Platform initially targets Blackberry devices; relies heavily on Microsoft services
Voice interface vendor Tellme is expanding its year-old mobile platform with its voice-based interface to include support for BlackBerry devices.
On Wednesday at the Web 2.0 Expo, the company, bought last year by Microsoft and now run as a subsidiary of the software giant, unveiled Tellme 2.0. The platform includes a range of voice-activated services, including finding a business and checking traffic and weather.
The client software portion of the platform initially will support the BlackBerry 8800 series phones and Curve devices, and is available to AT&T and Sprint Nextel customers. The company plans to expand the service to future versions of Helio’s Mysto phones.
Key to the new service is a GPS capability that provides location-based searching. For example, users searching for an Italian restaurant would hold down a talk button, say “Italian restaurant” and be presented with a list of establishments within the area where they are calling.
“The story here is how that investment by Microsoft in Live Search and maps and other ancillary data is going to be presented to mobile subscribers in the format that is most convenient for them,” says Dan Miller, an analyst with Opus Research. “Tellme is taking a leadership role and there is a role for Microsoft to play in raising awareness about these new services and expanding the footprint of their availability,” he says.
With the 2.0 version, BlackBerry users have voice-enabled services for finding businesses, movie theaters and times, maps, driving directions, and traffic and weather. The resulting information can be shared with anyone on the user’s contact list. The movie service is integrated with Fandango, so users also can purchase tickets.
Users install a free browser-like application that communicates with the Web-based Tellme range of services. The company says the Web-based interface will let it add services, such as sports information, without requiring client software updates.
Tellme relies heavily on Microsoft search services. Its business-finder service uses Live Search, the traffic service relies on Live Search Virtual Earth and the Maps service uses Live Search Maps.
In the future, the Tellme client will be ported to Windows-based hardware devices, but for now the Java-based platform aligns most easily with the BlackBerry development environment. Tellme executives say fragmentation in the mobile market makes development and distribution a challenge.
Microsoft has said it will stretch the Tellme platform into its unified communications, speech recognition, mobile services, and search, as well as into the Windows operating system and Office productivity and collaboration suite.
Last year, Microsoft said new products, such as voice-enabled customer service software, also could result from the Tellme acquisition.
