Check out what execs at both Vlingo & foursquare have to say about the new partnership!

“Location and social networking have become an integral part of consumers’ everyday lives—so having a strategic alliance with foursquare to provide users with a simple, easy way to connect with their friends is a natural fit for Vlingo,” said Hadley Harris, VP of Marketing at Vlingo.

“”By making it easier for Android users to check in and communicate with friends through foursquare, Vlingo is broadening our consumer appeal,.” ,” said Holger Luedorf, VP of Mobile and Partnerships for foursquare.

So, how does it work?  Quite simply.  By just speaking into your Android device, you can use your voice to launch foursquare and:

• Check in  to locations
  • Check in Hong Kong Express
  • Check into Logan Airport
• Locate friends
  • Where are my friends?
  • Who’s nearby
• Send shout outs
  • Shout headed to Fenway for the Sox game
  • foursquare shout at Starbucks grabbing a latte

Watch it here in action!

Think Vlingo and foursquare is great?  Well, now with Vlingo you can conveniently share Vlingo with their friends easily with the new “Share Vlingo” button.   Not to mention you can also update Facebook, Twitter and/or foursquare at the same time by just saying:

• “social update Headed to Fenway for the Red Sox game!”

Vlingo is available for free on the Android Market.

Note to BlackBerry, iPhone and Nokia S60 users: -Vlingo plans to roll out this functionality to other Vlingo supported platforms in a future release.

Erin Keleher, Senior Marketing Communications Manager, Vlingo

Have you seen the software update yet? The new update is available now and for free from HTC.

Here’s the deal – according to sources the new update offers fixes for “Caller ID inconsistencies, SMS freezes, and inaccurate SMS/MMS counts as well as adding HTC’s Sense user interface and the ability to format a microSD card directly on the Tilt2. Additionally, the new ROM version 2.10.501.4 will add baked-in instant messaging, an AT&T WiFi client, a Twitter application, and Vlingo. ”

Upgrade today!

We have some exciting news to share.  This morning AT&T and Sony Ericsson announced that the Sony Ericsson Vivaz™ will be available at AT&T stores nationwide on September 5th.  You might be thinking “why is Vlingo so excited?”.  Well, anyone that buys a Sony Ericsson Vivaz™ (Symbian S60 device) through AT&T will have direct access to Vlingo – a PRELOADED APP! We don’t have a screenshot yet of Vlingo’s icon on the device but as soon as we do, we will post it!

You can find out more details of this phone by reading the full press release below!

CHANNEL YOUR INNER FILMMAKER WITH THE NEW SONY ERICSSON VIVAZ™ NOW AVAILABLE EXCLUSIVELY AT AT&T

DALLAS, TX and ATLANTA, GA – August 25, 2010

News

• AT&T* and Sony Ericsson today announced the Sony Ericsson Vivaz™
• Capture HD video¹ or high resolution photos with 8.1 megapixel camera
• Available in the vibrant Galaxy Blue or for a limited time at www.wireless.att.com in the attractive Venus Ruby.
• Vivaz comes complete with a 3.2” nHD 16 million color touchscreen
• Exclusive for AT&T customers for $79.99, with a two-year service agreement and after a $50.00 mail in rebate, on September 5 in AT&T company-owned retail stores and online at www.wireless.att.com.

Customer Benefits

With Vivaz™, AT&T customers can capture spontaneous moments and memories instantly with two quick camera keys – video and photo, which lock focus on the action as soon as it starts.  Pre-loaded links to YouTube™ and Picasa™ Web Albums make it easy to upload HD videos and high resolution photos for sharing with friends and even the world.

In addition to its superb imaging features, Vivaz is loaded with applications to keep customers connected to their world. Topping that list is AT&T Social Net, allowing customers to share exciting moments with friends– on Facebook®, MySpace™ and Twitter®– all through one simple application. Other highlights include Wi-Fi®, aGPS with AT&T Navigator®, Stereo Bluetooth® wireless technology, and Vlingo® voice recognition interface for searching the Web, composing notes, and more.

Key Features

• AT&T Wi-Fi Hotspots – With Vivaz™ and a qualifying AT&T data plan, you have unlimited access to AT&T’s entire nationwide Wi-Fi network  at no additional cost. Perfect for uploading your latest HD video masterpiece while taking a load off your feet.
• 3.2″ nHD screen – Customers can view photos and videos in vivid nHD detail.
• Multitask Effortlessly – Have multiple applications running simultaneously and easily switch between them, including the ability to multitask while uploading HD video via Wi-Fi.

