Life just got a little easier for U.S.-based smartphone users running Android 2.2 (Froyo). During a press event this morning, Google announced “Voice Actions,” a series of commands that lets users speak tasks that typically require typing. Danny Sullivan was at the event and live-blogged it here on SEL, and now there’s more information from Google’s blog.
Voice Actions automates a variety of common smartphone tasks. By speaking a command, users can do general web searches or local searches, look up maps, get navigation, send emails or texts, and many more things. This Google video shows many Voice Actions in … well, action.
Voice Actions is available now for U.S. English speakers only, and it’s only available on Android 2.2. You can read Google’s blog post for details about accessing Voice Actions via different smartphones, and for a list of commands.
If you follow the Google vs. Apple mobile meme, you’ll remember that Apple has similar technology in-house now thanks to its recent acquisition of Siri.
Related Topics: Google: Mobile | Google: Voice Search
Sounds cool but what if you’re not an Android person, perhaps you use an iPhone person, use a Blackberry or have a simple mobile phone, apps are not you’re thing.
Here are two options in ADDITION to SIRI that’s now part of Apple.
1) Vlingo (app for iPhone, Android, Nokia, Blackberry)
http://www.vlingo.com
App is free and basic services are also free.
Basic service include using your voice to access:
Maps/Locations
For example: Sushi in Bellevue, Washington. Data from Google.
Social Updates
Post to Twitter and/or Update your Facebook status. You can update one service at a time or update both with one call.
Web Search
Default search is Google but can be switched to Yahoo or Bing.
Voice Dial
(Based on Your Contact Directory)
Vlingo also provides two fee-based services. They cost $6.99 each or 9.99 (for both). They’re one-time fees. Now that Google’s in the space we will watch to see if Vlingo ends charging them even though they are not that expensive.
Fee-Based Services.
A) Speak and send a text (SMS) message.
B) Speak and send an email.
We spent some time using it today and after only a few searches, it appears to work well.
Another IVR (interactive voice response) service has been around since the late 1999 and was acquired by Microsoft in 1997 for “close to $800 million”.
We’re talking about Tellme Networks.
Their consumer service now includes the Bing name. The official name is now, “Tellme Powered by Bing” or Bing 411.
We’ve used it for years and it works well.
Access: 1-800-555-TELL or 1-800-Bing-411 and you’re ready to go.
The service (at either telephone number) is free and works with all Smartphones or feature phones. When we checked today the services available at Tellme or Bing 411 were identical.
http://www.discoverbing.com/mobile/411/
Tellme/Bing411 focuses entirely on info vs. also offering dictation services.
What categories of info are available?
Business Search
Driving Directions
Traffic
Weather
Movies
Sports
Cheap Gas (Beta and it does need work)
Stock Quotes
News
Time
Travel (Examples: Say an Airline name and you’ll be be connected to the reservation center) or say “taxi” and you’ll or to the Bing preferred taxi provider for the area where you want a cab.
Horoscopes
In many cases the service will dial the number, share the info with others, or text the info to you.
So, no matter what type of phone, you now have two services, one app based and the other requiring no download. Both are free.