Microsoft Releases Voice Command 1.6 for Smartphone

[Jerry Raia]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.handango.com/PlatformProductDetail.jsp?siteId=1&osId=804&jid=1DD2B53F1BD643FE1EEC9C6396F332C1&N=4294922199&Ntt=voice%20command&productId=199595&R=199595#description1' target='_blank'>http://www.handango.com/PlatformProductDetail.jsp?siteId=1&osId=804&jid=1DD2B53F1BD643FE1EEC9C6396F332C1&N=4294922199&Ntt=voice%20command&productId=199595&R=199595#description1</a><br /><br /></div><i>"Voice Command transforms your Smartphone into your own virtual personal assistant, letting you use your voice to look up contacts, make phone calls, get calendar information, play and control your music, as well as start programs. Voice Command makes it easier and more convenient than ever to take your digital lifestyle with you wherever you go."</i><br /><br /> <img src="http://www.smartphonethoughts.com/images/Jerry-vc.jpg" alt="User submitted image" title="User submitted image"/> <br /><br />You waited and waited and whined and now it is here! Voice Command not only now officially runs on our Smartphones, it also supports Bluetooth headsets. It's not cheap, $39.99. I have found from its first incarnation that it has always been a good application. However it doesn't seem to work on the BlackJack. :(

[craigrens]

But does it install to the storage card?

[Jerry Raia]

No they still want to install in main memory.

[otty]

$39.99 for software that should have been included in the operating system is outrageous. I hope someone is able to come up with a more reasonably priced (and most likely) better alternative.

[snap]

What's the upgrade cost if you have an earlier version?

[superfaron]

Is Handango's upgrade for the PPC platform only? Handango recognized my email address and I purchased the upgrade, but then it was for WM for PPC only! When I identify my device as a smartphone (T-Mo SDA), it says I am not eligible for the upgrade price! 1.6 is the first version compatible with smartphone, so how can they offer an upgrade price for it but not count 1.5 when considering eligibility? Is this Handango ripping us off again?

[Tim Williamson]

Wow that was quick. How's it working for everyone?

[Tim Williamson]

Is there a direct link to the .cab file for the demo?

[Jerry Raia]

Wow that was quick. How's it working for everyone?

So far it will not work on the BlackJack. It installs fine and starts up but there is never a response to a command.

[Islanti]

It's a pretty piggy application to be installing in Main Memory. ~4MB is all the free space I have on my SDA (3MB of PIM and 3MB of email doesn't help of course).

[tadevinney]

is there a demo? for $40.00 I really want to know that this will work on my SDA.

[Jerry Raia]

There appears to be no demo.

[Tim Williamson]

Does it work on the Dash?

[aximilation]

"...You waited and waited and whined and now it is here!..."
Hmm. The whining. I believe that was me.....I wanted it for the SDA really bad, but now for that much?? I don't think so.

Oh well, I just got the 8125, so I don't quite fit in here anymore. :-/ Fortunately that means the old vs of voice command will work for me, so no $$ :-)

Bye all, I'm being expelled from the SPT forums into the PPCT forums... so sad.

Note: This forum seems to be much more friendly than the other, there's more of a sense of community etc etc with Mike, Jerry, and many other regular posters. :-D

[bibap]

It looks as if Handango messed up. I just downloaded the trial and it says that it is version 1.5, not 1.6. It won't install on my 3125, saying that the software does not support this device.

[orgwizard]

I know it says on the handango site the SDA is compatible, but I really would like to hear from some SDA users as to how well it works and how much memory it eats up.
I'm not sure if one can get a refund after they purchase it.

[amg212]

I can get VC to display contacts and start programs when I'm not using Bluetooth, but nothing whatsoever on either of my headsets. Also, even when just using the phone itself, NOTHING that requires a voice response or prompt (e.g., asking for the time, next appointment OR DIALING) works. What a waste of $!

[Jerry Raia]

Yeah this is pretty bad. Nothing works over BT that I can see so far. I'm gathering maybe it only makes announcements on BT like reminders etc.

[badbob001]

Will this work on my MPX220 (WM2003SE) or is it WM5 only?

[rfsmithsr]

Does it work on the Dash?

