AT&T Research Labs is testing a web based application that will bring limited voice control functionality to the iPhone. The so-called Speech Mashups, based on AT&T’s WATSON speech recognition engine, is a web service requiring high-speed wireless access to the internet in order to allow voice control of certain functions, such as entering text into web forms. The service appears to fall well short of meeting the demand for voice dialing, expressed by many as a must-have feature in a mobile phone.
The lone voice dialing application available on the AppStore appears to be Speechcloud Voice Dialer, whose 300+ commenters have thus far given it a 2.5 star rating.
The AT&T Labs chart below shows the complexity of delivering its web-based Speech Mashups solution, though, with the prevalence of speech recognition capability so widespread among other mobile handset manufacturers, we wonder what it is about Apple’s device that has made voice dialing such a difficult hurdle to clear.
2 responses to “AT&T Testing Voice Web App for iPhone”
Sorry, my 4yr old Razor has voice dial and does a damn good job. As far as I’m concerned, the iPhone ain’t that advanced if it can’t meet my needs for hands-free dialing when a 4-year old phone can. Give me voice dialing and let me tether the phone and I’ll buy one tomorrow (if in stock), otherwise forget it.