Rob's Rhapsody : In the News

Microsoft Exchange 2010 Buzz -- Speech is 1 of 5 key features, according to Mary-Jo Foley from ZDNet

robch — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 17:01:05 GMT

Mary-Jo Foley posted an article on her blog on ZDNet yesterday talking about how the RTM buzz for Microsoft Exchange 2010 is growing louder. It's an interesting read.

The Speech team has been busy at work supporting the Exchange team for quite a while, with a new feature for Exchange that allows users to see a text preview of voice mails that arrive in their inbox.

I've been using it personally for almost 2 years, in one form or another. I recently set my own Exchange server up, and redirected my wife's cell phone voice mails to it too. She now never listens to her voice mails directly. This is a milestone for me, because this is one of the best examples of my work life impacting my personal life, and vice versa. She does give me constructive advice on how to make the system better ... :-)

In most reviews I've read on Exchange 2010 since the public announcement earlier this year, text preview of voice mails is very often listed in the short list of key new features. That's true in Mary-Jo's article also. Here's what she says about Exchange 2010:

The Exchange 2010 release includes new, integrated e-mail archive functionality; the ability to see text previews of voice mail; a new “Conversation View” feature; customizable call-routing menus; and a “MailTips” feature designed to help stamp out e-mail “faux pas.”

Let us know, once you're using Exchange 2010, how you like the voice mail text preview feature. We like hearing from our customers directly. Both what you like, and what you don't like.

TellMe Rolls Out Better Speech Recognition And An Almost-Sexy New Voice Called Zira

robch — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 22:19:17 GMT

Last night, as 12:01am, Tellme announced their Spring 09 upgrades to their underlying speech platform. You can read all about it here on Tellme.com.

There have been a ton of news articles about it since the announcement, but I liked what Tech Crunch said about the new Zira voice. They said it’s “almost sexy”. I never really thought about TTS voices sounding sexy, but … It made for a good article title anyway. :-)

And … BTW … My team here at Microsoft is really excited about this announcement, too, because our underlying speech technology is powering the new “better speech recognition” and the “almost-sexy new voice called Zira”.

It’s been a real pleasure working with Tellme since the acquisition. I’ve had the good fortune of going down to the Tellme offices in Mountain View regularly working with them on a variety of projects for a while now, and I’m super impressed with all the people I’ve interacted with.

In fact, I’m sitting inside Tellme’s main building typing this right now wondering where I’ll go eat lunch on Castro Street in Mountain View. Will it be Amici’s pizza, or someplace else today?

Using Windows Speech Recognition to blog?

robch — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 18:22:17 GMT

I've been reading a lot of blog posts lately about bloggers using Speech Recognition technology themselves to write their blog articles. Because some bloggers get paid per post that they create, and some others even get paid per character that they write, Speech Recognition is an obvious choice since it can allow users to "type" up to 160 WPM (words per minute).

Weeding thru my inbox and RSS feeds this morning (there's a lot to read thru since I've been on vacation for a couple weeks) I found this article where Jeff Meundel says on PracticalCommerce.com that Windows Speech Recognition is "perhaps the best and coolest part of [...] Vista."

Thanks Jeff. We like it too. :-)

Are you using Windows Speech Recognition to write blog posts?

Cannon camera + EOS Utility + ShutterVoice = Hands-free photography?

robch — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 19:50:16 GMT

This morning I read a blog entry on Wired about a new application coming out from a guy named Scott Forman called ShutterVoice. It sounds pretty cool! Basically, ShutterVoice promises to bring hands-free photography to photographers that are using Cannon DLSRs along with a utility from Cannon called the EOS Utility.

If you have all three, you can do wireless hands-free photography.

Check out the video here.

JetBlue chooses Microsoft speech recognition technology over Nuance

robch — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 17:30:54 GMT

Here's an interesting article on JetBlue's choice of using Microsoft's speech technology over that of Nuance. I especially like this tag line:

"Redmond shakes up the voice-recognition space by offering more reliable software for less"

The author of the article also has the following to say about Windows Speech Recognition that's baked into every copy of Windows Vista:

"Personally, I've worked with the new speech-recognition tools and I thought they were amazing. Easy to use and, best of all, it understood my New York accent without a problem."

