The Ontario Ministry of Transportation’s distracted driving law is simple enough, but finding an app that converts e-mail and text functions into voice prompts and commands in a way that makes it suitable for business use isn’t so easy.
Vlingo Corp.’s Vlingo app for iPhone, Blackberry, Android, Nokia and Windows Mobile devices allows you to perform smart phone functions using voice commands. Certain features, such as dialing phone numbers, are available to use for free. On the iPhone, the ability send e-mails and texts will cost you either $6.99 a piece or $9.99 for both.
Vlingo is a popular app, but physical interaction with your phone after the app launches is necessary to activate certain features. To compose an e-mail, for example, you need to tap and select the e-mail feature from the menu. If you want to send a text, again, you have to return to the apps menu and tap the selection on screen.
But features and pricing varies depending on the device you are using.
SafeReader, a Vlingo feature available on Blackberry and Android
phones, reads incoming texts and e-mails out loud and doesn't require you to touch the device.
Other voice-based apps may comply with driving laws by not requiring you to touch your phone to send or receive messages, but they may not be reliable for business use. The app may, for example, fail to consistently pick up e-mails or get blocked by corporate mail servers.
Some apps may also fall short on full business functionality, such as allowing you to hear your e-mails but not reply, or reply to e-mails but not compose new messages.
Text’nDrive, a hands-free app for the iPhone and Blackberry that launched in July from Montreal-based Hands Free Software Inc., is one example of an app with good intentions but a few kinks that need to be addressed.
On the iPhone, the app supports e-mail only, while the Blackberry version supports e-mail and text messages. A free and pro version are available, with the pro costing $19.95 and currently on sale for $9.95.
After launching, the app automatically checks for e-mail messages once every two minutes and reads incoming messages out loud. Further physical interaction with the phone is not required, so it complies well with driving laws.
If using the pro version, users get a one-time option to reply to the message by recording an audio file that is sent back as an e-mail attachment. The app does not convert audio replies to text, nor does it allow users to compose new e-mail messages.
But getting the app to receive e-mails in the first place is a bit of a struggle. The app supports Gmail, Hotmail, AOL and Yahoo accounts and works with Microsoft Exchange if the IMPA protocol is enabled.
In our review of the app on an iPhone with a Yahoo e-mail account, the app didn’t detect all the new e-mail messages that were sitting on the server. User reviews on The App Store also cite problems with receiving e-mails and reading messages in certain formats.
Darren Royea, marketing director for Text’nDrive, said the app “was built to garner and address user feedback” and the company has already released “a bunch of different patches” responding to the complaints.
“We spent a lot of time getting the app ready and we knew we were going to, as anybody does, run into certain bugs and certain things they need to fix, so we are addressing them as they come up,” he said.
Text’nDrive was intentionally designed to reply to messages rather than compose them, said Royea. The company wanted to create an app that would prevent people from taking their eyes off the road when they hear a beep from their smart phone while driving, he said.
“When the e-mail does come in, they are able to receive it and able to reply, so it gives them the sense they are connected – but it’s much more safe in terms of a driving perspective,” said Royea.
Drivesafe.ly is another app, available for Blackberry and Android phones, designed to read your text and e-mail messages out loud in real time and automatically respond without touching the device. An iPhone version is in beta and available for download on jailbroken phones. Branded as “the app to stop distracted driving,” Drivesafe.ly is powered by iSpeech.org.
But even if a smart phone app provides business functionality and complies with drive safe laws, you may find yourself spending more time talking out loud to correct grammar mistakes than you do getting any work done.
“Apps in their current state are ill-equipped to offer a truly hands-free solution for most users,” said Adam Smith, CEO of Toronto-based LiquidReality.
A couple major challenges come into play for developers, according to Smith. First is the capability of the microphones on smart phone devices combined with the complex nature of natural speech recognition, he said.
“There are a lot of issues with ambient noise interference as well as users being generally distracted by the task they require their hands for when dictating a message, creating a situation with extremely poor audio quality and continuity for the speech recognition software to process,” he said.
Performing “real-time audio processing in non-optimal situations like a vehicle” is also very intensive on a smart phone’s processor and battery, he said.
“The software would have to be able to intelligently predict what the user intended to say when a word or group of words was not well detected because the user turned away from the mic to check their blind spot or paused their speech in order to pay closer attention to a vehicle that cut them off,” he said.
And “this level of intelligence for the app would require pretty advanced algorithms which are difficult to design and implement within the constraints of the smart phone hardware and software,” said Smith.
A second challenge is that there are “too many breaks in voice control, if present at all, for most smart phones to be able to allow developers the end-to-end voice command user experience required by a truly hands-free solution,” he said.
For now, it might be best to stop fiddling around with smart phone apps to send e-mails and texts and stick to business activities using hands-free phone calls and a Bluetooth headset or car kit.
Melbourne, Australia-based BlueAnt Wireless Pty, Ltd. specializes in Bluetooth devices and has seven headsets on the market, including rugged and motorcycle models. BlueAnt also has car speakerphones and an Android app that reads text messages out loud through their products.
The company has some great products with excellent call quality, battery length, ease of operation and sleek designs. But the BlueAnt S4, a $119.99 car speakerphone released in Canada in June, might be the best of the bunch.
A voice-controlled speakerphone, the S4 is activated when you speak to the device. You accept and make calls using voice commands and if you forget what the commands are, all you need to do is ask the device, “What can I say?”
The S4 integrates with Vlingo Safereader for Blackberry and Android phones, Microsoft Corp.'s BING-411 and includes A2DP for streaming audio from a music player or GPS app in your phone.
And if it helps, download an app designed to help you resist the urge to check your e-mail or glance over at that text while you’re behind the wheel.
DrivePromise, an iPhone app developed by Andrew Arrow, doesn’t do anything other than ask you to make the following three promises before you start driving:
1. Phone will remain in pocket/purse/glove box and will not be accessible during drive.
2. If phone rings or makes a new message sound, I will ignore it for the ENTIRE drive.
3. At red lights and other stops, I will NOT just check/send a few messages while waiting.
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