ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ

His masters voice

• By Paul Crichton
• 9 Jan 07, 06:46 PM

It is a big week in technology and gadgets, with both the taking place in Las Vegas and Apple’s conference in San Francisco. Plenty of new products are being launched and showcased, ranging from a robotic Elvis Pressley to the latest set top boxes – about which, more later in the week.

One thing that caught my eye was the announcement at CES that Microsoft and Ford have worked together to produce the . This is a voice-activated music and telephone system that will be available on Ford vehicles later this year.

The Sync system will allow you to just say the name of the person that you want to call, or the name of the track that you want to hear from your MP3 player.

Admittedly, you might not want to buy a Ford car in order to get yourself a voice activated MP3 player, but it is another indication that voice activated devices are being developed and used in more and more wide ranging everyday places. That has got to be good news, as it can improve usability of devices for lots of user groups.

Earlier this year, the DVD boxed set of Dr Who was released with talking menus. That is a real step in the right direction. But it would be pretty cool to able to shove the DVD into the machine and just say, β€œPlay episode one”. That is probably something that would appeal to everyone, as I know I’ve got some DVDs with highly irritating graphical menus. And if voice activation has wide appeal to the masses, then it is doubtless something that the major companies will be looking to develop.

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