from an utterance; wherein said variable distributed speech recognition engine can be configured to permit partial or full recognition of said utterance at said client device and/or a server device based on respective resources available to said client device and server device and further considering a latency requirement specified for said speech query; presenting data content associated with one or more web pages to the browser program, such that data content transmitted to the browser program is controlled by said recognized speech query. 13. The method of claim 11 further including a step: providing an interactive electronic character who provides suggestions for queries which the user can articulate.