For people fed up with pecking out text messages on their mobile phone, Samsung Electronics may have an answer. The South Korean electronics maker has developed what it is calling the world's first mobile phones that can convert spoken words into text messages.
The phones use two speech-to-text products, called VoiceMode and QuickPhrase, and were shown off at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week.
VoiceMode, the more advanced of the two technologies, will be featured on Samsung's upcoming SGH-P207 phone. It uses speech recognition to allow a user to speak into the phone and have their words converted directly into an SMS (short messaging service) message. Users can also send their messages using a voice command, Samsung says.
Additional Phones
Samsung's A800 phone will also use VoiceMode and have the full speech to text capabilities, says Suyeon Chae, a spokesperson for Samsung Electronics in Seoul.
QuickPhrase, featured on Samsung's SPH-A890 phone, allows a user to address a message and insert preprogrammed, frequently used messages with voice commands.
All three handsets will be released in the U.S. sometime during the first quarter, Chae says. Pricing was not available.
Martyn Williams of the IDG News Service contributed to this report.
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