Not one to be outdone by Yahoo! OneSearch, it turns out the Windows Live Search application for BlackBerry is also packing voice recognition, letting you pull up mobile searches just by speaking into your mobile. I’ve been making progress with vlingo lately, which features Google and Yahoo! searches built in as well, but one of our readers went so far to say “it has replaced half of my applications overnight, literally.” Tall words, but Live Search does feature GPS maps and navigation, movie showtimes, traffic, weather, and a bunch of other handy features. One-stop shops for BlackBerry software are becoming hot commodities, and voice recognition is the soupe du jour. Head on over to m.live.com to give Windows Live Search for BlackBerry a shot, or go to Live Search Mobile for more info.
Tag: mapsPage 2 of 3
Although our faith in voice recognition has been a wee bit tainted after trying to get vlingo to work for the last week, Google recently announced that you can now make voice-activated, local searches using Google Maps on the BlackBerry 8110, BlackBerry 8120, and BlackBerry 8130. It sounds like the app is still a work in progress, but no doubt once it’s been polished and fine-tuned, we’ll start seeing it on devices other than the Pearl. I really do like the idea of all these new voice-based services, but the more you have to wrestle with them to recognize you properly, the more you’re inclined to just use the dang keypad. You can find more info on Google Maps Voice Search, or head on over to m.google.com/maps on your BlackBerry to get started.
Tele Atlas has just announced that over the next five years they’ll be providing Google with all of the mapping info they suck up through the satellites, along with everything they’ve already piled up. This means that fancy Google Maps app for BlackBerry with the newfangled transit info will have a healthy booster shot of photos and information. Tele Atlas has done a lot of good work with mobile GPS applications, and partnering with Google is solid step to doing more.
Basement devs, start your engines. If you aren’t one of those companies that are super-cozy with RIM and getting the Java Desktop Environement well in advance, it’s now available for open download. HTML e-mail viewing, spell check and BlackBerry Maps integration are all a part of the new package. Maps opens up some options… Since Google opened up its maps API, a lot have companies have been able to do some great stuff with it. I’ve always been a fan of BlackBerry Maps, and think there are some similar opportunities there.
(via BerryReview)
I was greeted from my holiday with an update in my Google Mobile Updater with a notification about a Google Maps update. Lo and behold, BlackBerry Maps on mobile now includes transit directions, complete with fare and stops for over 50 cities across the US and Canada. To be honest, this would be the kicker to get me to switch from BlackBerry Maps to Google Maps. Google was always to data heavy, and BlackBerry Maps did pretty much the same thing, but this is a very nice option for those of us taking the bus, especially in unfamiliar parts of town. Transit has also been built into the browser-based directions search, too, for extra handiness. Check the video of the squeaky-voiced dude for the full run-down, and grab your update over the air from m.google.com.
Thanks Paul!
A recent video tour of the BlackBerry 9000 shows off the few new features in OS 4.6, including launching streaming video in the BlackBerry Media Player, geotagging right from the camera app, and a new Clock feature. The improved browser was nary to be seen, and BlackBerry Maps wasn’t included yet (likely due to tweaking needed for the new assisted GPS technology that the 9000 is packing), but the software will likely get all its gaps filled before release. Hardware-wise, the 9000′s keypad is significantly improved over the 8800′s, has a bigger battery (and extra weight to go with it), and is packing an uber-bright LED.
