The new voice capabilities stem from Microsoft's
acquisition two years ago of Tellme Networks, a provider of voice recognition technologies to carriers and enterprises. They'll be available to
Windows Mobile 6.5 users as a free download from the
Windows Marketplace for Mobile online store, and will also be provided to carriers to preinstall on devices, says Microsoft.
According to Microsoft, users of Windows phones will be able to press a button on the side of their devices, then simply speak in order to send texts, make calls, or search the web. For example, the company says, it will be possible to do the following:
- Send a text by saying "text" to open a text box, then speak the text message and say "send" to send it to anyone in their contact list
- Initiate a call simply by saying "call" and then the name of anyone in their contact list
- Search the Web with Microsoft Live Search by speaking a request, such as "weather in San Francisco, California," "pizza in Kansas City," "movies" or "Mother's Day gift ideas"
The Tellme capabilities, which will also be integrated into
a new version of Ford's Windows-based Sync automotive technology, appear to be a powerful differentiator for Microsoft, as it attempts to steal hearts and minds away from Apple's iPhone. It requires four touches and more than 20 keystrokes to find a business with the Apple iPhone, while it only takes one button push and one verbal command to find the same business with Tellme, Microsoft says.
Dariusz Packzuski, senior director of consumer services at Tellme, says, "Because it's so intuitive, we believe there is a real opportunity for voice to materialize as the leading user interface for the phone. By bringing voice access to calling, texting and searching, together we reduce 'menu surfing' on phones and make the benefits of voice more tangible for everyday needs."
As part of today's announcement, Microsoft also confirmed that Windows Mobile 6.5 will "hit store shelves" in fall 2009, as
WindowsForDevices has
previously reported. That news follows a
series of muddled reports by various blogs to the effect that Windows Mobile 6.5 would be "launched" at the TechEd conference being held by Microsoft next month in Los Angeles.
Technological upgradesRather than a phone's own processor being used to perform voice recognition, a user's voice is apparently sent to Tellme servers via VoIP for processing, though Microsoft did not provide further details. Today, the company announced it has improved the Tellme backend services it offers to enterprise customers by adding "expanded multislot recognition" and a new "voice font" called Zira.
According to Microsoft, multislot technology makes it possible for callers to ask for information in a full sentence or phrase, such as "I wanna buy 5,000 shares of Coca-Cola," and the system listens for the relevant words, in this case "buy," "5,000 shares" and "Coca-Cola." Then, if any information is missing or not understood, the system can ask just for the specific word clarification without re-prompting for the entire answer, making the call faster and increasing customer satisfaction, the company says.
The new voice font, Zira, is said to leverage the Microsoft Text-to-Speech (TTS) engine and was created with a patented technique "designed for consistency in voice quality and delivery." The Zira technology comes closer than ever to actual human pronunciations, reducing the expense of custom audio recordings for enterprise interactive voice response, Microsoft says.
According to Microsoft, Tellme technology is used by more than 40 million people every month, and powers billions of calls per year.
AvailabilityAs mentioned above, Tellme for Windows Mobile 6.5 will be available this fall when devices based on the operating system ship, according to Microsoft. The technology is also available as a free beta download for the RIM BlackBerry, and may be tested from any phone by dialing 1-800-555-TELL, the company says.
For further information, see the Tellme website,
here.
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