T-Mo phones with speaker-independent dialing?

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Steve Sobol - 27 Jul 2005 21:32 GMT

Ok, so I've decided that the v188 I bought is crap. :)

My Samsung SPH-A620 ("VGA-1000") and my SPH-A660 ("VI-660") on Sprint use
speaker-independent voice recognition software from VoiceSignal. It's really
cool to be able to say "Name dial XYZ" and dial XYZ without having to set up
a voice-dial entry for XYZ first. It's wonderful to be able to say "Voice
dial seven six zero five five five one two one two" and have the phone dial
760-555-1212.

But VoiceSignal, at VoiceSignal.com, doesn't list T-Mo as one of the
carriers that sell phones with their software. T-Mo sells Samsung and
Motorola, two manufacturers that have a bunch of VoiceSignal-equipped
phones, but as far as I can tell, none of the T-Mo Samsung or Motorola
handsets actually use VoiceSignal, which sucks, because speaker-independent
voice recognition makes using a handsfree much more convenient. :(

So do any phones have VoiceSignal software built-in, or some similar
technology? Verizon, Cingular and Sprint all have VS-equipped phones...

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Joseph - 28 Jul 2005 03:09 GMT

>So do any phones have VoiceSignal software built-in, or some similar
>technology? Verizon, Cingular and Sprint all have VS-equipped phones...

Several manufacturers have "voice tags" that will connect to
prearranged parties. Nokia has this feature on some of its phones.
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Steve Sobol - 28 Jul 2005 03:26 GMT

> Several manufacturers have "voice tags" that will connect to
> prearranged parties. Nokia has this feature on some of its phones.

Eh, my v188 can already do that. But I have to record a separate voice entry
for each phonebook entry, and voice-training the v188 is a pain. (Plus,
voice dialing is only available for entries stored on the phone, not on the
SIM.)

My Sprint Samsungs didn't require training, and the VoiceSignal software is
so good that even my wife could voice-dial an entry or use voice digit
dialing and didn't have to train the phone (even though her voice is
completely different).

The digit dialing feature was especially neat. I'm on the freeway, with my
handsfree in my ear, and all I have to do is flip open the phone, say "Digit
dial", wait a second, and say (for example) "eight zero zero five five five
one two one two". No fumbling for the keypad, no looking down from the road.
*That* is primarily what I'm looking for, and all of the major carriers
except T-Mo seem to have at least a couple phones that have the feature.

It looks like many of T-Mo's phones don't even have voice dialing at all,
which (at this late date) I find absolutely amazing.

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Joseph - 28 Jul 2005 16:40 GMT

>It looks like many of T-Mo's phones don't even have voice dialing at all,
>which (at this late date) I find absolutely amazing.

Blame the manufacturers!

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Steve Sobol - 28 Jul 2005 16:51 GMT

>>It looks like many of T-Mo's phones don't even have voice dialing at all,
>>which (at this late date) I find absolutely amazing.
>
> Blame the manufacturers!

Not their fault. Samsung and Motorola produce phones with the capability.
Cingular, Verizon and Sprint have them. I think even Alltel has some.

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Joseph - 29 Jul 2005 01:06 GMT

>>>It looks like many of T-Mo's phones don't even have voice dialing at all,
>>>which (at this late date) I find absolutely amazing.
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
>Not their fault. Samsung and Motorola produce phones with the capability.
>Cingular, Verizon and Sprint have them. I think even Alltel has some.

Well T-Mobile does have models that do that. All of them don't. Not
all cingular, Verizon, Alltel and Sprint models have it either. I
don't quite see what your point is. If it's a feature you desire you
get the phones that have that feature and there are several to choose
from.

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Steve Sobol - 29 Jul 2005 03:18 GMT

> Well T-Mobile does have models that do that.

Sweetness. I'd be very happy if I was wrong. I'd be even happier if some of
those models were Samsungs. Are they? T-Mobile's website isn't clear on
whether any of the phones I looked at have the feature, and unfortunately,
Phonescoop isn't either (surprising, because Phonescoop is generally quite
thorough.)

> all cingular, Verizon, Alltel and Sprint models have it either. I
> don't quite see what your point is. If it's a feature you desire you
> get the phones that have that feature and there are several to choose
> from.

I appreciate the tip. In 11 months we're probably both going to get new
phones because the only reason we bought the v188's from Wirefly is that we
make $100 on the deal (free phones plus $100 in mail-in rebates in six months).

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Ben Skversky - 31 Jul 2005 20:32 GMT

I thought it was a pretty decent phone except for the phone book.

> Ok, so I've decided that the v188 I bought is crap. :)
>
[quoted text clipped - 15 lines]
> So do any phones have VoiceSignal software built-in, or some similar
> technology? Verizon, Cingular and Sprint all have VS-equipped phones...

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