Nuance has been making some big moves lately. They released Dragon Dictation for the iPhone and then the BlackBerry. They acquired Jott… and SpinVox. And the list goes on and on.
Well Nuance has another announcement and it is a signal of what is hopefully coming to a wide assortment of smart phones in the near future.
T-Mobile’s latest Android phone is the myTouch 3G™ Slide. Thank’s to Nuance the 3G Slide has a trick that makes other smart phones look a bit less smart. You see, the myTouch 3G Slide brings with it T-Mobile’s “Genius Button” and what makes the Genius Button so smart is that it is built on Nuance’s interactive speech platform. It is
The first of its kind the Genius Button provides consumers one-button voice access to control the phone and its features including many of the mobile applications they use most – making calls, sending emails and text messages, searching the Web, finding businesses and directions, and much more.
The phone incorporates a revolutionary, pervasive voice interface that works right out of the box – no apps to download, no premium download fees or recurring monthly charges for use of the voice interface. Nuance’s successful Dragon Dictation is also embedded on the smartphone for fast and easy text dictation in any text field, and includes a convenient text-to-speech powered feature for readback of incoming messages.
So what can the Genius Button do?
First it lets you control the phone by voice. With it you can say things like
§ “Call Alex Jones at Home.”
§ “Send Text to John Smith. I’ve got tickets to the Dodgers game tonight, you in?”
§ “Search for Recipes for Chocolate Cake.”
§ “Find Sushi Restaurants near me”
§ “Find Directions to 1 Wayside Drive, Burlington, Massachusetts.”
§ “Show me the Calendar”
That’s nice but not something that other phones can’t already do. The difference here is that it is powered by Nuance and if my experience on the iPhone and BlackBerry is any indication that means the recognition accuracy will be out of this world.
But it gets better. Much better.
The Genius Button lets you activate a feature that will alert you to incoming messages and then users can verbally tell the phone to READ THEM OUT LOUD.
But there’s even more to the Genius Button and Nuance partnership.
The myTouch 3G Slide includes integration with Dragon Dictation so that users can speak text into any field that will accept text input. If you read the site often you will know that this is something I have been clamoring for on the iPhone since Dragon Dictation was first released. Having Dragon Dictation available on a device is nice but having it available EVERYWHERE on the device is a huge convenience and timesaver that I am hoping to see on my device of choice at some point.
Global voice to text is already available on devices like the Google Nexus One but that phone uses Google’s voice to text engine and, as a result, it is mediocre at best. The fact that Dragon Dictation and its superb accuracy is used for voice to text on the 3G Slide will mean that people who get the phone will actually use the functionality.
Michael Thompson, senior vice president and General Manager, Nuance Mobile said,
“We believe the T-Mobile MyTouch 3G Slide’s speech capabilities are perhaps the most innovative examples of how speech will elevate the mobile experience. T-Mobile is truly taking advantage of our connected and embedded natural language capabilities to bring an incredibly unique Android device and one-of-a-kind consumer experience to market. Now T-Mobile consumers have one-button, one-shot speech access for messaging, finding directions, accessing information on the Web – and it’s all available right out of the box.”
This is exciting news for T-Mobile customers and, hopefully, forshadows what is to come for a wide range of devices.
The full release follows…
NUANCE ADVANCED SPEECH CAPABILITIES DEBUT ON NEW T-MOBILE MYTOUCH 3G SLIDE
New Genius Button Feature Enables ‘One-Button’ Voice Control of Favorite Apps, Dragon Dictation for Messaging and Text-to-Speech for Hands-Free Message Readback
BURLINGTON, MA – May 4, 2010 Nuance Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: NUAN) today announced its innovative natural language speech technology is featured on the new T-Mobile® myTouch 3G™ Slide, the latest Android™-powered phone from T-Mobile USA, Inc.
The myTouch 3G Slide introduces T-Mobile’s Genius Button™ built on Nuance’s intuitive speech platform. The first of its kind the Genius Button provides consumers one-button voice access to control the phone and its features including many of the mobile applications they use most – making calls, sending emails and text messages, searching the Web, finding businesses and directions, and much more.
The phone incorporates a revolutionary, pervasive voice interface that works right out of the box – no apps to download, no premium download fees or recurring monthly charges for use of the voice interface. Nuance’s successful Dragon Dictation is also embedded on the smartphone for fast and easy text dictation in any text field, and includes a convenient text-to-speech powered feature for readback of incoming messages.