Quotes

“Working with Sony Ericsson to deliver a best-in-class video and camera phone on the nation’s fastest mobile broadband network gives our customers even more opportunities to express themselves through their favorite social networks,” said Michael Woodward, vice president, Mobile Phone Portfolio, AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets.  “With Vivaz capturing photos and video in stunning HD and sharing it on YouTube™ or Picasa™ Web Albums is quick and easy.”

“Shooting and sharing brilliant HD content is what creativity-minded consumers want from their mobile devices right now and we are delivering it with Vivaz™,” said Paul Hamnett, senior vice president, Sony Ericsson North America. “With a host of dynamic multimedia and social networking features, and offered at a very attractive price, we are putting the power of spontaneous HD in the hands of everyone.”

For the complete array of AT&T offerings, visit www.att.com

*AT&T products and services are provided or offered by subsidiaries and affiliates of AT&T Inc. under the AT&T brand and not by AT&T Inc.

We’re super excited to be offering an amazing deal in conjunction with our friends at Nokia.  As part of an Ovi Store promotion featuring apps that help “create more time in your day,” now through September 3^rd Nokia users worldwide can get Vlingo Plus for the amazing price of just €3 or the equivalent in your home currency.

That’s over 50% off!!

We’re privileged to share the stage with other great utilities and tools like Snapfish, Opera and Quick Office.  Click here to purchase a copy of Vlingo Plus before the promotion ends on September 3^rd.

In addition, we’ve also launched a Facebook Contest where we’ll be giving away some great prizes:

Grand Prize (2)

• Brand new, unlocked X6 smartphone from Nokia
• Copy of Vlingo Plus

Second Prize (2)

• Brand new, unlocked 5233 smartphone from Nokia
• Copy of Vlingo Plus

Click Here to “Like” Vlingo on Facebook and enter the contest

Here are a couple fun little facts for our Nokia customers as well…

Vlingo factoid #1: did you know that Vlingo for Nokia has been used by people in over 180 counties?  That’s almost every country in the world!

Vlingo factoid #2: of those 180 counties, did you know that the country with the most active Nokia users is the United Kingdom.

Cheers and Good Luck,

TJ

Smartphones are meant to make our lives easier–or at least more connected to people we want to communicate with–so why does typing on them sometimes seem on a par with performing root canal surgery?

Let’s face it: Unless your fingers are the size of toothpicks, composing even short messages on your smartphone’s tiny virtual keyboard can feel a bit like playing the game Operation. And though a handful of Android phones give you the option of a slide-out QWERTY keypad, most of them present you with the challenge of pecking at itsy-bitsy on-screen keys.

Don’t despair, though: There are alternatives. Here are six easy ways to input text on Android phones without driving yourself insane.

1. Use Android Voice-to-Text
Phones running Android 2.1 and higher have a built-in voice recognition system that lets you type with your voice. To use voice-to-text, tap the microphone key at the bottom-left corner of your on-screen keyboard or swipe your finger across the keyboard from right to left. Either action will bring up a ‘Speak Now’ box; once it appears, start talking and the system will translate your words into text.

You can use Android’s voice-to-text feature to input info practically anywhere on your phone. You can also use it to search your device: Tap the microphone icon next to any search box, or long-press your phone’s Search button and speak your query.

Android’s voice-to-text system has a handful of hidden commands that can help you get your message across. Try speaking some of these words:

• “Comma” [Inserts a comma.]
• “Period” [Inserts a period followed by a space.]
• “Point” [Inserts a period when used within appropriate context, such as "Android two point two."]
• “Exclamation point” or “exclamation mark” [Inserts an exclamation point.]
• “Question mark” [Inserts a question mark.]
• “Colon” [Inserts a colon.]
• “Smiley face” [Inserts a smiley face.]
• “Sad face” [Inserts a frowny face.]
• “Wink wink” [Inserts a winky face.]

Be warned:Testing these commands in public may make you look a little loony.I won’t attempt to describe the looks I got when I smiled at my phone and said, “Hey colon are you ready for lunch wink wink.”

