Database Info

Talking numbers,or, Missing the obvious voice-control?

So, Had my Qtek S200 for just a bit more than a week now, and getting to set up the details. And now I'm trying to figure out some obvious voice-dialing tricks that should be present on a device like this. But obviously is not there or well hidden.
I want a voice-number mode. Like I press the headset button and say: "Dial" and then just say one number at a time, possibly even with short-names for area-codes, and of course a "Wrong" or "Back" if a number gets misinterpreted.
I havn't installed the voice-command software that I can install for free, but that's just because outside dialing numbers I don't really need any more voice-control. And to install all of that just to get this little function (if it's at all there) seems a bit over the top.
I also find it strange that I cannot have a common word for "Home", "Work" and "Mobile". What I mean with that is that Saying a name should open that contact, and then just say which type of number should be dialed. That would obviously save space for more controls and thus less misses in the control. But that is a seriously minor point to the obvious number-dialing.
Best Regards
Bo Eriksson

Hi SDplus!
While I and other people may agree with you, Microsoft unfortunately doesn't. I have the same device with imate ROM (Jamin) and it comes with "Cyberon voice dial" in the ext ROM. That is actually a reduced version of the voice commander that only handles prerecorded voice tags.
Bummer, but no choice there. At leas the manufacturers are trying to add the 3rd party software like cyberon to the ROM so you don't have to pay for it.
Also I had to give up my camera button to assign the app to it. It's a nice device but the extra 'OK' button could be put to a much better use by default.

IM Frustrations

For years now I’ve been standing firm by the pocket pc platform. In countless ways I think it is the way of the future for not only one’s phone, but the one device that we all carry around that does it all. I’m very pleased to say the platform has proven this time and time again. But there’s one grey area that just seems to be left in limbo with the improvements of everything else. This is IM! Back when I upgraded to my Cingular 8125 from my ipaq, I remember having the feeling something was missing. I had this new phone that could do it all, but it just wasn’t able to do it all correct, so I sought out on a search to find that perfect im app.
This was back in the days when agile was still in beta and was free. Aside from the ugly aim app that I had to download from the .uk site, this was pretty much the only option. But it was okay, it was a very good option. As time passed a few more came out, IM+ was around as well and a few other lack luster apps. I do remember paying for IM+ but wasn’t very happy with the UI and the way it worked with the soft keys so I kinda stuck to agile.
Then I got a whole of my 8525 when I came out. So I had this phone that could do it all (lol again) now with 3g included….and I still didn’t have an IM app to my liking. Agile and IM+ really started to look bad. Not to mention these were the days of the sidekicks! As much as I hate those things, one has to admit, they do what they’re supposed to do very well. The thing that really wowed me about the sidekick was its ability to switch to sms messenger for the aim when you’re on the phone. This was pure genius. It allowed you to stay connected while on the phone or not. Well….luckily we had a solution for that. It was called verichat.
Verichat had an option to enter your sms address and it would send you the messages via text if you were to be disconnected from the internet. This was all well and good, even though it worked…it was very slow. Not to mention the UI of the app itself was kinda slow as well…so I often got frustrated. So it’s about a year later and we have a few new comers. Among them are mundu, octrotalk and the latest and greatest palringo.
Once again I find myself paying for apps I’m not entirely happy with (no ones fault but myself.) But the life time membership for mundu wasn’t bad…it was only $11. Mundu has a very clean and welcome UI. Its features are definitely up to snuff, but it’s still missing what I think should be the basics. But overall this is a very good app. Octrotalk is still in beta….and by its rights a very good app. Even though I think the UI could use some polish and it’s still missing the “basics.” Now for my favorite of the bunch….palringo. This one is a almost a entire entity on its own, that just supports IM clients. The UI isn’t as pretty as mundu, but it’s still polished and the feature set is great….especially its support for push to talk and image I’m. But again….the basic.
What are these basics I keep rambling on about? Well…for one…lets start with displaying your contacts buddy icons. It kills me that none of these apps allow me to see my contacts buddy icons…and what’s even more annoying, I can’t set a custom pic for my icon in any app. This is such a huge feature and it needs these developers urgent attention. 2. I’d like to see support for fonts and colors. I should be able to import my favorite font to the phone and set size and color to be displayed to my contact when I’m in a conversation. Mundu touched on this a little but not enough. 3. Being able to read contacts away messages. Mundu and octrotalk does this but palringo does not….this should be a no brainier. 4. Just make it simple to navigate….there should be no reason I should have to take out the stylus. I should be able to scroll my list, start convos, switch between them, set custom away messages send images, so on and so forth with the soft keys.
Im not a developer, but I do know these few improvements shouldn’t be hard to accomplish. These are all standard on all desktop IM programs, other mobile platforms (like the sidekick and the iphone) and even web2 based sites (like meboo.com) And even if they’re difficult to develop….so what! Developers need to stop being lazy and get it done. I don’t care of if I have to pay $50 for the app. What really kills me inside is how the iphone came out, and within a few weeks it had 7 different I’m clients most of which had the basics down pat. Why does it take us 4 years in the ppc community? And we’re still not there yet. Anyone else feel this way? Is anyone out there listening???????

