"Microsoft Launches Voice Command" - PCWorld.com

[Jason Dunn]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,113179,00.asp' target='_blank'>http://www.pcworld.com/news/article...d,113179,00.asp</a><br /><br /></div>"Microsoft plans to release its Voice Command software for personal digital assistants and cell phones Monday, November 3, the company said Wednesday. Microsoft Voice Command will allow users to issue voice-activated commands to dial contacts or check appointments on their calendars. The application is designed to work with Microsoft's Windows Mobile 2003 PDA operating system and with Windows Pocket PC Phone Edition software...Information regarding the Voice Command software had leaked onto Web sites maintained by members of the PDA enthusiast community earlier this week, and Microsoft released the information ahead of time in response, a Microsoft spokesperson confirmed."<br /><br />That would be <a href="http://tinyurl.com/t2de">this article on Geekzone</a>. I have a copy of the software, but I'm not allowed to talk about it until the press embargo has expired.

[guinness]

I'm beta testing it too, but I don't see where it's worth $40 :!: . They need to add more system commands and maybe a mode that you can program more commands into it. And add an option to adjust the voice tempo (like Sam in XP).

[JoshB]

I've been beta testing it, too, and I agree that $40 seems too high. Fonix VoiceDial is only $15, and does all of the phone-related stuff that Voice Command does. Maybe MS thinks the other functionality (Calendar, reminders, WMP, etc.) is worth an additional $25?

Here's hoping they'll cut the beta testers some kind of deal. MS usually does - I've received free copies of every Windows OS since 98 for participating in the various betas.

JoshB

[Don Tolson]

Looks kind of interesting -- very similar to other attempts made on previous devices (There was something similar on the J568, but I haven't heard hide nor hair of the company since).

I have to agree, tho... $40 US is way too high for this functionality. Coming from MS, it really should be bundled into the next ROM update.

[bdegroodt]

I'm beta testing it too, but I don't see where it's worth $40 :!: . They need to add more system commands and maybe a mode that you can program more commands into it. And add an option to adjust the voice tempo (like Sam in XP).

What device are you beta testing it on? Is it for PPCPE only? Or can you get some use out of it on a regular PPC (system commands etc. just no dial the phone whiz bang stuff).

[szamot]

I also testing it and as much as I like it, there is no way would would pay more than $15.00. Perhaps if it had more commands like exit application or close application. I wonder why that's not there

[szamot]

I'm beta testing it too, but I don't see where it's worth $40 :!: . They need to add more system commands and maybe a mode that you can program more commands into it. And add an option to adjust the voice tempo (like Sam in XP).

What device are you beta testing it on? Is it for PPCPE only? Or can you get some use out of it on a regular PPC (system commands etc. just no dial the phone whiz bang stuff).

Pocket PC and Smart Phone as well. you can say call contact at location or dial 5551212 and off it goes.

[LarDude]

Question:
What would happen if you were operating your PocketPC using MS's Voice Command software, when suddenly some yahoo walks up to you and yells
"Delete star-dot-star", and your PocketPC responds with "All files deleted"?

(a) You'd politely smile, say "Nice...thanks alot", then go home and re-install.
(b) You'd smile politely, say "Nice try, but I've got Pocket Backup"
(c) That yahoo would be spitting teeth
(d) You'd be spitting teeth cause that yahoo was bigger than you (most of us here are geeks and shouldn't try anything that could muss up our bowties)

[bdegroodt]

Pocket PC and Smart Phone as well. you can say call contact at location or dial 5551212 and off it goes.

Meaning on the PPC side o' things, it would initiate the appropriate application to dial via blue tooth? Or not?

[szamot]

Pocket PC and Smart Phone as well. you can say call contact at location or dial 5551212 and off it goes.

Meaning on the PPC side o' things, it would initiate the appropriate application to dial via blue tooth? Or not?

I don't know if it would initiate a blutooth application however there is a provision for Pocket PC Phone Edition and a set of commands that go with it, naturally I can't test them since I do not have one. I only tested it on 5450 with W2k3. Worked great and the voice recogintion is most excellent. However, since the speaker is so quiet you can hardly hear anthing the PPC says back to you, like your next appointment etc... Even outside on a busy street the speech recognition was very good.

[guinness]

I'm beta testing it too, but I don't see where it's worth $40 :!: . They need to add more system commands and maybe a mode that you can program more commands into it. And add an option to adjust the voice tempo (like Sam in XP).

What device are you beta testing it on? Is it for PPCPE only? Or can you get some use out of it on a regular PPC (system commands etc. just no dial the phone whiz bang stuff).

