It was two years ago when the Google launched its voice search, what is news, however, is that Google wants its voice search to now adapt to users’ accent and voice tone. The service started with a very wide focus, so much that it couldn’t be called focus at all. The company wanted to cover all sorts of speech, for different pitches, genders and age. It didn’t work.
Earlier it didn’t understand you
Those who tried this service initially, found it irritating that their voice couldn’t be recognised by the system. For the same reason, many people don’t use Voice commands on their phones either. Google has tried to find a way around this issue and has come out with personalised voice recognition this time.
It comes with Google Mobile App
Voice Search feature comes along with the Google Mobile App and those who have an Android phone, can search for the term “Voice Search” in Android market.
The facility is available for use for those having Android version 2.2 and higher. The voice search service is, however, not available in all mobile phones and languages.
You may turn off personalization
It is an opt in service right now, and once Google has your permission, the voice searches are recorded by Google and the data thus created is used to build a speech model, especially customised for every user. Accuracy improvements start early and are expected to build as the service grows mature.
Google, at the same time, emphasizes it takes the issue of privacy seriously and if the users want it so, they can turn off personalized voice recognition.
Will it work right out of the box?
The first time Voice Search was launched, Google envisioned it would worked right from the box, without any additional effort required for the users. That’s the reason, the speech models were created to accommodate a large variety of people across the world. It was difficult to make it work, and it turned out the right way, either. This time Google is trying to get it right by concentrating on the individual.
Google Voice Search becomes more personalised
RockeTalk launches ‘Muharram on Mobile’ application
RockeTalk, a mobile social networking company, has launched an application called ‘Muharram on Mobile’.
The application, developed by Anagha Communications, permits mobile phone users to hear and view religious sermons delivered during Muharram through live video and audio feeds.
In order to access the service, users need to buy a scratch card worth Rs 100 and register on https://wap.muharram.in. Once registered, they start getting real time video and audio feeds for various Majlis, Marsiyas, Nohas, Juloos from various clerics.
Alternatively, users can also dial into an IVR +914030512840 and choose the Majlis and Nohas from their favourite clerics.
In an email response to Telecom Yatra, Rajiv Kumar, CEO & Founder, RockeTalk, said, “Since its beta launch last week, over 10, 000 cards have already been sold, and as the distribution gets pan-India, we are expecting very large numbers. The Muharram on Mobile service has seen overwhelming response and will be a regular feature from now on.”
The Muharram on Mobile service is available across operators and handsets in India and worldwide. Apart from this, an iPhone application called ‘Shia Muharram’ is also available on the Apple Appstore.
RockeTalk currently has approximately four million active users in India and another 2 million worldwide. It provides a social media platform wherein users can create any combination of text, voice, photo and video messages, share them with contacts, join communities, and access a variety of entertainment content.
Nimbuzz offers HD quality calls for iPhone, iPod users
Nimbuzz, a Dutch company offering a mobile social networking application, has introduced a new system through which one can make HD quality calls from their iPhone, iPod or iPad.
The company has made it possible by a new peer to peer calling system, which doesn’t route the call through its servers, but makes a direct connection between the two mobile devices. The calls will therefore be connected faster, the calling quality will be clear, and the probability of dropped calls reduced.
Nimbuzz auto detects a suitable connection (3G or Wi-Fi) for HD calls, and then displays an HD indicator in the calling screen in real time.
Till now, HD quality calls are available only for iPhone and Android users, but the company has said that it is working on making it available on Symbian, PC and Mac as well.
The company has also added a ‘Go offline’ function, through which one can use Nimbuzz without appearing online/away/busy to your friends. It has also redesigned the contact list layout to improve usability.
Now a Nimbuzz user will see the presence icons (available, busy, away) on the right side and the community icons are placed over the display images of contacts, in the bottom left corner, which cleans up the interface.
Nimbuzz has 2.5 million users in India and globally about six million users log in on the App every day. The application comes embedded with mobile phones of 19 handset companies in India and Nimbuzz plans to associate itself with the remaining companies as well.
It is also planning to come up with a push notification service for Symbian and Java platforms by the end of this year.
