Call, Text and More, Virtually Hands-Free, With Voice Actions

Monday, August 29, 2011

Call, Text and More, Virtually Hands-Free, With Voice Actions

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Voice-commands for a mobile phone seem like a silly idea, all things considered. I mean, everything is already kind of just there: a GPS, internet browser, email, texting and so on. There are certainly some situations that it would be handy in, though. Driving and walking down the street (no more inadvertently walking into traffic while typing, yay!) come to mind. Voice Actions is intended to be some kind of all-encompassing voice-command app that does all that and more.

Want to call the parents? Just tell the phone. Need to know where that restaurant is? Ask. The software recognizes a shocking amount of spoken dialog accurately. It can translate words and phrases into several different languages, find locations on the GPS, search the device’s library for requested songs and more.

A good many of the questions users might ask will be answered in-app via a computerized Australian woman’s voice, while anything that isn’t readily-available calls up a search in the web browser. It can also access other apps such as the GPS I keep talking about, contacts, YouTube and more. It can certainly be useful in a situation that requires one’s eyes to be somewhere other than the screen, but it can also be a faster way to find information depending on the situation.

For example, it’s possible to open up the weather app, mess around with some menus and figure out what the weather is like in West Haven, Connecticut. Or there’s the option to simply ask Voice Actions and have it tell me. The same goes for finding locations on a map or videos. Then, of course, there’s the translation. The app seems to be able to accurately translate a whole heck of a lot into a whole heck of a lot of different languages, and it provides computerized pronunciations.

Voice Actions is available in the App Store right now for $9.99.