By Vlingo’s remained dedicated to keeping their Android offering updated with the latest features even after Google announced Voice Actions. Development continues today as they’ve announced their new Vlingo update with Vlingo InCar.
It sounds like everything you’d expect: you set Vlingo to go into car mode and it does everything in its power to help you keep your hands off the phone while it should be on the steering wheel. They implement a listening system that’ll tell Vlingo to “wake up” using whatever phrase you want. We demoed the product at yesterday’s PepCom gathering in San Francisco and it was very cool, to say the least.
Imagine you’re in the car and – after you’ve put Vlingo in InCar mode – you just say “Hey Vlingo.” Right away, it starts listening for whatever command you want it to carry out. This works especially well if you have a bluetooth headset or a bluetooth-enabled car.
Something else they’ve added (but I haven’t gotten the chance to see yet) is Vlingo Answers. Simply, you ask it a question and it speaks back an answer, all without having to touch your phone. These are the kind of features that keep Vlingo competitive up against Google’s own offerings and up against others who step up for the challenge.
Initially, Vlingo for Android with InCar will be available exclusively for Android 2.1+ phones on the Sprint network, though we’re told other carriers should be seeing it within the coming months. Read on for the full press details and – if you’re a Sprint customer – be sure to head to the Android market now to download the latest version of Vlingo.
Vlingo Announces “Vlingo InCar,” The First and Only Completely Hands Free Solution To Send and Respond to Messages, Make Calls, and Get Directions While Driving
Sprint Supports Vlingo InCar App to Help Combat Texting While Driving
CAMBRIDGE, MASS. (October 7, 2010) – Vlingo Corporation, the world’s leading provider of intelligent voice applications that turn your words into action, today announced “Vlingo InCar,” a new beta feature for AndroidTM users that allows consumers to receive and send text messages without taking their hands off the wheel or their eyes off the road. Vlingo InCar offers users:
- Voice-driven, hands free initiation – Vlingo enters listening mode upon Bluetooth® connectivity
- Voice driven, hands free initiation using a “wake up word”
- Conversational user guidance instead of a touch screen
- Ability to send and respond to messages, make calls and get directions using only voice commands
“Vlingo InCar was a natural extension of Vlingo’s functionality so that users can now have an alternative, hands free way to communicate when they need to respond to an urgent message,” said Dave Grannan, president and CEO at Vlingo. “Although 30 states presently have full or partial bans on texting while driving (TWD), data from Vlingo’s Texting While Driving in America 2010 Report shows that 35% of those surveyed still continue to TWD. Legislative action is an important step but clearly laws are not enough, we are going to need technology solutions.”
“Sprint firmly believes in helping wireless consumers combat texting while driving with engaging educational tools and innovative products that assist them in drastically changing this dangerous behavior,” said Ralph Reid, Sprint vice president for corporate social responsibility. “With Vlingo’s hands-free application on the Android Market, drivers are able to keep their eyes on the road and their hands on the wheel, and Sprint is pleased to support Vlingo InCar as an application for its wireless customers. “
This latest release of Vlingo also includes a new feature called “Vlingo Answers” that enables users to speak into their device to ask a question, in any form, and have the answer read to them, out loud, immediately.
In addition to InCar, Vlingo can power most tasks on Android devices. Users can simply press the “Vlingo widget” to:
• Send text and email messages
• Search the web using Google or Yahoo!
• Update Facebook and Twitter status
• Open built-in and 3rd party applications
• Speak into any application with the Vlingo Everywhere voice keyboard
• SafeReader – hear incoming text & email messages while you drive
• SuperDialer – one-click calling to an infinite address book, and reviews, maps and directions for any business.
• Foursquare – check in, connect with friends, or shout out an update on foursquare.
Availability, Compatibility and Price
Vlingo is available free of charge for Android 2.1, and above. Note Vlingo InCar beta is exclusively available on the Sprint Now Network and is optimized for the HTC Evo and other Android 2.2 devices. To see when Vlingo InCar will be available for your U.S. carrier wireless carrier, click here. U.S. users can download Vlingo on device from the Android Market for free. Watch it here in action.
Follow Vlingo on Facebook at http://facebook/vlingopage, on Twitter at http://twitter.com/vlingo and on the Vlingo blog at http://blog.vlingo.com for regular news and updates. For carriers and OEMS interested in partnering with Vlingo go to http://vlingo.com/partners.To bring this latest version of Vlingo to the market, Vlingo is pleased to expand its partnerships to leverage technology and services from Foursquare, CityGrid Media, XAD, IVONA Text-to-Speech (TTS), and Sensory Inc’s Truly Hands-Free Trigger.
Vlingo plans to roll out this functionality to other Vlingo supported platforms in a future release.
About Vlingo
Vlingo’s intelligent voice applications turn your words into action. Simply speak to your phone to connect with the people, businesses and activities that are important to you. Vlingo is the safest and easiest way to get things done while on the go. Send text and email messages, search the web, use Google maps, update Twitter and more. Founded in 2006, Vlingo is backed by Charles River Ventures, Sigma Partners, Yahoo! and AT&T and headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts. For more information, go to www.vlingo.com.
About Sprint Nextel
Sprint Nextel offers a comprehensive range of wireless and wireline communications services bringing the freedom of mobility to consumers, businesses and government users. Sprint Nextel served more than 48.1 million customers at the end of the second quarter of 2010 and is widely recognized for developing, engineering and deploying innovative technologies, including the first wireless 4G service from a national carrier in the United States; offering industry-leading mobile data services, leading prepaid brands including Virgin Mobile USA, Boost Mobile, Common Cents Mobile and Assurance Wireless; instant national and international push-to-talk capabilities; and a global Tier 1 Internet backbone. With its customer-focused strategy, you can learn more and visit Sprint at www.sprint.com or www.facebook.com/sprint and www.twitter.com/sprint
what’s shakin’
great app! Most fun part is being able to customize how it responds to you. Good for a few laughs but also really helpful.
pretty cool
From the comments I’ve been reading on the market, it’s impossible to turn off without a force close and also causing a lot of issues. It seems to need some work before being useful. I’ll try it myself but my hopes for the current version are not high.
Nice.
“Hey Vlingo, Call that hoe, im round the corner”
I tried Vlingo for a week since I spend a ton of time in the car. While it had some neat features, I ended up removing the application. First off, Safereader would read an entire e-mail. By that, I mean every little word in the from and signature lines as well. Doesn’t sound like a big deal, but when you receive an e-mail from someone at a corporation with one of those confidential signatures, you’re in for 3 minutes of nonsense. I also find these programs frustrating at voice recognition. Getting most things correct, but always enough wrong that you need to repeat yourself time and time again. Notice in the video that there was always a cut after the driver told Vlingo what to say. In a quiet room it works great, but out on the highway, things aren’t so perfect. Hopefully they get better because the concept is awesome.
I wish they had in car mode on t-mobile for my samsung vibrant