Can You Really Talk To Your Pocket PC? [Archive]

View Full Version : Can You Really Talk To Your Pocket PC?

Brad Adrian

11-24-2003, 10:00 AM

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.pocketnow.com/index.php?a=portal_detail&t=reviews&id=296' target='_blank'>http://www.pocketnow.com/index.php?...=reviews&id=296</a><br /><br /></div>If you've been wondering whether Microsoft's new Voice Command program is all it's cracked up to be, Tim Adams at <a href="http://www.pocketnow.com/index.php">PocketNow.com</a> has taken it out for a spin and <a href="http://www.pocketnow.com/index.php?a=portal_detail&t=reviews&id=296">has put together a great review</a>. It's got TONS of screen shots and a very detailed description of how he used it.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/adrian/pocketnow.jpg" /><br /><br /> <img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/adrian/voicecommand.jpg" /><br /> <br />Voice control of Pocket PCs has always been something I've longed for. I've been using <a href="http://www.fonix.com/page.cfm?name=product_fonix_voicedial&ID=14">Fonix VoiceDial </a>on my Pocket PC Phone Edition for some time now, but it's limited to phone control functions. So, I've been hoping that Voice Command will do a good job of letting me have much more voice control of my Pocket PCs. You'll have to read all of Tim's review to know what his final take is on Voice Command, but after reading what he does and does not like about it, I'm even more anxious to give it a try.

rzanology

11-24-2003, 11:14 AM

His review seems dead on. I've been using it sense it came out and I am really dependent on it now. Its sooo much easier to press the button and say a contact than to turn it out....launch contacts....and scroll to the number. The only thing I wish they had was a "dial number via bluetooth" command. That would make it perfect. Good job Microsoft!

Skoobouy

11-24-2003, 11:17 AM

I would pay the price if it could read text from IE and book readers. That would make my life just about 10x easier. :) Otherwise, it's still worth $20.

OSUKid7

11-24-2003, 12:54 PM

Does anyone use IBM ViaVoice? That was included on my iPaq, but I didn't use it very much. I might try to find my CD and reinstall it though.

topps

11-24-2003, 02:46 PM

How sensitive is it to background noise?

I used ViaVoice for a while before but found it lacking in accuracy. This was especially true in the car with background wind noise. This is a shame because this is also the time when it would be most useful.

topps

11-24-2003, 02:49 PM

How does the accuracy compare to some of the cell phones that now also do voice dialling?

I used a T68i before. While it also had voice dialing, the accuracy was still a bit too unreliable to make it useful. ViaVoice was slightly worse than the phone, which was surprising since it had a faster processor and more RAM to play with.

topps

11-24-2003, 02:50 PM

Has anyone used it with a Bluetooth headset, such as Jabra?

Does it work?

Is the voice clarity improved enough to help get better recognition in a noisy environment?

bgate

11-24-2003, 03:10 PM

And now completely, sort of, near topic. Was he running Wisbar on the screenshots for the review? Great looking skin-just curious if anyone knows what he was running.

Thanks

Steven Cedrone

11-24-2003, 04:07 PM

And now completely, sort of, near topic. Was he running Wisbar on the screenshots for the review? Great looking skin-just curious if anyone knows what he was running.

Thanks

Wisbar Advance (http://www.lakeridgesoftware.com) and the skin is from here... (http://www.lightman.pdahit.com)

Steve

zynaps

11-24-2003, 04:22 PM

Steven Cedrone

11-24-2003, 04:42 PM

What about last screenshot? :) What is the plugin?

Journal Bar... (http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=21105&highlight=)

Steve

fgarcia10

11-24-2003, 04:58 PM

What about last screenshot? :) What is the plugin?

Journal Bar... (http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=21105&highlight=)

Steve

The plug in i the last screenshot is TodayPlus not Journal Bar. http://dark-mojo.com/TodayPlus/viewforum.php?f=9 :wink:

Steven Cedrone

11-24-2003, 05:08 PM

The plug in i the last screenshot is TodayPlus not Journal Bar. http://dark-mojo.com/TodayPlus/viewforum.php?f=9 :wink:

Oops... :oops:

Steve

Foo Fighter

11-24-2003, 05:50 PM

Is this really useful? Do you find it more natural to talk to your handheld rather than use a stylus? I'm a little skeptical. My old Philips Nino 310 offered someting similar to this, and I never used it. It just didn't feel right..a guy walking around TALKING TO HIS HAND. :|

Archie

11-24-2003, 06:35 PM

My 2 cents:

For $40 I will not try any software, just to find out that it does not help me or will not work for me. 40 bucks wasted? No thanks. Let me try it for free, and find out if I really need it.

I am a journalist, and I have over 1000 contacts in my iPaq. In the future, it would be quite helpful if I could just press a button, say a person's name and the machine would just read back his/her phone number. And if that would work without a big hassle and (almost) every time.

But I doubt it. Even if such function existed, most of the names in my contact list are not typical English names. Their pronunciation would be funny at best. (The fact that the numbers would be read in English does not bother me that much).

Also, my iPaq 2210 may be not the best PocketPC for such a function. The small buttons are not the easiest to press. I generally avoid pressing them and operate with stylus. The speaker on the back of the unit is not the loudest possible. In noisy environment it would be difficult to catch the number.

Mostly I use my iPaq in the office. I don't see myself there, talking to the machine all the time. It would be queer, odd. Although, being able to communicate with my computer by voice commands seems incredibly fascinating, Star-Trekky.

"Computer!" (click)
"Find... "

But the PPCs are just not there yet. I would need something that works for me, not just a cool toy.

Fishie

11-24-2003, 08:15 PM