Thanks, Mr. Bruzzese. Glad you like it.

Interesting article about Nuance on CNET: Wonder why everything isn't speech controlled?

robch — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 17:23:49 GMT

In my morning look at news, I saw this article about why everything isn't already speech enabled. Steve Tobak's basic premise here is that it's because Nuance doesn't really want everything to be speech enabled. He posits the idea that perhaps they only want things that are high profit margin to be speech enabled. Hmmm...

One of his gripes is about remote controls. Perhaps Steve should take a look at a new speech macro based on Windows Vista authored by Glen Shires and posted on the ms-speech Yahoo! discussion board. In that macro, Glen has enabled channel changing of his ReplayTV via a Slingbox and his Windows Vista PC with the built-in Windows Speech Recognition and the current technical preview of Windows Speech Recognition Macros that's available here.

So ... Steve, if you want to speech enable something, take a look at the macro system. You can speech enable just about anything, as long as you have Windows Vista near by...

Disney's "Innovention Dream Home": A look inside

robch — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 16:44:07 GMT

I love Disneyland, and I love technology, so it's a no-brainer for me to absolutely love Disney's new "Innovention Dream Home". Basically, it's a home of the future, as envisioned by Microsoft, HP, Life/ware, and Disneyland situated right inside the Disneyland park in Southern CA in Tomorrowland.

I saw a video about the 5,000 square foot home this morning on CNET, and I just had to share it here.

Special Note

Most of the scenarios that are demonstrated with speech recognition and synthesis technology are actually possible today with real live technology built into Windows Vista.

So, if you want to deck out your house with speech technology, check out Windows Speech Recognition included in Windows Vista for the basic speech technology to control the Operating System and all your applications running on Vista, and check out Windows Speech Recognition Macros (aka WSR Macros) for extending control to just about anything you can imagine.

Do you have an idea of what you'd like to control in your house? Leave me a comment in the comment section and I'll show you how easy it is...

Other cool links about the home:

Innovation Dream Home
Microsoft's Home of the Future
Seattle PI: This Dream Home comes with a Mouse

Microsoft Speech Powered Azentek Wins International Telematics Award for Best Aftermarket Device

robch — Fri, 23 May 2008 18:53:35 GMT

Did you know you could experience Microsoft's Speech Recognition technology in cars? No, I'm not talking about Ford Sync. I'm talking about an after market system designed to run Windows Vista in an in-dash PC made by Azentek.

And ... They just won the International Telematics Award for Best Aftermarket Device. Cool!

"Azentek, today announced it has won the “Best Aftermarket Device” award for its Atlas CPC-1000, the industry’s first all-in-one fully integrated in-car multimedia PC. At an exclusive gala dinner in Detroit, Michigan, Telematics Update Magazine revealed the winners of the sixth annual Telematics Awards on the evening of May 20th."

I've not played with it myself, so I don't know exactly what kinds of scenarios they've enabled, but ... I do know for a fact that it's using the built-in speech recognition systems of the Windows Vista OS.

You can read more about it here.

That means I could probably install the latest and greatest WSR Macro tool on the car stereo and really have some fun.

Oliver's interview about Live Search now with Speech Recognition

robch — Sat, 03 Nov 2007 02:46:16 GMT

Long Zheng recently interviewed our very own Oliver Scholz about the latest Live Search that now has speech recognition functionality. Check it out.

Windows Live Search vs Google Maps Mobile

robch — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 16:36:00 GMT

Since shipping the speech enabled version of Windows Live Search for Windows Mobile a couple weeks ago, it's been fun watching and listening to users, blogs, and the press discuss the new features in Live Search for Windows Mobile.

Today, over at PocketNow.com, they just posted a review comparing scenario by scenario how Windows Live Search for Windows Mobile stacks up against Google Maps Mobile. In the end, they declare Live Search the clear winner.

