Tellme Makes On-the-Go Information a Word Away: Say It and Get It, Right on Your Phone

SAN FRANCISCO, April 23 /PRNewswire/ -- Web 2.0 Expo -- Today Tellme(R), a Microsoft(R) subsidiary and pioneer of voice services for people and businesses, announced the addition of local 'on-the-go' information to its voice portal for mobile phones. Now instead of typing in a request or scrolling through menus to find information, people can simply hold down the 'talk' button, say a keyword and see the results on the phone's screen. This new version of Tellme is initially available on BlackBerry phones and is scheduled to roll out on future Helio devices.

"Tellme believes in the power of voice to transform how people use devices," said Mike McCue, founder and general manager of Tellme. "Tellme delivers an end-to-end experience. As opposed to broad Web search where the user sees a list of results, Tellme focuses on specific tasks where a spoken request leads to a specific answer -- like a movie show time, local weather info or driving directions."

Mobile users surfing for information while on-the-go no longer need to type their location or starting point, Tellme uses global positioning system (GPS) technology to deliver local information right to the phone's screen. For example:

    * Business Finder:  Say the name of a business or business category, such
      as "coffee" or "hardware" and see the Live Search results with the
      business address, driving directions, an option to call the business or
      share the listing with a friend.
    * Movies:  Say the name of a movie theater and see theaters closest to
      you, movie show times, driving directions to the theater and the ability
      to buy tickets, powered by Fandango, the nation's leading moviegoer
      destination.
    * Traffic: Say "traffic" and see a map with traffic conditions on major
      local routes, all using Live Search Maps.
    * Weather: Say "weather" and see a five-day forecast for your local area
      or say a different city to see weather for any other U.S. city.
    * Maps:  Say "map" and, using GPS and Live Search Maps, see a map of the
      local area or say a new city and the map is automatically updated.
    * Driving Directions: Say "driving directions" and speak or type a
      destination to see step-by-step directions from your current starting
      location.

Building on its leadership in voice services, history with 411 business search and 1-800-555-TELL voice access to content, Tellme provides the information people want when they are on-the-go. In the year ahead, the types of things people can use Tellme's service for will expand to include more mobile content and communication services.

MOBILE INTERACTIONS: TOUCH VS. TYPE VS. TELLME

While the complexity of the phone is increasing, new interfaces such as touch are making access to information and services much easier. However even touch remains a challenging interface to use when walking, driving or multitasking at home or work. For example, in a touch vs. type vs. Tellme task-completion comparison it took 33 touches vs. 41 keystrokes vs. two voice requests to get the same task done (in this test, from the launched application, the task was to find Amici's Pizza, Mountain View, CA). The ability to speak a request and see the results not only allows faster entry of data but also provides a more natural, intuitive process for viewing and navigating results.

MOBILE CONTENT: DEMAND FOR LOCAL INFORMATION

According to M:Metrics data, from 2006 to 2007, access to information using mobile devices has grown by double digits. For example, use of maps was up by 47.2%, restaurant information up by 45.7% and weather up by 35.8%. All the information searches and communication tasks measured were up year over year and point to the growing uses of mobile devices for on-the-go access to information.

People want similar services in the car: Based on a March 2008 study* of motorist behaviors, the top three most desired information services in the car are access to maps, driving directions and traffic updates. Results of this same survey also showed that finding information while in the car was viewed as the most difficult 'on-the-go' task. For example, 63% of respondents said finding information such as movie show times is difficult in the car, 53% said text messaging was difficult, and 53% also said getting directions or a map was difficult. This rating was based on a 4-point scale with difficult being the highest rating.

    * This nationwide study was conducted March 20-26, 2008 by Decipher Inc.
      and Greenfield Online. The panel included online adults who regularly
      use a cell phone or smart phone and who drive a minimum of 30 minutes,
      4 times per week.

ABOUT TELLME:

Tellme improves how people use the phone to get the information they need everyday. By combining Internet data and a voice interface, Tellme's services let people simply say what they want and get it. Some of the services running on Tellme's platform include business search on 411, information search on 1-800-555-TELL, Live Search 1-800-CALL-411, and 1-800-FANDANGO as well as customer service and ordering for companies like American Airlines, Merrill Lynch, and FedEx. Today Tellme powers billions of calls every year and is used by more than 40 million people every month. Headquartered in Mountain View, Calif., Tellme is a Microsoft(R) subsidiary.