Mobile speech specialist Vlingo is making some aggressive moves into Western Europe. Versions of its flagship product are now available in UK English, German, Spanish and Italian – all downloadable from Nokia’s OVI Store for selected handset models. The “Basic” version of Vlingo is available as a free download from OVI. It enables mobile subscribers to use their voice to open mobile applications or features, send a limited number of text or email, find contacts and dial numbers, search the web, and create notes.

Following the now-famous “freemium” model (credited in Wikipedia to VC Fred Wilson, but perpetuated by Tom Evslin in his blog and Chis Anderson in his recent book “Free”), the company offers “Vlingo Plus” for a one-time “upgrade” fee of £12.99 or €14.99 (roughly $21 by today’s exchange rate) or for a monthly fee of £3.49 / €3.99 (roughly $7.70). In the UK, Germany, Italy & Spain, Vlingo Plus gives users the ability to originate (by speaking) an unlimited number of text and email messages.

Another breakthrough for Vlingo was revealed today when Nokia announced that the basic version of its software will be pre-loaded on two of its smartphones. Both the he Nokia E72 (which vies for the business market with the likes of the Blackberry 9630) and the recently released QWERTY-keyboard-with-slider-and-touchscreen N97 (which is vying for attention versus the iPhone, Android and Pre) will ship with Vlingo on board. Nokia N97 PR 2.0 software users will also be able to update their Facebook status by voice. Dave Grannan, president of Vlingo, pointed out to us that wireless subscribers can upgrade to the Vlingo Plus at the touch of a button thanks to Nokia’s deployment of OpenBit licensing management software that supports multinational, multicarrier billing. Once the decision is made to upgrade, the process is essentially frictionless.

It is no surprise that Nokia has opted to pre-package Vlingo on the E72, as well as the N97. The application has had tremendous success among message-hungry users of RIM Blackberry. So much so that a ranking of “bestselling paid apps” that appeared in the August 31st issue of Fortune Magazine placed Vlingo Plus (with its $17.99 price tag) at the top of the list. There is no better testimony to the value of the voice user interface than the way mobile device owners vote with their wallets.

Categories: Articles

Tags: Recombinant Telephony, Mobile Speech Apps, Nokia, Vlingo