Bing copies Google Voice Search word for word
Bing Engineers are willing to do whatever it takes to steal market share away from Google, even if it means copying features. So Microsoft teamed up with TellMe to create a Bing voice search feature for a new Sprint phone.
The Sprint SPH-i350 Intrepid will include voice search capability with the voice recognition powered by TellMe networks. The application will also allow users to send text messages using speech-to-text.
Google came out with voice search on the iPhone last November and has expanded the capability to Google Maps and both Android and Blackberry devices. It’s meant to make searching on a mobile device much easier than having to open a browser and type your query.
If imitation is the highest form of flattery, the Googlers who created voice search for the iPhone should be blushing this morning. They should also be laughing at Microsoft’s approach to competing in voice search.
The SPH-i350 Intrepid not only has a terribly awkward name, it also sports the similarly awkward Windows Mobile 6.5 operating system. Microsoft’s latest mobile platform is way behind the industry and getting awful reviews from experts.
If the phone itself wasn’t enough of a drag in launching Bing’s voice search, it’s also tied to third rate carrier Sprint. If the Palm Pre’s languishing sales are any indication of Sprint’s selling power, the Intrepid SPH-i350 is doomed.
Bing’s only edge in a showdown between the two features is the voice-enabled text messaging aspect. And as Google pointed out, there are applications for Android that offer the same functionality.
With Bing gaining some traction in the search market and the Windows 7 launch looking fairly promising, it’s sad to see Microsoft falling so far behind in smartphone technology. Maybe Microsoft will be able to get their act together by the launch of Windows Mobile 7 late next year.
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October 7th, 2009
You are an idiot. MS had this for live search on MS phones long before google did. Your ignorance is embarrassing. Google copied them. Well, I’d say that if I were as stupid as you are however, voice control is a well known feature that has been around for decades.
October 8th, 2009
Decades? Really? Neither Live Search nor Search in general have been around for 20 years.
There have been telephone numbers that you could call to perform searches, but these push-button voice search capabilities for mobile phones haven’t.
You’re welcome to cite a credible source if you want to prove your point.
October 8th, 2009
I’ve held a Voice Search Conference for two years in partnership with the industry organization, Applied Voice Input Output Society, renamed the Mobile Voice Conference this year. Voice search to activate a web search is a distinct application from voice control, which indeed has been around for a while with much simpler functionality such as dialing the names in your contact list by voice.
Both Microsoft and Google could be said to be copying the startup Vlingo. Vlingo’s application can launch a web search, transcribe a dictated email or text message, and more. It is available for download for Microsoft Windows Mobile phones, RIM’s BlackBerry smartphone, and the Apple iPhone. The company indicates it has “millions” of iPhone and BlackBerry users in the US, amassed in less than one year. Nokia just announced it will preload the Vlingo app on some phones in Europe, making it in effect part of the standard user interface. AT&T Research is partnering with Vlingo and taking a share of the company.
To defend Microsoft and Google, they may be late, but they have been working on advanced speech recognition applications for a long time. Their free directory assistance services 800-GOOG-411 and 800-BING-411 (the latter hosted by Microsoft’s Tellme unit) are terrific and very popular.
- Bill Meisel
October 22nd, 2009
He should of just said “MS had this for live search (w/ voice) on MS phones long before google did” which they did. Like other Windows Mobile software, it was ahead of the hardware’s specs making the process challenging. This includes finding a location on a map (via voice) and then having the phone freeze up because of a loss of memory.