Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Using Vlingo?? Speak fast!

Last week I saw a post on Mashable that the Vlingo iPhone App will now allow you to eMail & SMS. For a fee, of course.

Let me back up just a little bit. In December I started a new job. With the new job came an an entirely new commute. Driving to work... While working at my previous job I commuted to work via train and bus. This was great because it allowed me to listen to podcasts, catch up on my emails, etc. My new commute consists of driving 30-60 minutes (depending on traffic) each way. As you may know, using an iPhone while driving doesn't facilitate easy texting, emailing, etc. Nor is it safe. :)

So when I saw Mashable's post about email and text via voice I was wicked excited. Hastily I purchased the app to give it a try. Here are my findings.

Best Way to Use the App
  • Speak fast

  • Annunciate your words

  • Use it often

  • Have a sense of humor

*Regarding the last point, I found it very entertaining in the begining when it was making up words for me. I said some pretty funny stuff.


The Drawbacks
  • You can't speak to text in SMS. You have to do it in the Vlingo App then copy your text and paste into your SMS App.

  • Same goes for email. (So it doesn't help the ability to do this while driving)

  • Punctuation. I know I'm bad at it but forget writing a formal business email on here.

In conclusion, this app is not safe to use while driving. There are to many button's to press to do anything and you might drive off the side of the road with the entertaining phrases they come up with.
One recommendation I do have, is that they integrate it into email and SMS so if you are in your email client you can click a Vlingo button and it will allow you to speak to text right there.

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