MOBIVOX’s hands-free texting service

MOBIVOX’s "Send Message" is a mobile phone service that automatically converts voice to e-mail and short messages (SMS).

Apart from avoiding the hassle of wrestling with text-input via mobile phone keypads, the key benefit of such a service is that it enables drivers to send text messages without taking their hands off the wheel or eyes off the road (and also avoids breaking the law in some parts of the world where only-hands-free phone use is allowed).

At a cost of costs 49 cents for each message sent, the MOBIVOX service works from mobile, home or office landline phones and can be used for both SMS and email messages. Users simply dial MOBIVOX (presumably using dial-by-name to keep the entire process hands-free), say the contact’s name and speak the message which is then automatically translated to text and relayed via text message or e-mail. We can't attest to the accuracy of the translation, but with ongoing improvements in speech recognition software, the results surely couldn't be any less legible than some of the garbled text messages that tend to arrive via conventional means.

MOBIVOX, an international calling service based in Montréal, presented the new service at CTIA Wireless 2008 in Las Vegas.