Motorola launches Android 2.1-powered Quench XT5
Motorola has announced the launch of the Quench XT5 smartphone in India. The Android 2.1 powered touch screen comes with a 3.2 inch capacitive touch screen, pinch to zoom features and supports Wi-Fi connectivity.
The XT5 has a 5.0 megapixel camera with Digital Zoom and LED flash, and can comes with an expandable memory of up to 32GB, a GPS receiver and Bluetooth.
The smartphone also allows an expanded search function, which makes it easier to find information online or within the device, to keep track of all data on the phone such as bookmarks, web browsing history and contacts, serve up Google Search results based on location, or launch applications.
The Android-powered Quench XT5 is available bundled with Aircel connection and can also be purchased from retail stores at a price of Rs 13,990 (MRP: Rs 15,990) in the country. Every handset also comes with a 2GB microSD card.
When buying the handset bundled with Aircel connection, one can choose between two Aircel offers. In the first, one can take an Aircel prepaid connection and avail up to 9GB download with three months validity and 150 Aircel to Aircel local minutes free. In the second, one can take an Aircel postpaid connection and avail up to 1GB per month download for six months.
In addition to this, one gets an Adidas jacket and two pairs of movie tickets absolutely free with the purchase of every handset.
HTC HD7 to hit the market next week
HTC will announce its Windows Phone 7 device HD7 next week in India at about Rs 30,000. HTC was also the first to introduce Android smartphones here.
The HTC HD7 has a 4.3 inch capacitive touchscreen accompanied by a kickstand. The device is powered by a 1 Ghz processor and the Asian version of the phone is expected to come with 16 GB of in built memory. The European version meanwhile has 8 GB of internal memory.
The phone also boasts a 5.0 megapixel camera with auto focus and dual LED flash, and supports video recording in high definition.
As far as connectivity options are concerned, HD7 is 3G enabled and supports WiFi, GPRS, Edge and Bluetooth 2.1.
The interface of the new Windows operating system for mobiles has been revamped quite a lot and is expected to hit the right chord with users. The platform also integrates with many popular Microsoft consumer services such as Xbox LIVE, Windows Live, Bing search and Zune music.
The handset is also expected to lend a new lease of life to the Windows Mobile platform. Microsoft’s Windows Mobile has been constantly losing market share to competitors such as Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS.
ZTE plans Android powered Libero for India
ZTE is considering bringing its Android smartphone Libero to India. The company has developed the device along with SoftBank and will launch it throughout Japan later this month.
Libero is the second handset that ZTE has developed in collaboration with SoftBank – the first being SoftBank 840Z, which was launched in late October this year.
Based on Android 2.2 Froyo, Libero comes with a 3.5 inch WVGA screen. It is powered by a 600 MHz MSN7227 chipset, has a 5 mega pixel camera and supports GPS, WiFi, 3G HSDPA and Bluetooth networks. The device weighs 110 grams and measures 114 × 57 x 12.7 mm.
Prior to being released in Japan, ZTE Libero, which is also known as Blade, had already been launched in Britain, France, Germany, Finland, Norway, Turkey, Hungary, and in 20 other countries across Europe.
Telecom Yatra has learnt that ZTE might launch the phone in India. Having been developed for the Japanese market, the phone is expected to include several unique high tech features and should come with an attractive price tag as well.
ZTE and SoftBank also announced that from October this year to March 2011, both companies will collaborate to launch eight types of products in the Japanese market. These will include smartphones, high speed data cards, 42 M and 14 M MiFi (mobile internet hotspot) modems, 3G monitors, and easy phones for children and the elderly.
We won’t be surprised if some of these products find their way into India. ZTE has not been very successful in India. Other than the CDMA handset and dongle market, in which it was successful thanks to bundling with Tata Teleservices and Reliance Communications CDMA networks.
Low cost handsets to propel the growth of 3G in India: Ericsson
For those who are skeptical about the growth of 3G services in India, there is some good news. Ericsson, the Swedish telecom technologies provider, has said that the adoption of 3G services in India will be faster than it has been in other countries.
Speaking to Telecom Yatra, Johan Bergendahl, who is the vice president of marketing and group function sales at Ericsson, said, “3G started in Europe and people took some time to understand; Same thing happened in the US. In Japan, however, the adoption was good as subscribers there were already consuming data services. 3G just changed their experience.”
