TellMe, a Microsoft subsidiary, has decided to provide BlackBerry (News - Alert) mobile users with a voice recognition feature for searching functions specifically focused on finding local services such as a restaurant, movie or other business listing as well as traffic and weather conditions and driving directions.

 

The ‘Just Say it, See it’ feature will enable users who have TellMe on their mobile devices to simply speak searches, InternetNews.com reported. Business locations using GPS, movie information, weather, news, stock market reports, and travel details are some of the ‘Say it, Get it’ information features available now for the BlackBerry phones.

 

For example BlackBerry users can just say ‘Coffee’ and find the nearest businesses based on their GPS location and also get maps, directions, and traffic information right into their screen. And likewise just saying ‘Movies’ is the easiest way to find out what's playing for any theater in the United States, even that funky art house that's still running Rocky Horror at midnight.

 

"This is not a fat client sent over the Net but a living, breathing service," Mike McCue, founder and general manager of Tellme (News - Alert), told InternetNews.com during the Web 2.0 Expo last week.

 

Microsoft (News - Alert) acquired TellMe last year.

 

"TellMe was founded on the idea of a network service — that's what Web 2.0 is all about," McCue said in the InternetNews.com report. "And now mobile is the hot Web 2.0 trend. Core to our belief is the idea of intelligence in the cloud with a handshake to make the services work.”

 

He added: “Mobility is driving the need for simpler access, particularly with some consumers risking their attention while driving to get at information sources online. Our idea is to let you simply say what you want and get it.”

 

A recent study by Decipher and Greenfield Online has found that retrieving information while driving is a difficult part for consumers. Some 63 percent of respondents said finding movie information was the most difficult task while driving, ahead of text messaging with 53 percent or finding a phone number with 51 percent.

 

McCue indicated he's a big fan of Apple's (News - Alert) innovative iPhone, which uses touch-screen technology to simplify access to applications and the Web, InternetNews.com said. But he was also quick to show the advantage of TellMe's software on a BlackBerry in many situations. "It takes six clicks to find a business on an iPhone (News - Alert) versus just saying: 'Starbucks,'" he said.