VoiceBox

COMPANY PROFILE
Established: 2001
Home Base: Bellevue, Wash.
Employees: Approximately 100
Funding: Private

Why You Should Care

If you’ve ever had a near accident in your car because you were so embedded in GPS menus, you’ll appreciate the technology that VoiceBox brings to market. It simplifies interaction with the latest navigators, saving time while potentially saving you from harm.

With most personal navigation devices (PNDs), entering a destination or looking up a point of interest involves multiple screen taps. And even those units that offer voice recognition force you through a menu gauntlet. If you say something out of order, you’re out of luck. And if you say “um” or “ah,” you may need to repeat yourself. With VoiceBox’s Conversational Voice Search Platform, you can say, “Where’s the cheapest gas?” and your GPS will tell you. You can even respond with “Um, okay, let’s go there.” or “That’s too far away. What’s closer?”

There are a lot of benefits for drivers. For starters, you get out of menu hell. Second, VoiceBox’s platform recognizes syntax and regular speech. “It alleviates the limitations of speaking instructions perfectly,” said Victor Melfi, chief strategy officer at VoiceBox. “You can use normal, everyday language.” VoiceBox’s technology goes beyond navigation, traffic, and fuel prices. It’s equipped to handle your music, phone calls, local searches, and points of interest, as well as news, sports, weather, and stocks.

Another feature that makes VoiceBox unique is its ability to weed out unwanted voices. You can use the system in one of two ways: Leave it turned off all the time and activate it with a button, or leave it on all the time and activate it with a keyword. In future iterations the platform will be able to follow multiple people in a conversation, which will help future PNDs determine syntax even more accurately than they do now.

Why the Competition Should Care

In short, VoiceBox’s secret algorithms hold the potential to change the way we talk to our devices. And VoiceBox isn’t limited to GPS: It can work with any connected device, including smart phones and laptops, enabling them to access information stored on remote servers.

Even Microsoft’s Sync, which is the most advanced built-in voice command system in the U.S. to date, requires users to say one of 23 memorized commands once a prompt is given and doesn’t offer targeted destination entry. VoiceBox isn’t intimidated by Sync’s arrival. If anything, the company embraces it because voice-led navigation is being marketed as a desirable feature. “We think technology like Sync is a good start. VoiceBox’s Conversational Voice Search allows applications to build on this momentum, and deliver the more advanced capabilities required for truly hands-free, eyes-busy situations,” Melfi said.

Beyond Sync, VoiceBox doesn’t have any competition, because no other voice technology can be
applied to so many different devices. And if you’re thinking of Nuance, think again. VoiceBox has partnered with Nuance, and the company’s algorithms are protected by 17 filed patents.

Chance of Success

So far, VoiceBox’s technology can be found in two PNDs. The Maestro Elite 5340 ($1200) offers basic Voice Command and Control, which lets you speak a preprogrammed list of commands like “Nearest Coffee” or “Nearest Gas” and then select from a numbered list of points of interest. Pioneer’s AVIC-F500BT ($TBA), an in-dash unit that is also portable, offers voice control for Apple iPods and Bluetooth-enabled cell phones. So you can say, “Play Amy Winehouse” to fire up her latest album. However, neither device comes close to realizing the platform’s potential.

For now, the biggest obstacle preventing full incorporation of VoiceBox’s platform in today’s hardware is GPS manufacturers’ business strategies. “Magellan wanted to get to market quickly instead of just going for the big bang. Product rollout strategy is a big factor, but later rollout plans will allow for more advanced features,” Melfi said.

This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. “Rolling out this technology in a scaled-down version shouldn’t affect the brand,” said Diana Hwang, an analyst at IDC. On the other hand, Hwang suggests that VoiceBox might benefit from tiered pricing to help spur adoption. She explained, “Tiered pricing will allow GPS companies to choose different levels of implementation at a price both they and their consumers can afford.”

VoiceBox wouldn’t comment on its pricing strategy, but Melfi did tell us, “Devices capable of fully leveraging VoiceBox are right around the corner. The convergence trend has already blurred the distinction between a UMPC and high-end PNDs, and [it has done so] at similar price points.”

Other Mobile Maverick Award Winners 2008

XOHM
Sprint’s ultrafast wireless broadband service could reinvigorate the company and reinvent consumer electronics.

Bug Labs
This company's open-source platform throws out the traditional R&D process and empowers the masses.

Android
Google’s Android won’t just obliterate the walled garden for cell phones. It could very well redefine the mobile Internet.

Skyfire
Skyfire trumps other mobile browsers by bringing a true PC-like experience to smart phones.

Mobile Maverick Awards 2008