2. Let Vlingo Interpret Your Voice
Vlingo adds voice dictation to any Android phone.For a more robust voice input experience, try Vlingo, now available for free in the Android Market. Vlingo upgrades Android’s default voice-to-text functionality so that you can easily control your phone in various speech-oriented ways.

For instance, with a single touch of your screen, you can directly dial any person or business, regardless of whether they’re in your contacts (Vlingo automatically acts as directory assistance when needed). You can also compose and send text messages, e-mail messages, and tweets; search the Web; get directions; and open other Android applications–all by saying a few words.

To activate Vlingo, either tap a widget on your home screen or press your phone’s Search button, which the program remaps to launch its voice input utility.

3. Get Active With Voice Actions
Introduced just days ago, Google’s Voice Actions for Android follows in Vlingo’s footsteps with a powerful form of voice control. Voice Actions, however, is available only for phones running Android 2.2. Google’s Voice Actions works with a combination of voice recognition and your phone’s Search key.

Like Vlingo, Voice Actions is connected to your device’s Search key. After pressing and holding that button, you use one of the app’s established voice commands to complete a task. No additional physical interaction is required. Some of Voice Actions’ commands overlap with Vlingo’s:

• “Send text to”
• “Call”
• “Send e-mail to”
• “Navigate to”
• “Directions to”
• “Map of”

But Voice Actions also has a few commands you won’t find anywhere else:

• “Note to self” [Lets you dictate a self-directed memo, which Voice Actions turns into text and sends to you via e-mail.]
• “Go to” [Allows you to say the name of any Website and have Voice Actions pull up the page.]
• “Listen to” [Gives you quick access to your phone's music collection by simply speaking the name of an artist, song, or album; the app responds by queueing up your tunes.]

Voice Actions is free, but except on the new Motorola Droid 2, you have to install it manually. As long as your device has Android 2.2, you can find Voice Actions by searching the Android Market.

4. Type With Swype
Swype lets you type without lifting your finger or tapping the on-screen keyboard.If talking isn’t your thing, you still have plenty of advanced input options for your Android phone. One of the most popular is Swype, a third-party app that replaces Android’s standard keyboard.

With Swype, you type by gliding your finger across the screen in a continuous motion–no lifting and tapping involved. The app’s creators claim that the system enables users to type 20 to 30 percent faster than they can with a standard on-screen keyboard configuration.

Swype now comes preinstalled on several Android devices, including the Droid X and the Droid 2. For everyone else, a free beta version of the program is available in limited doses. Sign up at Swype’s Web site to get on the waiting list.

5. Accept SwiftKey’s Predictions
Our next Android input option is about as close to automated ESP as you can get on a smartphone. SwiftKey--my typing program of choice at the moment–is brilliant at predicting what the user wants to say.

Here’s how it works: SwiftKey tracks what you’re typing and pops up suggestions as you go along. To accept a suggestion, either touch it with your finger or by press the space bar. According to its creators, the program predicts users’ next words correctly within two or fewer characters 80 percent of the time. And a third of the time, they say, it guesses the next word based on context alone — before you even type a single letter of it.

SwiftKey is currently available as a free download in the Android Market.

6. Go Wild With BlindType
If you struggle to hit the right on-screen keys on your smartphone, this final Android input method may be just what you need. As its name suggests, BlindType is built to let you type as if you couldn’t see your screen. The app’s motto is, “Accuracy not required.”

The program supposedly adjusts to your own “perceived keyboard” and figures out what you’re trying to say, even when your fingers are in the wrong place. Sound strange? Check out this video of the app in action, and you’ll see what it’s all about.

Its creators expect BlindType to become available for Android sometime in “the near future,” so put it on your mental back burner–and get ready to put the days of surgically precise smartphone typing behind you.

Just a few hours ago here at Vlingo, we all watched along with the rest of the industry as Google launched Voice Actions for Android. After playing with it for the last hour on our Sprint Evo running Froyo our conclusion is: Awesome Product. The Google guys have done it again. The app is snappy, has great polish and usability.  Voice Actions has set a new standard that the teams at Apple, Nokia, RIM and Microsoft are going to be measured by.

It’s hard to believe it was only 18 months ago when many in our industry were still saying voice recognition would never be good enough for consumer mobile markets. What a difference 18 months makes. We founded Vlingo in 2006 on the belief that voice is the next revolutionary UI in mobile and since then we have created apps to turn users’ words into actions across all phones. We love to see someone of Google’s stature validating this market.