Here are the final scores:

Scenario Live Search Google Maps

Entering your current location +1 0

Search for a business (Carpet Man in Rockville, MD) and email results +1 0

Search for the closest Starbucks from my current location (no GPS) and display directions +1 +1

Search for the nearest gas station from the Starbucks location +1 0

Search to see what movies are playing near the gas station +1 0

Search for a brewery near the movie theater +1 +1

Total 6 2

They also really liked the new speech recognition features. They said:

"[...] with the addition of voice recognition Windows Live Search is the clear winner for my PDA."

Thanks PocketNow! Glad you like it!

What does Windows have that OS X doesn't? -- Full-featured voice recognition

robch — Sun, 28 Oct 2007 20:09:00 GMT

I just saw a post by Brian Caulfield on Forbes.com asking the question, "What does Windows have that OS X doesn't?" His answer: "Full-featured voice recognition".

In short, here's what he had to say:

"A true Apple fanatic will tell you that everything your Windows machine can do, Apple did first or does better. [...] But when it comes to speech recognition, Microsoft is way out front. Microsoft shipped Windows Vista to consumers last January with a heavy-duty voice recognition system that allows it to do far more than just recognize simple voice commands--as Leopard does."

Thanks Brian.

BTW ... Speaking of comparisons between Microsoft and Apple ... Have you tried out our speech recognition work on Live Search for Windows Mobile yet? It, too, is pretty impressive. You can't do that with an Apple iPhone and Google Maps right now.

Bill Gates talks about Speech Recognition -- again!

robch — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 18:31:22 GMT

Bill Gates has always been a big advocate of Speech Recognition and Speech Synthesis inside and outside Microsoft. I've also had the great honor and opportunity to talk with Bill many times about Speech Recognition.

Ina Fried, from CNET News, just posted an interview with Bill's opinions on where we're going with Voice in general, not just Speech Recognition and Synthesis.

In that interview, Ina asked Bill several interesting questions, I'd thought I'd share them here along with Bill's answers:

You talked about different natural language interfaces. You know, with multitouch, it seems to have really captured people's imaginations, both with what you guys have shown with Surface, certainly with the iPhone. Voice seems to be a little slower in terms of speech recognition as a mainstream computer interface.
Gates: Well, that's fair. Voice recognition is a harder thing. There are certainly tons of people, and I mean millions, who for some reason, the keyboard's not attractive to them. Either they have repetitive stress injury, or they're in a work environment where they're doing something else with their hands, where they've taken the time to learn the software and adapt to the software and gone through the training process there. And they love it. They can't believe other people don't use it.

When you sell a product to hundreds of millions of users, there are features that millions of users love that you can call an obscure feature because, percentage wise, it's not very many.

For the rest of us, the keyboard has worked so well that we are even getting the keyboard into phones. I think voice search on the phone is one of those applications that would really drive it forward. I mean, why should I have to try and type something in? I've got a phone, I've got a talk button; so that's one of the areas we're betting on.

You guys built a pretty significant voice recognition engine into Vista. It hardly gets talked about. Are you surprised that some of the things you did in Vista aren't getting more attention?
Gates: Well, when you sell a product to hundreds of millions of users, there are features that millions of users love that you can call an obscure feature because, percentage wise, it's not very many. You know, Butler Lampson, one of our great researchers who has done great work going all the way back to his days at Xerox, was just sending me mail about how fantastic the improvements in the speech stuff are in Vista and, you know, we're hard at work on the next version of Windows. We're going to take this speech stuff even further.

Wow. It's always fun to hear Bill talk about things Microsoft's doing, and it's even more fun (for me) to hear him talk about specific projects I've put so much effort into. In these answers, he's mentioning two of those projects that the team (and I personally) have put so much blood, sweat, and tears into:

I think Ina's right about people just not realizing how good Windows Speech Recognition is in Vista. Every time I tell someone I just meet what I do at Microsoft in the Speech group, they're like, "Really? Speech Recognition is built right into the Operating System?" Yeah ... It is.