“In India, 3G services will be adopted very quickly, just like in Japan. The main reason for this is wide availability of cheaper 3G-enabled handsets, which will help a great deal in increasing the uptake of 3G services in India,” he added.
Sharing his view about Indian handset market he said, “Android, being a free ware, has already generated a lot of interest in the world. Even in India, due to the low cost of Android-based handsets, the operating system has the potential to become very big.”
According to a report by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), the growth of mobile services is expected to continue for the next 3-5 years, driven by high subscriber additions in mostly non urban areas. The mobile subscriber base is projected to cross one billion in 2014, growing at more than 9 per cent from 2010.
At present, VAS in India is mainly restricted to music related services such as ring tones, caller ring back tones and music downloads. Other services such as m-commerce and mobile TV are still to take off properly.
This scenario is expected to change after the roll out of 3G services – which means better multimedia content. The report says that data use on 3G networks will lead to 3G data service revenue of a little more than Rs 10,000 crore in 2015.
Local search through mobiles
Times Internet, which is part of the Times group, has inked a deal with Poynt Corporation, a provider of local search services for mobiles, to make a Poynt App available to mobile users in India.
TimesPoynt, as it will be known, will provide relevant and local data to users. The application will be available on all J2ME devices (most feature phones are based on this platform), Nokia, iPhone, Android and BlackBerry smartphones.
The app will be launched during the first quarter of 2011 and will initially feature sections for local restaurants, nightlife, movies, events, weather and maps.
TIL will also provide local content that is available on its subsidiary portals and distribution channels. The company will identify and establish relationships for third-party content and services to provide a complete and comprehensive directory of local information for TimesPoynt users in India.
“The ability of their technology to provide such rich content to basic handsets; their expanding geographic footprint; and support for multiple device platforms is an excellent fit for expanding our own product portfolio,” said Rishi Khiani, chief executive officer, Times Internet Limited.
Mobile users complain to the National Consumer Helpline
Most Indian mobile subscribers have faced issues related to network activation or deactivation, billing etc. There have been a lot of cases where problems are not resolved by the operator, and this in turn forces subscribers to register their complaints with the National Consumer Helpline (NCH).
Lately, there has been a major surge in the number of telecom related complaints that are registered with the NCH on a regular basis. This is clearly evident from a statement issued by it, which says that out of 5,413 complaints recorded by NCH during November, 15.27 per cent pertain to the telecom sector.
Major problems being reported by callers include excess billing and overcharging, network problems, call drops, non-refund of security deposits and delay in resolving problems.
NCH currently has an online redressal system with MTNL, Idea Cellular, Tata Teleservices, Airtel, Spice, VSNL and Aircel. Complaints are forwarded to these companies on a regular basis, and they respond to complainants.
Most telecom operators in India currently follow a three tier process for resolving customer complaints – customer care, nodal officers and appellate authority.
The customer care department promises to revert on complaints related to activation and deactivation within one to three working days. For complaints pertaining to billing and refunds, it takes 28 days, and for security refunds, it takes about 60 days.
Nodal officers are to be contacted when customer care fails to resolve the problem. They usually acknowledge the query within three days of receiving complaints and respond to complaints within ten days of having registered them.
Reaching the appellate authority is the third step that one can take if the nodal officer is unable to give a satisfactory response. The authority acknowledges the complaint within three days of reporting the issue. It takes a decision on appeal within three months from the date of filing.
Make music with Loop app for Nokia N8 and C7
Music lovers who want to make their own tunes will love to use Nokia’s new Loop app. Most of us believe that music is something one listens to; while only a privileged minority is able to create songs.
Well, not anymore. According to an official blog post by Nokia, the mobile phone maker has released a new App called Loop, which people can use to record new sounds and make their own music with. Loop is free from Nokia’s Ovi store and can easily be downloaded on a Nokia N8 or C7 device.
Nokia loop dictaphone app
Nokia’s Loop is effectively a dictaphone because it can be used to record audio which can then be mixed with other sounds to create music. There are several pre loaded sounds in the app that can be used to make new songs.
This app works around beats and people who already play an instrument will find it easy to use. The more music talent the user has, the better the results will be. Once a song has been created, it can be set as a ringtone, downloaded to a computer, or even shared on the internet.