Those not preoccupied with unlocking their iPhone may be interested in what VoiceSignal's talking about, as it has apparently ported several of its applications to Apple's handset. Currently deemed "proof-of-concept applications," both VSearch (speak for search keywords) and VTunes (speak a band you'd like to hear) enable users to simply talk to their mobile and allow the software to handle the rest. Of course, speech recognition apps can be explained much better with, you know, sound, so be sure and check out the video of VTunes in action after the break.

We love those movies where the kidnappers use voice-altering equipment to talk to the authorities and such -- lower voice octaves with seemingly lower speed rule, yes? The elderly of Japan may like that concept as well, as Japanese carrier NTT DoCoMo is about to roll out the "Raku-Raku" handset that personifies that functional but useful line for customers that just want to make calls. For the elderly, that's usually the only goal with a cellphone. An extra monthly revenue stream for NTT DoCoMo is not bad either from a business perspective. What is killer about the Raku-Raku is the "Slow Voice" feature. It actually slows down spoken words coming into the handset itself for those that prefer a more laid-back conversation instead of a caffeine-fueled one. Other goodies include noise compensation that raises or lowers mic sensitivity and incoming audio based on ambient noise and voice reading of SMS and email messages. Seems like NTT DoCoMo feeds the power user to the basic user in very decent fashion, yes?

[Via Digital World Tokyo]

A young lad by the name of Ben Cook might be able to school his pals with his lightning-quick text messaging skillz (he even prefers plain ol' multi-tapping to predictive text) but one company set out to prove that the world's fastest texter is still no match for voice recognition. Nuance Communications is gearing up to release its Mobile Speech Platform to carriers -- a system that'll ultimately allow users to dictate SMSes, among other tasks -- and they obviously needed some high-profile way to get the word out, like picking on Ben Cook, for example. For the contest, Nuance pitted its software against Mr. Cook and two Nuance employees packing QWERTY and T9 devices, throwing them each this little tidbit of everyday conversation: "The razor toothed piranhas of the genera Serrasalmus and Pygo centrus are the most ferocious freshwater fish in the world. In reality they seldom attack a human." Our world record holder finished in 48 seconds -- not bad, considering he was doing it without any predictive assistance -- but the software spanked everyone with just 16 seconds on the clock. Now we just need to take a hard look at why one would dictate an SMS (versus, say, placing a phone call) and we'll be jumping right on the bandwagon.