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Tellme Makes On-the-Go Information A Word Away: Say It And Get It, Right On Your Phone

Say the name of a business or business category, such as "coffee" or "hardware" and see the Live Search results with the business address, driving directions, an option to call the business or share the listing with a friend.
by Staff Writers
San Francisco CA (SPX) Apr 24, 2008
Tellme has announced the addition of local 'on-the-go' information to its voice portal for mobile phones. Now instead of typing in a request or scrolling through menus to find information, people can simply hold down the 'talk' button, say a keyword and see the results on the phone's screen. This new version of Tellme is initially available on BlackBerry phones and is scheduled to roll out on future Helio devices.

"Tellme believes in the power of voice to transform how people use devices," said Mike McCue, founder and general manager of Tellme. "Tellme delivers an end-to-end experience. As opposed to broad Web search where the user sees a list of results, Tellme focuses on specific tasks where a spoken request leads to a specific answer -- like a movie show time, local weather info or driving directions."

Mobile users surfing for information while on-the-go no longer need to type their location or starting point, Tellme uses global positioning system (GPS) technology to deliver local information right to the phone's screen. For example:

- Business Finder: Say the name of a business or business category, such as "coffee" or "hardware" and see the Live Search results with the business address, driving directions, an option to call the business or share the listing with a friend.

- Movies: Say the name of a movie theater and see theaters closest to you, movie show times, driving directions to the theater and the ability to buy tickets, powered by Fandango, the nation's leading moviegoer destination.

- Traffic: Say "traffic" and see a map with traffic conditions on major local routes, all using Live Search Maps.

- Weather: Say "weather" and see a five-day forecast for your local area or say a different city to see weather for any other U.S. city.

- Maps: Say "map" and, using GPS and Live Search Maps, see a map of the local area or say a new city and the map is automatically updated.

- Driving Directions: Say "driving directions" and speak or type a destination to see step-by-step directions from your current starting location.

Building on its leadership in voice services, history with 411 business search and 1-800-555-TELL voice access to content, Tellme provides the information people want when they are on-the-go. In the year ahead, the types of things people can use Tellme's service for will expand to include more mobile content and communication services.

Mobile Interactions: Touch Vs. Type Vs. Tellme
While the complexity of the phone is increasing, new interfaces such as touch are making access to information and services much easier. However even touch remains a challenging interface to use when walking, driving or multitasking at home or work.

For example, in a touch vs. type vs. Tellme task-completion comparison it took 33 touches vs. 41 keystrokes vs. two voice requests to get the same task done (in this test, from the launched application, the task was to find Amici's Pizza, Mountain View, CA). The ability to speak a request and see the results not only allows faster entry of data but also provides a more natural, intuitive process for viewing and navigating results.

Mobile Content: Demand For Local Information
According to M:Metrics data, from 2006 to 2007, access to information using mobile devices has grown by double digits. For example, use of maps was up by 47.2%, restaurant information up by 45.7% and weather up by 35.8%. All the information searches and communication tasks measured were up year over year and point to the growing uses of mobile devices for on-the-go access to information.

People want similar services in the car: Based on a March 2008 study* of motorist behaviors, the top three most desired information services in the car are access to maps, driving directions and traffic updates. Results of this same survey also showed that finding information while in the car was viewed as the most difficult 'on-the-go' task.

For example, 63% of respondents said finding information such as movie show times is difficult in the car, 53% said text messaging was difficult, and 53% also said getting directions or a map was difficult. This rating was based on a 4-point scale with difficult being the highest rating.

This nationwide study was conducted March 20-26, 2008 by Decipher Inc. and Greenfield Online. The panel included online adults who regularly use a cell phone or smart phone and who drive a minimum of 30 minutes, 4 times per week.

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Current Technology's Celevoke Expands GPS Tracking System's Marketing Reach
Vancouver, Canada (SPX) Apr 24, 2008
Current Technology and MSGI Security Solutions have announced Texas-based Celevoke is participating in a series of Regional Heavy Equipment Theft Summits sponsored by, amongst others, FBI/LEEDA (Federal Bureau of Investigation/Law Enforcement Executive Development Association) and the NER (National Equipment Register).







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