Vlingo one-ups Google with a better voice-powered iPhone app

Voice-transcription service Vlingo has launched a really fantastic new iPhone application (download) that lets users talk into their phones to search the Web, dial contacts, and update their status on Twitter and Facebook. Much like Google's iPhone app which was released early last month, users are able to do all this without ever having to use their keyboard.

The big difference between Google's efforts and Vlingo's is the addition of Yahoo search, meaning users can pick the search engine of their choice. You're also able to auto-dial contacts by speaking their name. This, along with speech-to-text search of Google Maps, and the social network status updates gives users the utility of TwitterFone and the SayWho iPhone application in one piece of software.

I've been using the app over the past week and found it to be far more useful than Google's offering. It may be missing the really great (though iPhone SDK rule breaking) option to raise the handset to your head to begin a search, but it makes up for it with quite a bit more utility right from the get-go. The voice dialing is also exceptionally cool. Early on in the iPhone's lifetime there were a handful of jailbroken applications that let you do this, and they were genuinely useful before the inclusion of contact search. The added benefit of using Vlingo's system is that it cooks up a special voice recognition profile for your phone book since you initially have to send it in for processing.

The Twitter and Facebook update tool is also really well done, offering you a preview of the text before you send it, as well as a text counter to show you how many characters you have left. You're able to make any edits in case the transcription flubbed your words too. After having used TwitterFon and having its mistakes set in stone, this is a godsend.

Going forward the one thing that would really push this app over the top is a built-in browser, giving you option to open up search results within the app itself. Currently it jettisons you out to Safari, which you must then exit and re-open the Vlingo app if you intend on doing another voice-powered search.

Vlingo is free and should be available in the iTunes app store in the next few hours. Below are some screenshots of its interface. We'll have a video of it in action shortly.

Vlingo lets you update your Twitter and Facebook status, look up and call phone contacts, and search the Web--all with just your voice. (click to enlarge)

(Credit: CNET Networks)

Update: I've embedded the video below, and the app is now live.

[MaggieRed]

I haven't downloaded or used the Google version yet, but you should have mentioned a synopsis of the license agreement for vlingo. This is quite an extensive set of rules the user is agreeing to and there is a mention of a subscription fee basis without any further explanation. I would simply recommend anyone who chooses to use the free app to read carefully the terms of service agreement which you must accept before gaining access to the app.

[pbparker]

Not only that, but it clearly states on their website that they collect all your address book contact names and companies so it can perform the contact searches. There's no opt-out either, it says on their website if you're not comfortable with the data collection then you should simply not install the product.

[kanny6]

There are more rough areas with Vlingo app that are ignored in this review. I have listed them at http://iphonedev.in . The app is right now collecting your voice samples to improve their technology and hopes to charge you in future!

[Anom28]

I don't like that all my contact's info is given to them... and Google is cool but you still have to go through all the pages... I like using ChaCha... you can use your voice just by calling 1-800-2ChaCha... no iphone needed... and they send you an answer not just 100 different sites... I heard they just partner up with AT&T... I still think they should have an iPhone app soon!