Speech Platform
This week we were able to learn about the news that the people of Microsoftyou have prepared for the new version of your operating system, Windows Phone 8, which has with the nickname Apollo Among them stands out the appearance of a true voice assistant, something of what had been rumored on the Internet, although there was no proof of it. Its name is Speech (Voice in Spanish), and it can be integrated with the applications created for Windows Phone 8
Actually, it's not completely genuine. Cell phones with Windows Phone 7.5 already had this tool. Thus, by making a long press on the start button, it was already possible to consult certain questions to this assistant to give them answers or perform quick actions without having to move through the different menus of the terminal. However, now Speech has been improved, allowing the user to interact with applications in a way comfortably and without being limited only to the beginning of these.
The key point of this enhancement is to give possibility to developers to program your applications allowing to perform all kinds of actions with your voice In this way, the user can initiate Speech and make use of their applications and even have interactive conversations with them.During the presentation of Windows Phone 8 a demonstration of this technology was carried out. In the video we can see how with a simple voice command it is possible to start the application Audible to listen to audiobooks. But not only that, it also allows interact within it being able to change chapter orpause the narration. You can even consult other works in the library before you start listening to them.
With this, Speech could be considered a clear competitor to Siri , who already allows to know results of sporting events, search for movies in where a specific actor is involved or request a step-by-step guide to reach a destination However, there is still a long way to go for Speech is up to par with Siri, as it currently only allows you to perform internet searches, calls to contacts without having to practically touch the terminal or launching applications , without going any further.
To do all this, Speech just needs to be launched by pressing the menu button for a long time. A window automatically appears at the top of the screen to let the user know that this tool is listening Thus, with simple voice commands like “ Call”¦”, “Write message to ”¦”, “ Find ”¦” or “Open ”¦” you can perform actions quickly even when you have your hands busy.
As we say, Speech Platform is integrated into version 7.5 of Windows Phone , being able to be used freely and without any cost However, we will have to wait until the release of Windows Phone 8 to know all the possibilities of this tool. We must also pay attention to the creativity and expertise of the developers who decide to introduce this technology in their applicationsIt should be remembered that, during the presentation, the availability of the audiobook application shown for terminals with Windows Phone 7.5 was announced The application Audible can be downloaded completely free via from Windows Phone Marketplace
