Say Where brings voice recognition to iPhone apps

Say Where, an iPhone app from Dial Directions, aims to give iPhone users the ability to employ speech recognition to get information from services like Yelp and MapQuest.

(Credit: Dial Directions)

If you've spent any time using iPhone apps, you probably have gotten a hint of the fact that they may well be the hottest thing going and, in some ways, the future of software.

That's largely due to the fact that, especially with iPhone 3G, the device combines GPS, an elegant interface, Mac OS X, an accelerometer and high-speed Internet connectivity.

Now, Dial Directions, a company that has focused on providing speech recognition tools to cell phone users, is getting in the iPhone game.

And on Monday, the company announced at DemoFall its Say Where iPhone app, a tool that allows owners of the device to use their voice to get information from several online service providers specializing in geographical information.

Dial Directions will continue to add partners, but it is starting out by giving iPhone users the ability to employ speech recognition with services like MapQuest, Yellow Pages, Ask.com, Yelp, and Traffic.com.

The idea is simple: you launch the Say Where app, which is expected to be free from Apple's App Store--when it is approved, which Dial Directions hopes will be soon--and then, when prompted, say an address or business name that you're looking for.

Then, you choose which service you want to use--Yelp, say, for reviews of the restaurant that you named--and finally, the results should appear a moment later.

Or, by speaking an address and using MapQuest, directions would appear, aided by the fact that the iPhone's GPS chip tells the service where you are starting from.

The point is to allow users to get the information they want without having to use their hands--much--to get it. So, by using Say Where, iPhone owners should be able to get information they're looking for while driving, for example, without having to focus on the iPhone's screen in order to type in the name of the business or the address they're looking for.

Say Where is an open application that Dial Directions hopes will lure in many other service providers. And that has a lot to do with its business model for the application, which is to get revenue by partnering with those companies and, ideally, incorporating the application into their services.

It's too early to tell if the application will be a success. But it has a lot of potential, especially given that there could be many more service providers linked to the app down the line.

[thelemurking]

Is the service free? If so, that's one of the last remaining advantages of the Instinct over the iPhone. It's very similar to Live.Search which I use pretty regular basis. One thing I hate about it on the Instinct is it's slow loading time, so it would be nice to see how quick Say Where loads up.

I'm getting tired of Sprint's slowness at correcting a lot of the bugs that plague the Instinct like the Java keyboard which prevents us from using thousands of pre-existing java/brew based apps, so I am definitely looking at switching over to the iPhone now and the GPS and Live Search are my 2 favorite apps on the Instinct that shined over the iPhone.

[msjonker]

The accuracy on something like this is going to be make or break. It will be interesting to see how well it does in the real world.

[ThatGuy2-1]

This is gonna be pretty cool if it works well and gives a bunch of results rather than filtering only by sponsors

[smithj_33]

I'm glad my Blackberry has had this a over a year.

[chrgeorgeson]

I'm glad your blackberry has had this for over a year as well.

[gjimeno]

I'm "glad" as well that your blackberry has had this for over a year...

[George910]

When is "Say Where" going to be released by Apple for downloading into iPhones?

[tuyen_dialdirections]

It's available now: http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=291725207&mt=8

[sproy218]

What happened to this App?
I cannot find it in the iTunes App Store

[tuyen_dialdirections]

Hey Daniel - thanks for giving readers a heads up on Say Where. Folks, the app is free and is now available for download in iTunes App Store. It's a first version, so pls share your feedback: [e-mail]

Here's a link: http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=291725207&mt=8.

[tuyen_dialdirections]

Hey Daniel - thanks for giving readers a heads up on Say Where. Folks, the app is free and is now available for download in iTunes App Store. It's a first version, so pls share your feedback: [e-mail]

Here's a link: http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=291725207&mt=8.