On the eve for the GSMA Mobile World Congress, Microsoft has made a “speech search” application called Microsoft Recite available for smartphones running the Windows Mobile 6.0 and higher. Among speech-enabled mobile search applications, Microsoft Recite is neither fish nor fowl, and whether it’s a pure red meat application could be up for debate.

More than anything else, Microsoft Recite is a memory aid. It is a downloadable application that allows mobile subscribers to recored and upload true ‘memos’, like “The name of the wife of my V.P. of Sales is Sheila”. After that the application allows the mobile sub to ask “What’s my V.P. of Sales’ wife’s name?” and it will retrieve and play back the appropriate media file. The video demo on Micosofts Web site walks through several uses of the application, homing in on how the mobile phone can serve as a memory enhancer for those of us who want to remind ourselves of favorite restaurants or even driving directions.

To our mind, the application is underachieving. It exists in a potentially solipsistic vacuum. It is a voice search utility that allows users to find items among previously recorded voice memos. It has its uses, but would be much more valuable if it could course through a broader set of uploaded voice files, like Twitter tweets or wall-to-wall communications through FaceBook.

Apparently the application runs solely on the device. After the download, neither creation of a dictated memo nor the search uses any measurable time or capacity on a data link. However modest its aims, for many mobile subscribers, Microsoft Recite represents the re-introduction of speech recognition and, thus, has the potential to rebuild trust (and dependence) on an application that relies on successful search and retrieval of information in audio files. Where it goes from here depends on user acceptance and Microsoft’s future product plans.

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