Internet retailer and bargain finder Buy.com reports that over 20,000 people have downloaded the latest version of its iPhone app, since the introduction of its “beta” version last month. The new version is different from previous ones because it supports voice search, using MeMeMe’s mobile voice recognition technology as well as the ability to search by scanning the ubiquitous UPC barcode printed on an item’s packaging.
Both input modalities provide quick, convenient ways for holiday shoppers to comparison shop, spanning the World Wide Web and the Real World. MeMeMe, as the verbiage on its Web site indicates, is on a mission to “voice-enable any mobile application or networked service.” That makes it direct competition to Nuance, Microsoft/Tellme, AT&T/Watson, Loquendo and a few others. The Buy.com app for the iPhone is a good demonstration. It also shows how speech-based input is a peer to (but not a replacement for) keying in info or scanning barcodes.
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