Auditory -- Engadget Mobile

auditory posts

Sprint WebCapTel On the Go brings call transcription to the mobile

by Darren Murph posted Oct 21st 2008 @ 9:29AM

Sprint has just made its WebCapTel service even better. In an effort to provide greater accessibility to Americans with hearing loss, the carrier has introduced the aforementioned service to allow "hard of hearing customers to read word-for-word captions on Windows Mobile 6 web browsers," and for what it's worth, it's also compatible with Safari 2.0. The free web-based system enables hearing impaired individuals to make a call using two phones -- one of which is used for reading captions while the other is used for listening and speaking. The process seems simple enough; before making a call, the user would log onto www.sprintcaptel.com on one device in order to receive the transcription of the discussion on the other. It's available now for calls made within the US (and its Territories).

[Via RCRWireless]

Voice searching coming to Windows Mobile?

by Darren Murph posted Jun 27th 2007 @ 1:28PM

While Microsoft sure has its hands full with that other search engine, it looks like the mobile flavor of Windows could be getting a welcomed extra. Apparently, a questionably obtained CAB file has been acquired that enables users to vocally search for terms on Live Search for Mobile, and better yet, to input text via your voice "on any field that supports text entry." Of course, the application is indeed stuck in beta, which practically guarantees that you'll hit a few bugs if you load this up, but if you've got nothing to lose or you just can't resist a good challenge, be sure to give it a whirl and let us know how it goes.

[Via BoyGeniusReport]

Voice Pay enables secure vocal transactions

by Darren Murph posted Jun 25th 2007 @ 10:05PM

In the continual quest to make depleting your wallet entirely more convenient, Voice Pay's online payment system actually expects you to vocally confirm your next decrease in fundage. Dubbed the "world's first payment system interlinked with advanced voice biometric technologies," the system records and stores your "vocal fingerprint" so you can phone in a payment or purchase products on-site that support it. Of course, it's entirely likely that you'll be repeating all sorts of random numbers, passwords, and mother's maiden names in public in order to get that bill paid, but we're sure the hardcore yappers won't mind a bit.

[Via Textually]

Oticon Epoq binaural Bluetooth headset doubles as hearing aid

by Darren Murph posted May 30th 2007 @ 5:07AM

Oticon's no alien to the niche world of overly useful hearing aids, and while it's been a few years since we've seen anything fresh from the company, its newest offering looks to help those aging ears deal with hearing loss while staying connected to modern technology. The Epoq lineup of "hearing instruments" allows a pair of Bluetooth earpieces to be worn simultaneously, and proprietary binaural high speed wireless technology allows the pair "to communicate at data transfer speeds 100 faster than hearing instruments now on the marker." In essence, the devices transmits "stereophonic auditory information that is in sync with a user's visual experience," and it also tries its hand(s) at being a Bluetooth headset that enables handsfree calling and music streaming when used with the "Streamer" add-on. Oticon will reportedly be rolling out the Epoq W (about $8,000) and Epoq XW (closer to $9,000) early next month.

[Via Slashphone, photo courtesy of Stuff]