It requires WM 2003, the neatest thing about it, IMO is asking it "what are my appointments?" or "what are my appointments tomorrow?" and having it dictate them to you. In WMP, it can dictate what artists are in your playlist, sort them by genre, artist, play everything, control some functions of WMP as well. Still wish there was an option to minimize/close apps. Comes with a new WMP skin (which is about the most noticable thing, a little mic icon pops up on the top bar when the VC button is pressed).

http://www.aximsite.com/boards/attachment.php?s=&postid=175185

[PR.]

Whats the voice like that you get back?

Does it sound reasonable or is more like a robot talking to you from under a duvet? :)

[mgd]

Do you have to press the record button for voice recognition, or is it alway on?

I have an h5550, and it might as well not even have a record button--it's very hard to get it to record because of the volume controls. That's my only complaint about the h5550 (oh, and the heat :( ).

[Jon Westfall]

Microsoft has always been an innovator in non-traditional command input such as:

1. Look at any Windows PC crosseyed, and it will surely crash.
2. Become impatient while sitting in front of a windows PC (i.e. because you're late) and Windows will be sure to slow down substantially to give you time to rest and relax.
3. Try to use the built-in speech recognizer in Office XP / Win XP and you'll find Microsoft's SenseOfHumor protocol, which translates "The blind man jumped through the door" into "The Rhine pan humped through a boar".

Now some might say that this is all in your mind, but I can assure you - having technical certifications from MS and being 8 cr. away from my B.A. in psychology - it's not in your mind - its really Windows' fault!

Seriously, it sounds like this software can't compare to products already out there that are way cheaper.

[freitasm]

Pocket PC and Smart Phone as well. you can say call contact at location or dial 5551212 and off it goes.

Meaning on the PPC side o' things, it would initiate the appropriate application to dial via blue tooth? Or not?

No, it won't start dialing if it's not a Pocket PC Phone Edition :cry:

[freitasm]

Pocket PC and Smart Phone as well. you can say call contact at location or dial 5551212 and off it goes.

Meaning on the PPC side o' things, it would initiate the appropriate application to dial via blue tooth? Or not?

I don't know if it would initiate a blutooth application however there is a provision for Pocket PC Phone Edition and a set of commands that go with it, naturally I can't test them since I do not have one. I only tested it on 5450 with W2k3. Worked great and the voice recogintion is most excellent. However, since the speaker is so quiet you can hardly hear anthing the PPC says back to you, like your next appointment etc... Even outside on a busy street the speech recognition was very good.

Before having it on my H3970 I saw it running on a HTC Himalaya (a.k.a XDA II) that will be released on Vodafone New Zealand soon (can't say more than this). Really cool Phone capabilities.

About the voice, it's a female voice - very similar to the ones used by some Speechfy products on telecom's NLP products.

It sounds ok, no duvets there :)

You have to press the assigned button. The default button is not convenient - or so I thought, so on my iPaq I've assigned the Memo Recording button on the left side. That makes very easy to press the button and say "What's my next appointment?", even if it's in a cradle in your car (which is more likely to be the use for this).

[mmayer63]

i am testing several different command & controll software for personal use. can anybody of you tell me some commands of the beta test version?

specially the voice dialing command

thanks in advance
mmayer63 from rainy austria

[dmeineck]

I just ordered it from handango via the microsoft website, the $40 price tag is not inclusive of uk vat at 17.5% :-(

Oh well lets just hope it works - btw not very impressed that it has to be installed to main memory, i wanted to install it to my axim's built in storage area.

[Uh_Andy]

Dang:

Hands-free Phone

NOTE: Hands-free Phone is only available with Pocket PC Phone Edition.

This feature lets you make phone calls using your voice without any training or contact selection. You can call by contact name (contact calling) or dial by phone number (digit dialing).

All it does on my 3970 is open the contact for viewing. There's not even a way to dial from that screen that I can find. Once you close the window you don't go back to a list so you can at least dial manually. Seems like just a couple more lines of code would have allowed it to be more useful for non Phone Edition devices. Very frustrating - feels almost like a crippleware strategy.

Maybe someone will write an addin for Pocket Informant or something so it can dial using the default method (or at least highlight the contact in the contacts list).

[freitasm]

I just ordered it from handango via the microsoft website, the $40 price tag is not inclusive of uk vat at 17.5% :-(


I'm pretty sure Pocket PC Thoughts had some kind of discount with Handango. As I'm not a subscriber I don't know what's on http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/discounts.php. Perhaps a subscriber can confirm.

[blusparkles]

I just ordered it from handango via the microsoft website, the $40 price tag is not inclusive of uk vat at 17.5% :-(

Oh well lets just hope it works - btw not very impressed that it has to be installed to main memory, i wanted to install it to my axim's built in storage area.

I have it installed to a storage card and it still works, though note it starts up after every soft reset so this will result in some lag when resetting.