# Hands-Free Texting Announced! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 1, 2009, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hands-free-texting-announced/491568 "2009-04-01T12:54:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2009, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hands-free-texting-announced/491568/1 "2009-04-01T12:54:14Z")
[QUOTE=AP] Researchers at Bell Labs have introduced the latest in personal technology – a communication device that enables a user to text without using thumbs or even a keyboard! Instead, the device is voice-controlled, using only a small number keypad to transmit the initial ten-digit contact code. Once a link is established, both users will be able to simply speak in plain English, and the device will translate the “verbal texting” into words that will be projected from a tiny speaker on the receiving end, without the need for typing of any kind! Since it doesn’t rely on a screen, a user’s eyes are free to look at other things, which will make multitasking possible. “One could talk on the hands-free texting system while typing on a computer, watching the kids, or even while driving,” suggested Bell Labs scientist Howard Nurman. “This will revolutionize how Americans communicate.” The hands-free texting devices will be available in mall kiosks and storefronts this fall. It’s expected that communication network providers like Verizon, Sprint, and T-Mobile will show a keen interest in this technology. Plans already exist to add it to Blackberry devices. [/QUOTE] This sounds so exciting! ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2009, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hands-free-texting-announced/491568/2 "2009-04-01T13:18:17Z")
I thought Verizon supported something like this already, “Spk n’TXT”, which I assumed was a way to do Voice Recognition with transliteration to an SMS text message. But if I go to [Verizon’s webpage](https://text.vzw.com/customer_site/jsp/messaging_lo.jsp) for sending text messages to a phone from a web browser, the “Spk n’TXT” functionality actually translates entered text… To TXT MSG SPK. This is not an April Fool’s thing either, I discovered this two days ago. For example, if I enter a message that reads “Are you doing anything for lunch today?” and click on the Spk n’TXT link, it converts that text to “R U doN NETING 4 lunch 2DAY?” Evidently this is so we dinosaurs who still write and read in English can Get With It and not embarrass ourselves when texting. I really wish I was joking but I’m not. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2009, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hands-free-texting-announced/491568/3 "2009-04-01T13:22:44Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > This sounds so exciting! Wow! Amazing technology, isn’t it? Finally we’ll be able to just talk instead. This has been a long time coming. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Santo\_Rugger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Santo\_Rugger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santo_Rugger)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2009, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hands-free-texting-announced/491568/4 "2009-04-01T13:26:19Z")
> [@robardin](#): > > I thought Verizon supported something like this already, “Spk n’TXT”, which I assumed was a way to do Voice Recognition with transliteration to an SMS text message. My old Verizon phone did what you think “Spk n’TXT” did. It was painfully slow, though, so maybe this New and Improved version lets you talk at normal speed. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2009, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hands-free-texting-announced/491568/5 "2009-04-01T13:27:16Z")
> [@robardin](#): > > Evidently this is so we dinosaurs who still write and read in English can Get With It and not embarrass ourselves when texting. I’m not a dinosaur, but I’m dumbfounded. I didn’t realize this texting style had status attached to it such that anyone would want to fake their way through it. I don’t use punctuation in my own texts, but other than that they’re generally transcriptions of perfectly normal spoken English into standardly spelled written English. I can’t read the abbreviated style of text message without hearing the “speaker” of the text as being somewhat mentally handicapped. My problem, not theirs. Also, @OP: Cute. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2009, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hands-free-texting-announced/491568/6 "2009-04-01T14:03:51Z")
> [@robardin](#): > > I thought Verizon supported something like this already What’s that whooshing noise? ---
**Author:** ![Ichini\_Sanshigo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/d9b06d/32.png) [@Ichini\_Sanshigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ichini_Sanshigo)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2009, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hands-free-texting-announced/491568/7 "2009-04-01T14:09:31Z")
Shh, don’t spoil it! ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2009, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hands-free-texting-announced/491568/8 "2009-04-01T14:28:07Z")
I just want the keypad improved. All this pushing is killing my finger tips. If there was some way to spin the letters and numbers, that’d be progress. ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2009, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hands-free-texting-announced/491568/9 "2009-04-01T14:38:39Z")
> [@Philster](#): > > I just want the keypad improved. All this pushing is killing my finger tips. If there was some way to spin the letters and numbers, that’d be progress. I had an idea for a method where you just click something a couple of times and then speak the name/number of who you wanted to be connected with. Then someone in the system would connect you. [Like this](http://www.vintagephone.com/willms2/T12L.gif) ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2009, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hands-free-texting-announced/491568/10 "2009-04-01T14:44:11Z")