In many ways Voice Actions for Android is very similar to the Vlingo for Android product—just by pushing a widget button on the home screen you can speak to your Android phone and have Voice Actions turn your words into actions. Just like Vlingo you can speak to send a text message or an email, navigate to a business location, search the web, and much more. The Voice Actions business dialing feature is very similar to Vlingo’s SuperDialer—you just say “call <business name>” such as “call Blue Ribbon Barbecue” and Voice Actions dials the business for you. It even goes farther in some areas—my favorite is setting the alarm clock on the phone just by speaking “Set alarm for 8 am.”

For all the appeal of Voice Actions, we think we still have something compelling to offer the market by virtue of Vlingo being an independent provider of voice-enablement: namely we don’t have to preference any particular content. So just as our product runs across all smartphones (iPhone, Android, RIM BlackBerry, Nokia Series 60, Windows Mobile), we also mash up with content other than Google content. Our current Android product leverages Facebook and Twitter for example (and here’s a hint—look for more such mash ups coming out very soon in our Vlingo for Android product). And of course we also have other features not yet present in Voice Actions, such as our SafeReader feature that reads your incoming text and email messages to you.

But saying we have something to offer is not as compelling as showing it—so following Google’s lead we’ve decided to make our product free on Android effective immediately so you can compare for yourself. Also—since Voice Actions only runs on 2.2 and above, we don’t want 2.0 and 2.1 users to feel they don’t have any options until they upgrade.

So try them both and let us know what you think.

Well done Google.

Dave Grannan, President & CEO, Vlingo

I had the latest and greatest build of Vlingo fired up on my phone – even running a few unreleased beta features that the product team allowed me to try. I kept my phone in my shirt pocket or in the empty cup holder during my journey through Long Island, Manhattan and a little upstate New York.

My family and I tired hitting many of the hot & historical spots in the area.  “Statue of Liberty boat ride departure times”  I said to my Cruiser – and Vlingo came back reading the answer to me. Great but how do I get there? “Navigate to Statue of Liberty” I said. Vlingo knew that I intended to drive to the boat dock and took me right to it. On the way “store hours for FAO Schwartz” teed up a fun side trip for the kids. Next I had to call “Sarah Ann Barnett in Brewster”, my cousin that we were visiting.  It was no problem – complete hands free dialing.

My father is older so I wanted to check in on him.  I simply said, “call grandfather” and put my Dad on speakerphone so my kids could yell from the back seat that they wanted him to come to the beach with them the next day.  By the way, he did and they were delighted.

Particularly amazing was “navigate to east meets west” – I didn’t tell Vlingo that this was a restaurant or give the name of the nearby town – but Vlingo had the intelligence to figure out that I was looking for a restaurant called ‘East Meets West’ in Long Beach NY – to me, ‘east meets west’ could be a search for almost anything, but Vlingo nailed it.

Those are just the highlights, there was more as my kids used Vlingo to get sand castle instructions, my lovely wife found shopping nearby and a new book for her kindle called “Coping with In-Laws” – and of course since my wife is a huge Facebook user, she kept all her friends posted all week, using Vlingo to “update Facebook” or “check into Foursquare”

Can’t wait for the next road trip!

Chris Barnett, EVP of Global Sales, Vlingo

In the face of mounting regulatory pressures to curb mobile device use while driving–and with consumer demand for more effective and efficient data access solutions also on the upswing–the wireless industry is turning its attention to voice-activated technologies. vlingoAt the forefront of the trend: Intelligent voice applications provider Vlingo, whose voice interface technology enables users to instantly access mobile services and content including text and email, call contacts, search tools and social networking updates all by speaking directly into their devices. Founded in 2006 and backed by Charles River Ventures, Sigma Partners, Yahoo and AT&T, Vlingo now boasts more than 4 million users worldwide, spanning platforms including iPhone, BlackBerry, Windows Mobile and Symbian.

Earlier this month, Vlingo launched SuperDialer, a new Android application expanding its signature voice dialer solution with the addition of a cloud-based “infinite phone book” connecting users to business listings, complete with reviews, ratings, maps and travel directions. SuperDialer offers consumers the latitude to communicate both general requests (e.g., “call dentist”) as well as more specific requests (“directions to Wrigley Field”); the $9.99 application also powers most other Android smartphone tasks.