You need to re-format your post because it is not easy to read
What is your problem? Describe in 1 or 2 sentences ...

The new MSN Messenger mobile is amazing.
1. Intuitive and Easy navigation: Right/Left tabs between the conversations. Up/Down navigates buddies and messages.
2. Emoticons
3. Supports sending images.
4. (Amazingly useful) Supports sending Voice Clips. This is probably one of the most wow features about it.
5. Displays information about contacts, including the IM picture.

shaharprish said:
The new MSN Messenger mobile is amazing.
1. Intuitive and Easy navigation: Right/Left tabs between the conversations. Up/Down navigates buddies and messages.
2. Emoticons
3. Supports sending images.
4. (Amazingly useful) Supports sending Voice Clips. This is probably one of the most wow features about it.
5. Displays information about contacts, including the IM picture.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
while this is true. im looking for an all-in-one app. but you are correct...i did enjoy the msn live.

rzanology said:
What really kills me inside is how the iphone came out, and within a few weeks it had 7 different I’m clients most of which had the basics down pat. Why does it take us 4 years in the ppc community? And we’re still not there yet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My current thoughts exactly. I'm crying inside.
I really hope that people at Palringo will get it "done" and not leave behind a client that will miss the important features. It's really amazing that some companies even charge for their poor inexcusable clients.
I also agree that those avatar images are more important than many would think. Last time i chatted with my ppc, i had three "Timo" persons online. Had to ask which one which was. I've gotten used to just look at the avatar.

I feel the same way! I LOVE having IM on my phone.. but it just seems like no single company can get it right on the PocketPC. I don't understand what the is the problem! My favorite two right now are Octrotalk and Mundu. I tried Palringo, but it lacked a couple critical things for me.
Octrotalk Pros
1. Today plugin that shows status
2. Doesn't crash... ever.. it stays connected for days
3. Fairly simple to change custom status text
Octrotalk Cons
1. No custom status text on the today plugin.. ARGH, so simple, I've requested it three times!
2. No profile pictures, come on... just add them!
3. Having Gtalk be the conduit for the other legacy IM clients still causes problems with my other IM clients like Trillian... I get duplicate contacts often
Mundu Pros
1. Supports profile pictures! Yippee
2. Displays custom status messages next to names on the contact list
3. Supports group conversations across IM mediums! woot!
Mundu Cons
1. No today plugin... I really like that feature in Octrotalk... just make a simple one line plugin that says status and custom message, ie. "Online - Mobile!"
2. No WM5 soft key support, I HATE tapping the screen.. even more so when the interface has a TINY menu bar.
3. Doesn't display the current custom status message for YOURSELF anywhere that I can find.

Also don't forget to read the IM Bible at http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=295677 - it might contain info you aren't aware of.

Menneisyys said:
Also don't forget to read the IM Bible at http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=295677 - it might contain info you aren't aware of.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i'll tell ya what....that disconnecting thing annoyed the hell outtah me. Im gonna try to check off the "always on" connection option in HTCustom and see what happens. I think thats the same reg hack.
But i've been through your post a few times...maybe one too many times.

Speech Recognition API for Windows Mobile 6.1?

I've started developing an application that allows the user to compose and send an email completely hands-free... by voice command only.
However I'm having trouble finding a decent, open source (free) speech recognition (speech-to-text) engine / API to use.
Does anyone know of one? I tried PocketSphinx but had trouble compiling it in Windows using VS2008.
I'm wondering what API the Windows Live Search app uses? Its speech recognition capabilities are already decent, and if it's included with Windows Mobile or .NET Compact Framework 3.5 or Windows Mobile 6.1 itself, then I would prefer to use that. But I'm having trouble determining if this speech recognition is available to 3rd-party developers and, if so, how to interface with it.
Any help would be greatly appreciated!