Yes it works on the Dash with my Moto BT headset. I get all VC responses over my headset including incoming call announcements, incoming email announcements, reminders, etc. As usual the VC accepts my commands with no problem. Using this without a BT headset (why would you?) is not as cool as the Dash does not have a dedicated Record button and I'm not sure how to map the App1, App2 keys, etc. Use the BT headset.

Version 1.6 is new so the upgrade price of $9.99 ONLY applies to the PPC version, not the Smartphone edition, per Handango's email to me.

Ron

[dornier]

Does it work on the Dash?

Yes it works on the Dash with my Moto BT headset. I get all VC responses over my headset including incoming call announcements, incoming email announcements, reminders, etc. As usual the VC accepts my commands with no problem. Using this without a BT headset (why would you?) is not as cool as the Dash does not have a dedicated Record button and I'm not sure how to map the App1, App2 keys, etc. Use the BT headset.

Version 1.6 is new so the upgrade price of $9.99 ONLY applies to the PPC version, not the Smartphone edition, per Handango's email to me.

Ron

Hi,

Are you able to wake up and initiate a phone call on your Dash by pressing the button on your bluetooth headset? In other words, can you make a call without ever touching the phone with your headset?

Thanks,

GP

[rfsmithsr]

Ti-Will

Yes. Leave the Dash in my shirt pocket. Make and receive calls.

[dornier]

Ti-Will

Yes. Leave the Dash in my shirt pocket. Make and receive calls.

Just purchased and installed. After the install I rebooted the phone and it works perfectly with my Samsung WEP200 headset with my Dash. I didn't realize how much I missed the feature that announces who's calling. What's really cool is hearing the ringtone and name on the bluetooth headset. Don't really need caller ID, unless you don't recognize the number. I'll see how it works in the car with ambient noises tomorrow.

GP

[chsong]

The much hyped native BT support is a non-starter with the above Smartphone.

Anyone have similar experiences?

[joshbish]

Wow that was quick. How's it working for everyone?

So far it will not work on the BlackJack. It installs fine and starts up but there is never a response to a command.

works great on mine. however, can't get it to work over my BT headset.

[chsong]

I purchased my copy a few days ago from Handango for the Samsung i320 Smartphone.

Problems Include:

1.) Native Bluetooth Support is NOT working properly. I get the prompt to record but somehow my voice is not being picked up by the BT headset's mic.

2.) Announcement of names on incoming calls and messages. Worked only once and not any more.

3.) Announcement of Reminders on Calendar. Not working

Problem is that being a Microsoft product, it is not even searchable on Microsoft's website!!

Save your $40 bucks and wait for a month or two longer for them to work out the bugs.

[orgwizard]

So, I got tired of waiting for someone to try it out on the SDA and put up a review, so I went ahead and took the plunge. And here are my thoughts so far...

My Equipment: T-Mobile SDA Running the Imate firmware. Plantronics Voyager 510.

Installation

Fairly straight forward. It's true that you have no choice but to install it into main memory. You get to the screen to choose the install location, but it doesn't let you change it. Another unusual thing, is apparently the program requires a reboot to actually take over the voice dial functionality from the OS, though at the end of the install, it doesn't tell you to reboot. It's interesting, you can tell that that the voice command is kind of jumping in on top of or right after the built in voice dial software, because it starts off with the normal beep and then the one for the voice command program.

Voice Recognition

So, I've tried it in my house under quiet conditions and it seems to do a nice job of recognizing the contact I was looking for. In addition, I also did some tests this morning on my way to work, at about 70mph in my not so quiet car. Though I had to speak up, it again did a good job of recognizing the contact I was looking for. One interesting thing to note, if you use Outlook like I do, I guess voice command wants you to speak the full name to find the right contact. On the plus side, you can do what I did and assign nicknames to the contacts you call most often, or all of them if you feel so inclined. This allows voice command to find the contact by that nickname rather than having to say the full name. Something interesting about it though, is while the recognition is good over the headset, when I tried the same tests using just the phone's built in mic, the recognition was less than accurate. Actually, it was pretty bad. I looked in the troubleshooting documents, and there were some references to adjusting the mic or turning off some gain control, but I wasn't able to find any settings in the program or in the SDA config that would allow me to adjust he Mic.
It's nice that you can also choose how to dial, by either just saying call whoever and waiting for it to tell you which numbers are available (ie mobile, work, etc), or you can just do the quick dial method of saying call whoever at work or mobile, etc. It's nice flexibility to have.
I've also played with the calendar features a little bit, and I guess it could come in handy to ask the phone to tell you what your upcoming appointments are.