Vlingo CEO Dave Grannan on voice-powered user experiences: The mobile industry offers great, capable devices, but by definition, user interfaces are constrained on some level. Our goal is to make mobile services more readily accessible to the user. Our focus is on natural language processing–our solution does speech recognition, but it also has to launch text messaging services and pull names out of address books. Now we’re trying to take it to a broader level around search and social networking. Everyone belongs to one social network or many–you want to keep in touch with your friends, and you want to know if they’re around. Now you can use your voice to interact and get to the people and information you care about.

The distracted driving issue is a market maker for us. Our SafeReader product reads back incoming messages while users are behind the wheel. That gave a great boost to our overall product–now more people are discovering the possibilities of using voice as an interface.

Grannan on SuperDialer: The notion is that you now have an infinite address book in the cloud. Our concept is that if you need a taxi, why not say ‘call taxi’ and not have to worry about all the other steps that are usually involved. Our search results provide sponsored listings first, then listings according to user proximity. If someone clicks on sponsor listing, we monetize that click–that’s part of our model. Either way, we don’t make the user think about what’s already in their phone book or what’s in the cloud. Having something close to you is what matters.

Grannan on developing for Android: Android is our innovation platform–when we do new things, we do them first on Android, then follow up later on other platforms. We try to get our products into the market as fast as we can. That’s why we turn to Android first.

[Fragmentation is a challenge] for any developer in mobile. We made the decision four or five months ago to focus on one platform as our first priority. Device manufacturers and carriers want to buy differentiation and leadership–for us, Android is a better bet for delivering those kinds of experiences, because of its openness and because the development environment is very simple and rapid. We can develop new products very rapidly. Contrast that with Apple–it’s rapid, but it’s also very restrictive. Developer nirvana would be the openness of Android with the tools and maturity of iOS.

Grannan on the future of voice-enabled technologies: Three years ago, there were no touch interfaces, and no dominant UI modality. Now we can see a multi-modal environment where people get new devices and know they can type on a physical keyboard or virtual keyboard as well as talk. Our view is that none replaces the other. It’s all very synergistic. If you’re sitting in a meeting, you’re not going to speak a message–you’re going to hold your phone under the table and type it. But there are so many use cases where voice is going to be the preferred interface. It’s so much easier to speak questions–why launch a browser and go to a Google search box to type in a question? It’s a pain. But if you can press one widget, ask a question and get a response, it opens up new ways to interact.

Grannan on advice for aspiring mobile developers: While you’re still small, pick a single platform to develop on and put all of your weight behind it. Of course you want a market opportunity across all platforms. We all want that. But it’s hard to achieve when you have to port your application to all of these platforms. So you have to make a tradeoff–do you want to focus on innovation or on porting? The answer is that you need to put all your wood behind a single arrowhead and demonstrate your viability on a single platform. Because if you don’t differentiate, you’re going to be behind.

The Gadget Show, a well-known British television series previews and reviews the latest gadgets, and also broadcasts the latest technology news.  The show is aimed at giving consumers an insight into the gadget world. What apps consumers need to buy, what smartphones have the coolest features and what are the must-have flat screen TV’s.  You get the idea! Last week they did a show featuring LG’s latest 3DTV and Vlingo.  The video review is just of Vlingo for iPhone but you will get an idea of Vlingo’s features and how it works.

The full video is about 12 minutes so we’ve cut the piece to just highlight Vlingo Click here to check it out!

We’re pleased to announce new functionality for Vlingo, which we’re calling SuperDialer that allows you to simply speak to instantaneously call an infinite address book, in addition to unlocking reviews, maps and directions for any business.  Think of it as having the entire Yellow Pages in your contact list.

For example, simply say:

“Call Joe’s Stone Crab in Miami Beach”, to make a dinner reservation…

“Call taxi”, to get a safe ride home from wherever you are….

or “Call Lindsey” to let your girlfriend know you’re running late…Vlingo’s intelligence will figure out whether you want to be connected with a contact in your phone or whether to access our infinite address book in the cloud.

SuperDialer is available immediately for Android and will be rolling out across the other platforms before too long.  You can get it or update your current version by simply searching for Vlingo on the Android Market.

Here’s a video if you want to check it out in action:

http://www.youtube.com/vlingovoice#p/a/u/0/C-WK60d8O2I

Cheers,

Hadley

VP of Marketing