Access on Main Street

Hooking up a usable world, one mainstream product at a time.

Twittering away

Posted by Jane Berliss-Vincent 8 May 2008

We have yet to quite see the point of Twitter, the online service that lets you keep the world posted on the most minute details of your day (”Retrieved bellybutton lint, 5:04 PM”). But at least now there’s TwitterFone, a hands- and cost-free option for creating Twitter posts via speech recognition of phoned-in updates. As the article points out, this could also be used to create to-do lists for yourself, so maybe there’s a purpose after all.

Gadgetell.com: Twitterfone: why type when you can call in your tweets?

Say “goodbye” to saying “hello”

Posted by Jim Tobias 27 April 2008

Sprint Nextel is ending its Voice Command service, which allowed users to store numbers and say names to dial them.  Is this a tragedy?  Not really, but like Hamlet, it is marginally interesting.  Voice Command was a network-based service; that is, the names, numbers, and matching voice files were stored on Sprint’s network.  Now that so many wireless handsets have voice dialing, the network service isn’t that useful (or billable), but the network cost of maintaining it was probably as high as it ever was.

So chalk this up as another salvo in the endless battle between network/shared resources and those feasible in every pocket.

Sprint discontinuing Voice Command on July 1st - Engadget Mobile

Take me there

Posted by Jane Berliss-Vincent 9 April 2008

Nuance voice recognition technology and TeleNav GPS systems are teaming up to create smart navigation systems. Just say the type of location you want to reach (e.g., “airport” or “gas station”) and the new unit will provide directions, presumably to the nearest relevant location.

Gadgetel: Say “pub” and your GPS will get you there

Talk back to your Blackberry

Posted by Jim Tobias 7 March 2008

 We’ve covered Jott ever since it was a wee app.  Now it’s got a beta for RIM Blackberry that lets you reply to emails by voice; Jott does the speech-to-text transcription.  Neat trick, and perfect for people with typing trouble of all sorts.

Jott: Jott Beta for Blackberry Lets You Reply to Email by Voice

Talking blues…

Posted by Jane Berliss-Vincent 6 March 2008

…or bluegrass, or hip-hop, or show tunes, or whatever type of music floats your boat. VoiceTunes (One Voice Technologies) is software that works with iTunes and Windows Media Player to provide a voice-input interface that lets you make selections by genre, artist, album, or playlist. Good idea for a hands-free option for folks with dexterity or some types of cognitive disabilities; does not compensate for impairments in musical taste.

Crave: How to order your iTunes around

Dial “M” for mitten?

Posted by Jim Tobias 9 February 2008

Just a prototype, this new glove is a Bluetooth phone with voice recognition dialing. Designed for the winter sports set, it’d be great for anyone who can’t hold a cellie or find and press teeny keys.

Bluetooth Glove: Talk-To-The-Hand Technology

Limeys lock on lip look

Posted by Jim Tobias 17 January 2008

Here’s another step towards automatic speechreading: a UK research lab has developed an improved algorithm for identifying fine lip movements (our favorite kind!) and making best-guesses about what’s being said. It’s like silent speech recognition. This may serve two disabled constituencies: deaf and hard of hearing people who want to communicate with speakers, and as an interface to computers and other gadgets for people who can’t use keyboards, and can’t produce reliable articulate speech.

textually.org: Computerized Lip Reading

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