OMG I hate timeouts lol
So I had this nice long post about how I thought it might be one of three things and I whipped out my omnia and disconnected the network and blah blah.
When I hit post, I got a not logged in timeout.
So here's the short of it:
It uses a server, that's probably related to UC aka Office Communications Server aka Speech Server 2007... you can get to it (and all the Microsoft Speech technologies, including Voice Command) here:
http://www.microsoft.com/speech/speech2007/default.mspx
A little more searching lead me to read the MSDN Channel 9 blog on said subject:
http://blogs.msdn.com/speech/archiv...h-for-mobile-now-with-speech-recognition.aspx
which states:
"The speech recognition functionality for the application doesn't actually sit on the Windows Mobile phone. Instead, the phone takes your speech input, sends it to a server, the server does it's recognition magic, and sends the results back to the phone. "

Speech Server 2007
Thanks for the reply MerlinJim... sucks about the timeout! That's why on a long post I always copy the text to the clipboard... that way if it times out I can just paste it in! (It's happened to me too many times for me to not do that now!)
Yeah I've looked at Speech Server 2007 as well... and I was thinking that maybe Live Search offloaded the speech recognition to a server. There's a little lag between what you say and when it guesses what you said.
I guess something like that would work. If you're writing an email then you need an Internet connection, and so sending the voice data to a speech server would be plausible. The only downside would be if it used up a lot of data transfer/bandwidth, and the user was on metered bandwidth.
The lag would be a bit of a drawback, because if the Speech Server guessed incorrectly what you said, but you kept talking (due to the processing lag), then you would have to go back and correct what you had said.
And also sometimes the Live Maps speech recognition is WAY off. Like I'll say "1 Jefferson Parkway" and it will come back with something like "Did you say 'Parkstone Apartments?'"
It's also speaker-independent, so you don't do any training. I would rather train an app to recognize my voice specifically, because I would be the only user of it.
But it may be my only solution for right now. Thanks for the info! I was beginning to think that no one knew the answer.

acrosser said:
Thanks for the reply MerlinJim... sucks about the timeout! That's why on a long post I always copy the text to the clipboard... that way if it times out I can just paste it in! (It's happened to me too many times for me to not do that now!)
Yeah I've looked at Speech Server 2007 as well... and I was thinking that maybe Live Search offloaded the speech recognition to a server. There's a little lag between what you say and when it guesses what you said.
I guess something like that would work. If you're writing an email then you need an Internet connection, and so sending the voice data to a speech server would be plausible. The only downside would be if it used up a lot of data transfer/bandwidth, and the user was on metered bandwidth.
The lag would be a bit of a drawback, because if the Speech Server guessed incorrectly what you said, but you kept talking (due to the processing lag), then you would have to go back and correct what you had said.
And also sometimes the Live Maps speech recognition is WAY off. Like I'll say "1 Jefferson Parkway" and it will come back with something like "Did you say 'Parkstone Apartments?'"
It's also speaker-independent, so you don't do any training. I would rather train an app to recognize my voice specifically, because I would be the only user of it.
But it may be my only solution for right now. Thanks for the info! I was beginning to think that no one knew the answer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
perhaps, but there IS a speech application loaded ON a Windows Mobile 6.1 which has text-to-speech capabilities and speech recognition
(my Blackjack II loaded with Wm6.1 has this capability)
can't find any API to use it though... only way to activate this TTS capability is to
1) sms announcing
2) appointment announcing
3) call announcing
no actual program to do TTS...

Any progress on this or any other speech-to-text program? I'm really interested in finding one.
Wouldn't mind being a beta tester, either.