Announcements

This one has been somewhat interesting. I've been through the settings several times and can't seem to figure out how to get it to announce the person calling through the bluetooth headset. For some reason, it does however announce it through the phone, as if the speaker phone was on. The announcement comes between the regular ringtone on the phone, but not on the headphone, though I do still get the regular ringtone through the headset. My calendar reminders on the other hand actually do play through the headset, so I'm not quite sure what needs to change.

Volume

This is worth discussing briefly. Though I have my headset turned up all the way, and the 510 is plenty loud, the announcements as well as the repeat of your contact selection doesn't come through very loud, and I've not found a way to adjust this. What this meant was in loud environments I was having trouble hearing the commands or announcments when in my car.

General Performance

Maybe it's because I have several apps installed on my phone or the fact that it only left me with around 4mb of storage space, but the phone does at times take a few seconds to prompt me that it's ready for me to speak. It's usually after the phone's been sitting around unused for a while though, and not every time. That's the most significant performance hit that I've noticed, so it's very tolerable, since it does eventually beep to let you know it's ready for you to speak.

Is it worth it?

I've not used the other tools much and still haven't delved into all the features and available voice commands, but this program adds the one feature I've been waiting for. I can now initiate a phone call using my bluetooth headset. I've tried the built in OS voice recognition and this program is still quite an improvement, especially since I don't have to prerecord the names of my contacts. It's a bit pricey, and not perfect, but it's does the voice recognition over bluetooth well, so for me it's still worth the $40.

I'm still going to test the program on my wife's phone, which doesn't have the imate firmware and doesn't have as many additional apps running as mine does. I'm also looking forward to trying this out on or hearing from someone else who tries the software when attached to a car hands free system.

Hope this helps those of you who might be on the edge of buying. I'm sure there will probably be another update soon that will fix some of the little quirks of the program, but for now it still works well. Let me know if you have any questions.

[chsong]

Thanks for the great post. I tried a Jabra BT speaker phone and I could hear the beep request (albeit very soft) from VC after pressing the speaker phone's button. However, my voice is not being picked up by its mic.

Seems like this software works with some BT models and not others. Could those who have it working share which BT headsets are working?

Thanks in advance.

[ebadger]

Thanks for the great post. I tried a Jabra BT speaker phone and I could hear the beep request (albeit very soft) from VC after pressing the speaker phone's button. However, my voice is not being picked up by its mic.

Seems like this software works with some BT models and not others. Could those who have it working share which BT headsets are working?

Thanks in advance.

Most bluetooth headsets work, it has more to do with the phone itself. There are a few models that just don't work.

HTC Hermes / Palm 7xx - Bluetooth routing does not work properly on these devices with Voice Command 1.6. Work around is possible, but timeframe is not known yet.

Samsung Blackjack - Bluetooth routing appears to work, but there is a problem with the audio stream that is causing problems on this device. Exact problem is being investigated

Users of other devices have reported excellent experiences, including:
Wizard, Apache, Tornado, StarTrek, Dash, Universal

[jimfee]

Has anybody installed the app on mutiple devices?, I would go the 39.99 if I can install it on the wife's SMT5600 as well as my 8100. Don't want to get locekd to one install per download. Don't particularly care to patronize Handango but then Smartphone Thoughts partner store doesn't seem to have this yet

EDIT: Never mind, I see that Handango lists the two versions on separate pages. I should have known that I would need to buy two licensed copies, what was I thinking, :?

[bernd]

I installed Voice Command 1.6 on MDA Vario II using a Motorola H300 BTH.

Voice recognition is fine and Voice Command reacts as expected.
However, all audio output from Voice Command is directed to the phone speaker and not to the BTH.

Has anyone had similar experience with this setup?

[Smartphone Guy]

For anyone who got Voice Command to work on the BlackJack, what button did you set in the app, and which button is this on the device. Thanks in advance for any tips.