SHAPE Services has partnered with Yap, the company behind the first fully automated voice-to-text platform, to add a speech recognition feature to its instant messaging client – IM+ for BlackBerry smartphones.
From the press release:
IM+ with speech recognition will allow users to dictate their instant messages and send them as text to their contacts in Facebook, AIM/iChat, MSN/Windows Live Messenger, Yahoo!, ICQ, Jabber, Google Talk and MySpaceIM. Recent studies indicate that over 70% of consumers prefer using voice to interact with their mobile devices rather than typing. Speech-enablement increases message creation speed and greatly improves the usability of instant messaging on mobile devices.
The beta version of the app was showcased at the recently ended Wireless Enterprise Symposium (WES) in Orlando, Florida, and the full release is expected at the end of May 2009. Then, once the BlackBerry version hits the market, we’ve no doubts SHAPE will release version of the app for other platforms, as well…