*Double Post*
DELETE

Microsoft Recite: a cool software

DIRECT LINK for the CAB
MS release a technical preview of recite:
What Is Microsoft Recite?
Microsoft Recite is a search technology for your voice that runs on Windows Mobile* devices. With Microsoft Recite, you can use your voice to easily store, search and retrieve the things you want to remember, where and when you need them. Microsoft Recite is available as a free technology preview beginning February 16, 2009.
*Microsoft Recite can be used on devices running Windows Mobile version 6.0 or higher. Not sure what you’re running? A complete list of devices can be found at http://recite.microsoft.com
How Does It Work?
Microsoft Recite’s voice search makes it easy to retrieve your stored thoughts and notes by using voice pattern matching. It analyzes the patterns in your speech and finds matches between two recordings -- the notes you stored on your phone, and the search you do using your voice. With Recite you can store thousands of spoken notes, and then later retrieve the notes you want based on a match with your search term(s). This is different from speech recognition, which has to accurately convert spoken words to application-readable input.
Press “Remember” to record a thought.
Press “Search” to retrieve your thoughts. It’s that simple!
Consumer Use
We can think of countless handy ways that you might use Microsoft Recite… record your shopping list, friends’ birthdays, addresses, school happenings, gift ideas, get togethers, favorite wines… anything you might need or want to remember later. Recite even lets you remember and search in multiple languages.
Here’s an example. Imagine your co-worker, Paul Johnson, tells you about a book that he thinks you might like, Hot, Flat and Crowded, by Thomas Friedman. To start recording a mental note, launch the technology, press the 'Remember' button, then say what you would like to record; in this case, “Book recommendation from Paul Johnson: Hot, Flat and Crowded.” Next, press the “Finished' button to complete the recording and store the note. Later, when you’re ready to buy the book but are unsure of the title, click on the ‘Search’ button and say what you would like to recall. In this case, you might say “book recommendation,” then press ‘Finished’ to begin the search. Recite will then retrieve and play the book recommendation for you.
Or, you might recall that Paul told you something that you wanted to remember, but forgot what it was. In this case, click ‘Search’ and say “Paul Johnson.” Microsoft Recite will retrieve all mental notes that include the sounds “Paul Johnson.” In this case you would hear “Book recommendation from Paul Johnson: Hot, Flat and Crowded.”

No search button - solved, but not capturing voice
I have "remember" on the left softkey and "privacy" on the right one, which loads PIE at the privacy policy page for the project. I can't locate the search funtion. Anybody get this to work?
I have similar funtionality through Evernote, but not the ability to voice search, so it would be interesting to try.
edit: It was not capturing the recordings, so there was nothing to search. Once I got it to successfully capture, the search function was there. It is still shutting down without capturing.

It crash on many HTC .. so its cool but buggy

It doesn't seem to work for me on WM 6.1 (Touch). I can record lots of things but the search always comes up with the same result even if NONE of the words in it match.
No good so far.

New version out. Much improved
I had reported my issues on the feedback page on the beta site, and got an email response last night that a new version is available. I dl'd it and it is much better than the original. It now responds to the touch screen as well as the soft keys, and it captured the recording right 4 out of 4 tries. the search funtion worked pretty well, but not perfect. Saying "Anthony" didn't work, but "Anthony's" did. As in "Anthony's birthday is . . . "
What this program needs to rock is text to speech, and integration with outlook. the ability to speak calendar entries and to-dos into the phone would send MS to the top of a lot of peoples lists.

Yeah this is a cool program. Thanks for letting us know there was an update.

It´s working, but bull.. sh..t
you can´t organize the files you recorded . A delete function is missing .
MS is trying to tease us.

It worked well in my Prophet. But one thing worries me: where are the recorded files saved? It seems internal memory but where?

Could anyone post the Last cab of recite ?
ok got it!
It need to use ie mobile
for downloading the cab !
MS dont like opera!!

MS recite CAB for everyone
I've uploaded the last version that run fine.
Works perfectly on Elfin

Updated again..here it is.

I just found this program and for some reason I am unable to dl it from the microsoft website. Is the cab right above this one the most recent?

Looking for a speaking ebook reader

Hi,
Does such a PocketPC application exist:
An ebook reader, capable of handling at least *.TXT files, that shows the text on the screen like any other ebook reader, but featuring like a play button to read the text with syntesized voice?
Even better would be to be able to output that voice through a bluetooth headset or carkit.
I read a lot of ebooks, but obviously while i.e. driving, it is not possible to do so. Instead of hearing radio or trying to burn an audio CD with rendered reading (such software exists for PC's), I would love to have the book read to me by my PDA.
I have searched Google for such an application, but did not found what I am looking for... Any ideas?
Cheers,
vma

TapText makes some text-to-speech products that I think can be paired with a reader and read audibly. They even have a trial you can download that allows for testing a small excerpt at a time (160 characters, I think) but you have to listen to the admonition and demo prompt prior to hearing your text. You can disable this annoyance by (here's a thought) purchasing the product. I am a bit in a rush but wanted to get this out to you so that you had an answer to your question. If you have trouble finding this app. please PM me and I'll send you a copy of the trial cab. I may also have some alternatives for you as well.
On another point. Look into GoogleVoice as an alternative option for visual voice mail. I use voice recognition and text-to-speech, as well as dictation software quite a bit. So I'll have to dig up some of my old cabs for you. Many are now quite hard to find, so contact me directly for copies of the same. Happy to share. Gotta run.
Regards,
LWBIIPLLC