• April 24, 2008

Voice technology developer Tellme has launched an application that lets people speak commands into their smartphones to get information on local businesses, check movie times, and make other queries.

The new service will initially be rolled out on the BlackBerry phones, but versions are also in the works for Helio, Windows Mobile and iPhone devices. Rather than keypad typing or scrolling through a menu, the feature lets users simply say keywords to get Live Search results from Microsoft (which acquired Tellme last year for 800 million).

Using GPS technology, the system narrows responses based on a user's location--providing names and types of nearby businesses, local traffic conditions, driving directions, weather and other information.

Tellme's new voice offering comes only weeks after Yahoo released a new version of its oneSearch mobile search system that includes voice-recognition and is compatible with BlackBerry phones.

--Mark Walsh