The Next Evolution in Mobile Search Will Be Built on Voice

In a crowded market for speech recognition apps, Vlingo has decided to focus on becoming a personal assistant, signaling an evolution from voice as a mere user interface and a means to avoid cramped keyboards on mobiles, to voice as a natural means of getting a computer to do what you want.

Much like Siri, the personal assistant app that Apple purchased last year, Vlingo has decided its future rests on helping users get things done without worrying about how they phrase a request and which app they need to use. It’s a subtle shift, so let me illustrate. When I use voice commands on my Android handset I have to find my program, such as text, enter in the content and then hit a button to record my message. I then see the message and I can elect to hit send. The message is recorded verbatim if Google is feeling good although I have to tell it how I want to punctuate the message when I am dictating it. With Vlingo’s Android app, I open the Vlingo app, then tap a button and say, “Tell Kevin Tofel he should try the Vlingo app.” Vlingo then opens a text message addressed to Kevin and fills out the body text with “You should try the Vlingo app.”