Voice Recognition for WAP Shopping

from the cool,-but-is-it-really-needed dept

People who know me know that I really am quite obsessed with gadgets and new technologies. So, why do I feel like such a Luddite when it comes to things like the following? A company is launching voice recognition for WAP systems. This way people can buy stuff from their phones using their voice, rather than having to put in a credit card and/or pin number. I'm still confused as to how much shopping is going to be done over cell phones or handheld devices. It really doesn't seem like that big a market to me. I'll admit the idea is cool, and I'm sure will be useful in some areas, but I doubt that it's going to be common place for people to do their grocery shopping while walking down the street on their mobile phones...
Hide this

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team


Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread


  1. identicon
    Mr.White, 17 Apr 2000 @ 12:45pm

    Sorry.........NO

    I shop over the internet and in brick stores. Why a phone? I guess if you NEEDED a product, and could not get to a www or the store, how is this different then mail order? Sure technology is involved, but it does not help THAT much.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  2. identicon
    ScooterBoy, 18 Apr 2000 @ 10:41am

    No Subject Given

    I've seen this voice stuff in action, and it's actually pretty cool.. They've got the systems good enough so that it understands basic conversational terms. I think the idea is to guide the conversation so that there are only a few possible voice answers. Anyway, at the very least, it will get rid of those annoying "press 1 for ..." menus..

    link to this | view in thread ]


Follow Techdirt
Essential Reading
Techdirt Deals
Report this ad  |  Hide Techdirt ads
Techdirt Insider Discord

The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...

Loading...
Recent Stories

This site, like most other sites on the web, uses cookies. For more information, see our privacy policy. Got it
Close

Email This

This feature is only available to registered users. Register or sign in to use it.