> [@Scarlett67](#): > > What’s that whooshing noise? Yah, I know the OP was a Fool (I swear! ;)), but it reminded me of the Spk n’TXT thing I discovered earlier this week that I found so dumbfounding. Maybe I should start a new thread on what that implies. As **Frylock** notes, it suggests that it’s become a standard enough convention that there are enough people who want or need to “fake it”. Which chills me to the… well, maybe not to the marrow, but definitely something subcutaneous. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2009, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hands-free-texting-announced/491568/11 "2009-04-01T14:45:53Z")
I want some kind of personal transport so I can go to the other person and talk face to face. ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2009, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hands-free-texting-announced/491568/12 "2009-04-01T14:53:42Z")
> [@runner pat](#): > > I want some kind of personal transport so I can go to the other person and talk face to face. That would cost an arm and a leg! Well, more than just one leg, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Jodi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7feea3/32.png) [@Jodi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jodi)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2009, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hands-free-texting-announced/491568/13 "2009-04-01T15:24:26Z")
> [@Philster](#): > > I just want the keypad improved. All this pushing is killing my finger tips. If there was some way to spin the letters and numbers, that’d be progress. And if they could tether the phone to a base with some sort of cord, so you didn’t lose it, that would be great, too. Oh, and this might be crazy but stay with me here – how about phones that could be used by any member of the public, so we didn’t all have to carry our own? People could pay per call, and maybe the phone company could put the phones in some kind of stationary shelter, like a booth. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2009, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hands-free-texting-announced/491568/14 "2009-04-01T16:43:12Z")
> [@Philster](#): > > I just want the keypad improved. All this pushing is killing my finger tips. If there was some way to spin the letters and numbers, that’d be progress. You can get something [kind of like that](http://www.newlaunches.com/archives/iphone_rotary_dialer.php) on the iPhone, but it doesn’t seem to handle letters. Or am I misinterpreting? Are we speaking about bidirectional voice-to-text here? ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2009, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hands-free-texting-announced/491568/15 "2009-04-01T17:06:58Z")
[insert witty, well-written treatise on the advantages of a pony-express system here] ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2009, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hands-free-texting-announced/491568/16 "2009-04-01T19:00:11Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > You can get something [kind of like that](http://www.newlaunches.com/archives/iphone_rotary_dialer.php) on the iPhone, but it doesn’t seem to handle letters. Or am I misinterpreting? Are we speaking about bidirectional voice-to-text here? Alas…progress! ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2009, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hands-free-texting-announced/491568/17 "2009-04-01T19:13:13Z")
> [@Jodi](#): > > And if they could tether the phone to a base with some sort of cord, so you didn’t lose it, that would be great, too. Oh, and this might be crazy but stay with me here – how about phones that could be used by any member of the public, so we didn’t all have to carry our own? People could pay per call, and maybe the phone company could put the phones in some kind of stationary shelter, like a booth. This sounds like a great deal of time-wasting and skills-duplication. I think what we need to do is have one person do the communicating for us - say, someone whose job it is to just send and receive messages all day long. I’d imagine that person would need to become fairly proficient at this, so reducing communication down to some sort of code (probably binary in nature) would be best. Then we could just tell that person what our message was, he’d send it, and we’d be done with it. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2009, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hands-free-texting-announced/491568/18 "2009-04-02T19:09:17Z")
Okay, improbably enough, I actually did get someone with this one. My wife copied it and e-mailed it to some of her friends and one bit! Reply reproduced below with name redacted to protect the gullible: > [@](#): > > Subject: RE: hands free texting > > This is excellent news b/c I hate to text due to the fact that I have > one of those “old” phones where it takes me forever to text two words… > I can talk a lot faster than I text. My only concern is that it doesn’t > confuse words that sound similar because that could be an issue > (Chris=Kiss, Hurt=Squirt, Etc) 😉 To be fair, she whipped this reply back really quickly and probably didn’t think about it very hard. “I can talk a lot faster than I text…” 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2009, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hands-free-texting-announced/491568/19 "2009-04-02T19:25:31Z")
You got me for a few seconds. I don’t find it that far-fetched that someone would devlop something like this. Well done, though. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2010, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hands-free-texting-announced/491568/20 "2010-03-19T15:39:25Z")
Score a point, **Diogenes**. Look at this: [Is voice becoming the new text (again)?](http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/03/19/voice.recognition/index.html?hpt=T2) [QUOTE=CNN] Mobile voice-recognition technology now allows people to send text messages to friends by talking instead of typing [/QUOTE] Last year’s April Fools joke is this year’s news, apparently. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hands-free-texting-announced/491568.md?page=2)