Last March Joe Cerra, a User Experience Architect at Vlingo, issued this blog post urging readers to petition Applie to support voice-activation of SMS text messaging on iPhones. The crux of the problem is an architectural decision by Apple which makes it impossible for 3rd party developers to gain access to the “To” and “Body” fields in the iPhone’s “Message” app. The importance of gaining such access waxes with every news cycle that draws attention to the dangers that texting poses to people who are driving cars, trains, subways or perhaps even jets that are heading to the Twin Cities.

That said, we were surprised and a little gratified that Promptu has enough confidence in the impending launch of its ShoutOUT app on the iPhone to post this screenshot on Flickr.

Like Second Life, a screenshot is its own flavor of reality. Still, we have seen real-life demos of a Promptu-based SMS app that supports addressing, dictating and sending SMS messages through an iPhone. It is not totally hands-free and users are well-advised to review and edit dictated text before transmitting, but the promise of mobile speech-to-text messaging moves ever-closer.

Categories: Articles

Tags: mobile speech, iPhone, Promptu