Nuance-powered voice-enabled features on the phone include:
Genius Button: An easy-to-access button on the front of the new T-Mobile myTouch 3G Slide allowing the use of voice commands to control the phone. The button is enabled via Nuance’s intuitive speech technology that takes advantage of advancements in natural language understanding to allow users to say an entire command in just one shot – making it faster and easier to use their favorite applications and services. For example, just say:
§ “Call Alex Jones at Home.”
§ “Send Text to John Smith. I’ve got tickets to the Dodgers game tonight, you in?”
§ “Search for Recipes for Chocolate Cake.”
§ “Find Sushi Restaurants near me”
§ “Find Directions to 1 Wayside Drive, Burlington, Massachusetts.”
§ “Show me the Calendar”
§ And more.
The T-Mobile Genius Button is powered by the Nuance Voice Control platform, the industry’s first platform-agnostic mobile solution that seamlessly wraps embedded and connected speech capabilities into one amazing mobile experience. The result is faster and more accurate results that are optimized for the individual device.
Through the Genius Button users can also activate a feature that uses Nuance’s text-to-speech technology to read incoming email and text messages when reading them manually isn’t convenient. When the feature is enabled users are alerted when a message is received, and can advise verbally whether or not they want it read aloud, and if they’d like to respond.
Dragon Dictation: The myTouch 3G Slide features Dragon Dictation to easily and quickly speak your text up to five times faster in any text field, regardless of whether it’s an email, text message, calendar, Twitter application or Web browser. Dragon Dictation leverages the core speech technology found in the renowned PC-based Dragon NaturallySpeaking dictation software.
“In partnering with Nuance, a leader in speech technology, we’ve been able to create a new experience which makes it easier for our customers to stay connected with the important people in their lives,” said Andrew Sherrard, vice president, product development, T-Mobile USA. “Our consumers now have the ability to easily and quickly communicate with their favorite people through text and e-mail with the push of one button and the sound of their voice.”
Michael Thompson, senior vice president and General Manager, Nuance Mobile said, “We believe the T-Mobile MyTouch 3G Slide’s speech capabilities are perhaps the most innovative examples of how speech will elevate the mobile experience. T-Mobile is truly taking advantage of our connected and embedded natural language capabilities to bring an incredibly unique Android device and one-of-a-kind consumer experience to market. Now T-Mobile consumers have one-button, one-shot speech access for messaging, finding directions, accessing information on the Web – and it’s all available right out of the box.”
The MyTouch 3G Slide also features MyAccount 3.0 powered by Nuance Mobile Care, which provides users with the ability to easily access and manage account information directly from their phone. In fact, users can even open MyAccount right from the Genius Button, making it even faster and simpler for users to get real-time information about their account.
Availability
The T-Mobile myTouch 3G Slide is expected to be available in June, exclusively from T-Mobile USA in three colors- black, white or red. Customers can visit http://mytouch.t-mobile.com/ for more information.
Nuance’s open speech and predictive text solutions enable today’s leading wireless carriers and handset manufacturers to easily customize and quickly bring-to-market advanced speech and text capabilities for today’s fastest growing mobile platforms, such as Android. Only Nuance speech technology is based on the world renowned Dragon speech technologies used by millions of people on their PCs, mobile phones and other consumer electronics
About Nuance Mobile
Nuance Mobile builds innovative, intelligent and intuitive touch and speech interfaces to simplify and enhance the way people interact with mobile devices, applications, and services. Nuance Mobile solutions make mobile devices and in-car systems easier to use, automate customer self-service, and optimize the access and discovery of even the most advanced mobile applications and content – regardless of technical know-how, location, environment, or physical and literacy capabilities.
About Nuance Communications, Inc.
Nuance is a leading provider of speech and imaging solutions for businesses and consumers around the world. Its technologies, applications and services make the user experience more compelling by transforming the way people interact with information and how they create, share and use documents. Every day, millions of users and thousands of businesses experience Nuance’s proven applications and professional services. For more information, please visit: nuance.com.
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Nuance, Nuance Voice Control, Dragon Dictation, DriverMode and the Nuance logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Nuance Communications, Inc. or its subsidiaries in the United States of America and/or other countries. myTouch, myTouch 3G Slide, the myTouch design are trademarks of T-Mobile USA. Google, Android, Android Market, are trademarks of Google Inc. All other company names or product names may be the trademarks of their respective owners.
The statements in this press release, relating to future plans or future events or services, are forward-looking statements which are subject to specific risks and uncertainties. There are a number of factors which could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those indicated in such forward looking statements, including fluctuations in demand for the Nuance products, the relationship with the partner and the continued development of Nuance products. The reader is warned not to rely on these forward-looking statements without reservation, since these are simply reflections of the current situation. Nuance disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements as a result of developments occurring after the date of this document.