If you haven't tried it yet. You should...

And, if you don't know about Live Search for Mobile, check it out.

Live Search for Windows Mobile -- Now with Speech Recognition!!

robch — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 08:41:33 GMT

The press release just went live. The web site is online. And the details are all spelled out.

Here's what the press release has to say about Live Search:

Live Search for Windows Mobile with voice input. The updated Live Search for Windows Mobile^® 5.0 and 6.0 will be available for download for free on Tuesday, Oct. 16, and now includes voice input (beta version), gas prices, and hours of operation for businesses. The service can also use Global Positioning System (GPS) data on GPS-enabled phones to provide location-aware local search for customers.

Yeah, that's right. Instead of having to type out all those business listings and locations with your thumbs on your tiny phone keypads, now you can simply enter text into Live Search on your phone using speech recognition technologies developed right here at Microsoft!!

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a movie must be worth, what? A million words? OK ... Maybe not. But ... At any rate, you should check out this video (~2 minutes) I just uploaded of Live Search for Windows Mobile devices in all it's glory -- Now with Speech Recognition!!

You could also try out this longer video (~8 minutes) if you want to see even more of the cool new features...

If you have a Windows Mobile 5 or Windows Mobile 6 phone, download the app, and start talking your way to finding businesses and addresses.

Lifehack.org calls speech recognition in Windows Vista "pretty good"

robch — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 23:27:51 GMT

From the article:

"Voice recognition software has been around for a long time, but it’s only in the last few years that it has become accurate enough and simple enough to use with any regularity. It has also been rather expensive, with “basic” versions running around $80-100 and “premium” versions running to several hundred dollars – prompting many buyers to ask what was missing from the lower-priced versions.

If you have Windows Vista, though, you might be surprised to find that voice recognition is built in – and that it’s pretty good. While it takes some getting used to, with a little practice you’ll soon be able to use speech recognition to create and edit documents as well as to control most of the functions of your computer."

Vista's Windows Speech Recognition has the "cool factor so characteristic of Apple products"

robch — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 00:30:00 GMT

It's always fun to hear comments about what we're working so hard on here at Microsoft in the Speech group. Today, another interesting blog post hit my radar. You can read it for yourself here.

Here's an excerpt:

On a lark I decided to tinker with the voice recognition software shipped with Vista and to my surprise I was extremely impressed! Did I say extremely …no, let me make that profoundly impressed as in blown away. Not only is it intuitive and easy to use but it is almost as accurate as my well trained DragonDictate. I had heard this was a hidden gem in Vista and I agree.

Training Vista to type as you speak is extremely simple and for a Microsoft program the interface is uncharacteristically intuitive, beautifully designed and user-friendly. Imagine that, an intuitive Microsoft application that just plain works. I’m sure Apple users would feel very comfortable with it. One can only fantasize how the world would change if the Vista speech recognition development team were allowed to reengineer the operating system.

The sophistication and exquisite implementation of the Vista speech recognition software is only superseded by Microsoft’s negligence in not taking advantage of it to promote Vista. A demonstration of the software illustrating how easy it is to take control of your PC, using a simple headset, would make one very impressive commercial. I’m sure, even if the potential customers had no intention of using speech recognition technology would be impressed. It definitely has the cool factor so characteristic of Apple products.

If Microsoft ever decides to really market this technology, they could become the company setting the bar for speech recognition. The folks at Nuance should be sweating blood but I suspect they are relieved most Vista users don’t know they no longer need DragonDictate.

Scenario	Live Search	Google Maps
Entering your current location	+1	0
Search for a business (Carpet Man in Rockville, MD) and email results	+1	0
Search for the closest Starbucks from my current location (no GPS) and display directions	+1	+1
Search for the nearest gas station from the Starbucks location	+1	0
Search to see what movies are playing near the gas station	+1	0
Search for a brewery near the movie theater	+1	+1
Total	6	2