Want an Easy Way to Control Your Gadgets? Talk to Them.
From: Discover Magazine - 11/2008 - page 28
By: Stephen Cass

For decades AT&T has been working on a voice recognition system that can
handle just such requests. Known as Watson, it is so complex that it is more
practical to run the software on centralized servers than to install, manage,
and maintain it on countless mobile devices. Fortunately, today's mobile
devices have the ability to connect to the Internet in spades. By including
some very basic hardware and software to capture and compress speech (which
phones already possess), any device can be given the gift of voice
recognition. Captured speech is sent, via the Internet or a cell phone
network, to AT&T computers running Watson. The Watson software analyzes the
speech and sends back a digital response that the device can translate into
commands. To demonstrate the principle, AT&T researchers have built a
voice-operated television remote control. Designed to work with AT&T's
Internet TV service, U-verse, the remote lets you do things like ask it to
find any comedies that might be on TV now or to search the listings for
movies starring Bruce Willis. 

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Buy it Now
Voice recognition is already proving itself in places where people don’t
have, or can't use, a keyboard. 

Magellan Maestro 4250
http://www.magellangps.com/

Vocally Infinity
http://www.vocally.co.il

Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10
http://www.nuance.com

Read the entire article at:
http://discovermagazine.com/2008/nov/17-talk-to-your-gadgets/?searchterm=naturallyspeaking

Links:
Watson
http://www.research.att.com/viewProject.cfm?prjID=355

Yellow Pages application for the iPhone
http://www.yellowpages.com/iphone