WHAT'S HOT

   My favorite new features in Microsoft Voice Command 1.5 are the added options for announcing incoming callers, and the "Phone Status" commands support. With the Caller ID announcement, you no longer have to look at the screen in order to tell who's calling. Granted, IA Caller ID which comes pre-installed allows me to set custom ring tones to each caller, but that means I'd have to set it up and I'd have to remember what ring tone goes with what caller.  With text-to-speech Caller ID, it simply tells me who's calling in plain English.

    The Phone Status commands are also quite useful. For example, instead of tapping Start>Settings>Power in order to see my battery life, I just activate Voice Command and say "What is my battery life?"  Voice Command responds with "The battery life is 78%."

SETUP

   The application only needs to be installed into main memory on the Pocket PC. Be forewarned however, you'll need about 7Mb of storage space. Also make sure you have plenty of available program memory as this application will need it when enabled.

PROGRAM FEATURES

   First off, you need to figure out how to start Voice Command. After installation, the only thing you'll find is a Voice Command Settings icon. 

     Well, it also took over your Calendar hardware button! So tap the Buttons control panel in the Settings window and see which button Voice Command is configured as.

Press the Voice Command hardware button and the above microphone icon will appear in your menu bar along with an audible tone indicating that Voice Command is listening. Now you can speak your commands.

    It's important that you read the Help file that comes with the Microsoft Voice Command software. Voice command can only recognize certain wording when it's listening for a command. If you're not getting the results you expect, maybe you're saying the wrong thing and Voice Command doesn't understand.

    Here's some highlights of what you can say copied from the Help file.

Phone Commands

 

    In addition to the commands you can say, Voice Command also offers some other excellent options available from the Voice Commands Settings control panel

Here you can choose to enable certain aspects of the Voice Command application.

A great feature in the Calendar options is to let it dictate your appointment titles as they occur. This way you don't have to look at the screen to read your reminder, just listen to what it says.

Voice Command can also announce incoming calls by dictating the caller ID name or incoming phone number. This is a great feature since again, you don't have to look at your screen to see who's calling. That means your Pocket PC Phone can sit on the dashboard in your car while playing music in the stereo, and when an incoming call is received the caller's name is announced on your car speakers. Press the answer button on your bluetooth headset and start talking. I like this caller ID method much better than having to go through each contact and make a special ring-tone specific to each person.

    Here's some videos to see and hear how Voice Command works.

Music, Phone Status

Appointments

HELP SUPPORT

    Unlike other programs where you can usually skip the Help file and figure it out on your own, the Voice Command Help file is very important since it tells you exactly what wording and wording variations it will be able to understand. Once you figure out what language Voice Command can process, it will be very useful.

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

    Microsoft Voice Command requires a Pocket PC or Pocket PC Phone Edition running Windows Mobile 2003, Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition, or Windows Mobile 2005. You also need Microsoft ActiveSync 3.7 or later installed along with at least 7MB of free memory on the Pocket PC.

BUGS AND WISHES

    The biggest problem with Microsoft Voice Command 1.5 on my imate JAM with Windows Mobile 2003SE is that I can't activate it from a Bluetooth headset. If it were possible to press a button on my bluetooth headset to activate Voice Command, it would be GOLDEN!  What else would be great is if an incoming call could connect to my Bluetooth headset, tell me who's calling, and then allow me to answer by pressing the headset button.

     Microsoft Voice Command does not work with any GPS Navigation software. This is another sorely lacking feature. If there was a GPS Navigation program that could respond to Microsoft's Voice Commands and use it's text engine there would be no need to take up so much memory with other methods.

     Another strange thing is the way it works with Media Player. It can only recognize Artist, Album, and Genre types. It can't recognize song titles, Video titles, or TV Program names. Also, when you say "Play everything" it does play all media including TV shows and videos... not just music.  It should have support for specifying, "Play all Music" or "Play TV". I also wish I could tell it to play a particular song name.

PURCHASING

    As a packaged product, Voice Command is available at CompUSA Inc., Circuit City Stores Inc., Amazon.com Inc., Fry's Electronics Inc., Micro Center, J&R Electronics Inc., and MobilePlanet Inc., as well as distributors Ingram Micro Inc. and Tech Data Corp.  You can also purchase Microsoft Voice Command as a download through the Handango.com online software store for $39.99. A demo version is also available and if you've already purchased Microsoft Voice Command version 1, you can download the upgrade for free by signing into the Handango store with your purchase information.

PROS

• Control many aspects of your Pocket PC with your voice
• No training required
• Surprisingly accurate voice recognition
• Works with Media Player 10
• Announces incoming caller names

CONS

• Can't be activated via Bluetooth headset
• Doesn't work with any GPS Navigation software
• Expensive
• No noise reduction

OVERALL IMPRESSION

   Microsoft Voice Command 1.5 is a half step forward in the evolution of mobile device voice recognition. The added features are definitely worth the free upgrade if you already have purchased Voice Command 1. I think this software should be party of the Windows Mobile ROM though. It's an excellent program and is becoming indispensable for me, especially while driving. I love being able to control my car stereo's playlist by voice recognition. Making phone calls without taking my eyes off the road is an absolute joy as well.

    In the future I hope to see this technology make it into my Windows XP Media Center remote control. Being able to say "Play Led Zepplin" instead of scrolling through hundreds of artists is so much easier.