Have you heard of TellMe? If not, do this (I’ll wait)…pick up a phone and dial 1-800-555-TELL (8355). You’ll be greeted by an automated voice which will start to list some of their main menu items like stock quotes, movies, sports, etc. Just say the name of the item you’re interested and it will provide more information about that item or present you with more options to pick from. It’s all voice-activated and having used it for a number of years now, I must say its pretty darn good at recognizing my voice commands. In fact for those of you who subscribe to Cingular, they currently offer this service already.
I just recently found out that they’ve started a new beta program. For those of you that have a data plan on your cell phone, you can go to TellMe’s beta site and install a java app that will allow you to voice navigate their system to find local businesses. Its kind of like 411 and Google maps rolled into one (or so they say). You start out by installing a java app onto your phone (about 130Kb) and then after starting it up and using a “press to talk” command, you speak the city you want and the business type or name you’re looking for. It interprets your words and returns the results, allowing you to select a business or navigate further. Selecting a business allows you to see the phone number and address. From there you can click to call or click to see a map of the location to get directions.
I’ve had it for about an hour and haven’t played with the maps section yet but it does seem pretty interesting. Supposedly the voice recognition system hasn’t been completely configured yet so there may be some slight adjustments coming (remember, it’s still in beta) but for those of you who aren’t crazy about using your thumbs to type, this may be an alternative solutions. I think this product’s ultimate success however will be determined by it’s ability to handle directions and maps should a user want to actually find the location of the business they just looked up. A list of supposed phones is provided.
Anyone else using this yet? I’d love to hear some feedback.