I was driving along in my car yesterday evening, making the early bolt across the 520 bridge here in Seattle, and enjoying Craig Armstrong streaming from my Windows Phone to the sound system in my vehicle. And then, <beep, you have a text message from Bill> my phone announced over the car stereo. It then asked me if I’d like to read the message or ignore. <read it> I said and it promptly read the message and finished by asking if I’d like to respond or return to driving. <respond> I said, and then read my response back just as if I were talking to Bill. I said something like <cool, see you in about half an hour at Westlake Ave North>. The speech engine kicked in on my phone and it didn’t get it perfect and asked me if I’d like to <send> or <try again>. I said try again, this time talking a little louder over the road noise. This time, it got the response absolutely perfect. <send>
Not only is this capability incredibly intuitive, it allowed me to keep my hands on the wheel. When it worked, it felt like magic and even when it didn’t quite work it was smart enough to help me. That’s where technology is going – in to a world where it becomes more natural, more intuitive and works on our behalf. I think I may have said that before but it’s true. That future is coming. Some of it is already here.
If you get the chance, try Windows Phone 7.5 – there’s more and more to like.
The video below shows more of the voice capability
