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Vlingo

Crave giveaway of the week: BlackBerry Bold 9700 with Vlingo

We have an exciting giveaway this week that involves a Blackberry Bold smartphone and a useful mobile voice app called Vlingo, which perhaps you've heard about already.

To help get the word out about its new 4.0 Plus app for the BlackBerry, Vlingo is offering Crave readers the chance to win a BlackBerry Bold 9700 and a voucher code for the Vlingo Plus app, a $19.99 value. One important note: the BlackBerry is from AT&T but it doesn't come with service (you'll have to activate it to install Vlingo).

What does Vlingo do … Read more

Vlingo voice app lands on BlackBerry Tour, Curve

This week, Vlingo, makers of a freemium mobile voice prompt application for BlackBerry and iPhone, released versions of its Vlingo software for the BlackBerry Curve 8520 and Tour.

With it, Curve and Tour owners can join their BlackBerry brethren in searching the Web, launching applications, and dialing with their voice. Voice dialing on the BlackBerry already exists, but Vlingo's ability to begin Web searches and open applications expands those native capabilities.

The most recent version of Vlingo, unveiled in May, introduced a robotic vocal confirmation that reads back your actions. It also added two optional, premium features; one is … Read more

Survey: 26 percent admit to texting while driving

If you're taking a car trip this Memorial Day weekend, you may feel safest driving in Arizona, but you may want to steer clear of Tennessee.

A survey just released by mobile application vendor Vlingo says 26 percent of mobile phone users questioned admit to DWT, or driving while texting. The highest number of offenders are in Tennessee, with 42 percent of people saying they text behind the wheel, while Arizona drivers came in lowest at 18.8 percent.

Driving while texting is now fully banned in seven states as well as Washington, D.C., and partially banned in … Read more

Wield your BlackBerry with your voice--video

Sure, you can already dial contacts on the BlackBerry with a voice prompt, but can you also search the Web, compose a text message, or update your Facebook status? For that you'll need an app like Vlingo. Version Vlingo 3.0 for BlackBerry does all that and more, plus it has a new feature to read your activity back to you. There are a few drawbacks, however, and we take a look at the two new premium services Vlingo has wrapped in an $18 one-time fee.

If you like what you see, Vlingo has a similar app for iPhone, … Read more

Vlingo 3.0 introduces premium voice features

Mobile voice search company Vlingo on Wednesday released Vlingo 3.0 for BlackBerry. Like Vlingo 2.0 before it, Vlingo 3.0 uses your voice commands to text other Vlingo BlackBerry users, search the Web, dial a number, create a note, update Facebook and Twitter, and open other applications. New to Vlingo 3.0 is a robotic voice that reads back your actions (like, "calling Home"), plus two premium features. One lets you text any contact (not just others using Vlingo's BlackBerry service), and the other creates, replies, and forwards e-mails based on your dictation. These two … Read more

Speak and you shall receive

This stellar voice-transcription application does more than search the Web or place a call in response to your spoken command. Vlingo lets you get specific, searching Google or Yahoo and updating your Facebook and Twitter status. You can also launch applications, write notes to yourself, and verbally compose a text or e-mail message.

Added support in version 3.0 also lets you vocally kick-start activities through your Bluetooth or wired headset, and the app engages a robotic voice to confirm your actions by repeating them to you, such as "Calling Home." It's disappointing that the new premium … Read more

Speak and you shall receive

This stellar voice-transcription application does more than search the Web or place a call in response to your spoken command. Vlingo lets you get specific, searching Google or Yahoo and updating your Facebook and Twitter status. You can also launch applications, write notes to yourself, and verbally compose a text or e-mail message.

The set-up is a little laborious, and Vlingo does have a learning curve, but the step-by-step instructions help you program a fast access key that works like a record button, and the help file is a good, easily access reminder of what you can say and do. … Read more

The best voice search we've seen

Of the handful of voice-transcription iPhone apps to search the Web or place a call, Vlingo's is the best. Speaking into the phone searches the Web using Google or Yahoo, dials contacts, finds a place on a map, and updates your status on Twitter and Facebook without ever touching a keyboard.

Vlingo lacks the terrific, but iPhone SDK-violating feature to raise the handset to your head to begin a search, but makes up for it by creating a voice recognition profile for your phone book and by letting you preview Twitter and Facebook text before it updates your status.… Read more

All-in-one voice search

Extremely simple and easy to use, Vlingo's iPhone application blows away its rivals--so far. The free service lets you speak your search, contact names, and Facebook and Twitter updates into the phone, featuring great service support from the get-go. It also includes basics like speech-to-text searches of Google maps, contact dialing, and queries of multiple search providers.

Like most iPhone applications, Vlingo could use a built-in browser. It never crashed on us, and fails with grace when you've reached a data blind spot.

Buzz Out Loud 864: Crabs in a bucket

In today's show, Molly gets a new favorite metaphor, Apple deletes the very thought that you should run antivirus on a Mac, .Tel gets our wallets at the ready, and poor widdle Windows' market share drops below 90 percent. The horror! Listen now: Download today's podcast

EPISODE 864

Apple deletes Mac antivirus suggestion http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-10111958-83.html

Twitter CEO: The revenue’s coming soon, but I won’t tell you how http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10112037-2.html

.Tel them where to find you http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/12/02/tel-them-where-to-find-you/

Vista SP2: What's … Read more