The state of speech
C|Net | at | by Mike
Speech recognition--the broad term that encompasses vocal computing, from dictating text and controlling software with your voice to asking for sports scores over a cell phone--is in a bit of a slump. Desktop speech recognition, in particular, has hit financial and technological walls in the past year. One of the world's major speech-recognition players, Lernout & Hauspie, is nearly kaput. Meanwhile, there's no sign yet that speech-recognition technology has moved beyond the merely intriguing into the realm of necessity.