Speech Recognition in the iPhone 3G

Speech recognition software may quickly make the iPhone 3G an even more powerful contender in the cell phone industry. The iPhone 3G took off out of the gates upon its release, reportedly selling more than one million units in the first week alone. And even though Apple's new mobile phone has been on the market for months now, the upgrades and improvements keep on coming.

Anyone that has ever spent time playing around with the iPhone apps has probably picked up on the hint that these neat programs just could be the software of the future. This is due in large part to the iPhone 3G's elegant touch-screen interface, an implementation of Mac OS X, an accelerometer, built-in GPS technology, high-speed internet connectivity and a touch of speech recognition.

Speech Recognition Powering iPhone

Just last month, Dial Directions, a leading provider in mobile speech recognition tools, announced that it would become involved with the iPhone 3G. The company revealed at the DemoFall 2008 conference that its "Say Where" app would allow iPhone owners to use speech recognition to gather data from various online service providers that specialize in geographical information.

While Dial Directions plans to add partners to its list, the company is starting out by giving iPhone 3G users the power to employ speech recognition with popular online providers, such as Ask.com, Yellow Pages, Yelp, MapQuest and Traffic.com.

Although nothing has been finalized, Dial Directions states that the concept behind the Say Where app is simple. When prompted, speak the business name or address you're looking for into the device. Next, choose the service you prefer to use. For example, you could use Yelp for reviews on a restaurant you spoke into the iPhone. The results should appear on the display moments later. If you were using the speech recognition tool with MapQuest, the iPhone's integrated GPS chip would inform the service on your starting point and then pull up the directions.

The Benefits of Speech Recognition via the iPhone

The purpose of speech recognition in the iPhone is to let users access the information they need without having to be distracted by typing. With the Say Where app, users would be able to get directions and other critical information all while driving. If the application functions like Dial Directions is promising, consumers could drive much safer, as they wouldn't need to focus on the phone's display to type in the address or name of the business they are looking for.

Dial Directions is hoping that the speech recognition technology in its Say Where app will attract several other service providers. This, of course, has a lot to do with the application's business model, as Dial Directions anticipates revenue from partnering with those providers and incorporating Say Where into their services.

News of the Say Where app is a follow up to Loquendo's recent development of two separate speech recognition apps for the iPhone 3G. The applications are currently available for the device and allow users to select and play music files, speak out GPS commands and even read email and SMS text messages out loud.

While it is far too early to know if the speech recognition in Say Where will be a success, the application already has a lot of potential. The possibility of there being various providers associated with the app later down the road makes it very intriguing to "say" the least.