Tellme tries to speak to sports nuts

In the latest example of its voice-to-screen search service, Tellme users will be able to get sports scores displayed by saying "sports" and their favorite team.

(Credit: Microsoft)

Yelling "Does anyone know the Cowboys score?" into a crowd can yield mixed results. But, starting Monday, telling your phone the same thing could produce a much more dependable answer.

Microsoft's Tellme unit is announcing an expansion of its "voice-to-screen" search service. By saying "sports" and the name of one's favorite team, users of the Tellme app can now get a screen with details on a team's current or upcoming game.

Among the sports covered are professional baseball, football, hockey, men's and women's basketball, and soccer. College sports include men's and women's hoops, soccer, and, perhaps my favorite, hockey.

The speak-for-sports-scores-feature, like the other voice-to-screen services only work on the BlackBerry, for now. Microsoft announced the service back in April and said it hoped to bring it to other phones at some point.

I checked back in Monday to get an update. A company representative said there is "active development" for Windows Mobile and said the company is also exploring whether to do a version for the iPhone.