Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

The Coming Wave of Gadgets That Listen and Obey

Posted by Soulskill on from the tea-earl-grey-hot dept.

dgan brings us a NYTimes piece about the development of speech recognition for common gadgets. Companies such as Vlingo and Yap are marketing their software to cellular carriers to give consumers a hands-free option for tasks like finding directions and text messaging. Quoting: "Vlingo's service lets people talk naturally, rather than making them use a limited number of set phrases. Dave Grannan, the company's chief executive, demonstrated the Vlingo Find application by asking his phone for a song by Mississippi John Hurt (try typing that with your thumbs), for the location of a local bakery and for a Web search for a consumer product. It was all fast and efficient. Vlingo is designed to adapt to the voice of its primary user, but I was also able to use Mr. Grannan's phone to find an address. The Find application is in the beta test phase at AT&T and Sprint. Consumers who use certain cellphones from those companies can download the application from vlingo.com."

6 of 98 comments (clear)

  1. It may finally happen. by moogied · · Score: 4, Funny
    5,000 years ago man relized it could not make women listen and obey. So he started a quest to make devices that could..

    Is it possible that all of mankinds dreams are coming true now?!

    --
    So basically, -1 troll/offtopic is really slashdots way of saying "I hate that you thought of something before me."
  2. All I can think of is... by bennomatic · · Score: 4, Funny
    "Open the pod bay doors, HAL."

    "I'm afraid I can't do that, Dave."

    --
    The CB App. What's your 20?
  3. Fun with Gadgets by Knave75 · · Score: 3, Funny

    User: Please connect me with Hugh Jass
    Gadget: Sorry, I could not find a Hugh Jass
    User: *snicker*

  4. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 5, Funny

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  5. Re:I wonder... by lgw · · Score: 5, Funny

    I can't get over this "hands free text messaging" option! What engineer had the insight "we need to give customers a way to communicate over the phone just by talking"? It's a strange world.

    --
    Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
  6. Re:Limited phrasebook by niceone · · Score: 3, Funny

    "Honey, have you seen the remote?"

    Phone: Yeah, sure, it's cute enough, but I think I can do better.

    --
    ccalam - acoustic versions of new songs.