Software engineers and device manufacturers continue to push up against the limits of human physiology in the search for the ultimate interface for mobile phones and other handheld mobile devices.
Thumb-operated mini-Qwerty keyboards, virtual keypads and touch interfaces may all have their place, but perhaps the most logical interface for the mobile phone is voice?
While voice-activated dialling is already a fairly common handset feature, Tellme, the Microsoft subsidiary believes we have only just begun to exploit the power of voice as a complementary mobile phone technology interface, particularly in what Tellme executives called ‘’distracted situations’ like driving.
“Because it’s so intuitive, we believe there is a real opportunity for voice to materialise as the leading user interface for the phone,” said Dariusz Paczuski, senior director of consumer services at Tellme.
In an effort to address this opportunity (and boost Microsoft Mobile’s street cred and perhaps ultimately mobile search revenues) Tellme is announcing today what it describes as the first mobile voice service to combine content and communications designed to simplify how people interact with their phones every day.
In essence the new service, which will be made freely available to carriers and handset manufacturers using Microsoft’s Windows Mobile 6.5 mobile operating system when handsets based on 6.5 launch this autumn, combines voice activated dialing, control and mobile search.
Unlike existing voice-based services, Tellme claims the new speaker-independent voice service will enable mobile phone users to press one button, say what they want and get it, whether that is to send a text, make a call or search for information using Microsoft’s Live Search servers.
Many handsets apparently already have a side-mounted button that can be pressed to begin and end a string of voice commands. So for example, to send a text message the user would press the button. Say “text” to open a text box, then speak the text message and press the button once again to route the message to anyone in their contact list.
Tellme stopped by to show me the new service and, based on what I saw it looks promising although voice technology is notoriously difficult.
Based on its own research, Tellme claims that its new voice interface can dramatically cut the number of steps mobile phone users must undertake using an iPhone-style touch interface, for example to send a text message (five touches, one scroll and up to 120 keystrokes), call a contact (five touches and one scroll), find a local business (four touches and 20 plus keystrokes) or get traffic information (three touches and one scroll.)
As a result, Tellme claims more than 75 per cent of smartphone users prefer voice and would buy phones with Tellme installed. That is the message Tellme will be taking to the mobile phone network operators and application developers in an effort to win over their support.
