A voice to phone comparison, shows why people prefer voice over touch. For example, it requires four touches and more than 20 keystrokes to find a business with the Apple iPhone, while it only takes one button push and one verbal command to find the same business with Tellme. Tellme's research shows similar results for other tasks, such as making calls, sending text messages and conducting searches for content such as traffic, movies, news and sports.

Tellme will be available for free on Windows Mobile 6.5 phones in fall 2009 when the phones hit store shelves. Initially available in the Windows Marketplace for Mobile store, the service will also be available for free to mobile operators and carriers to embed "on-device" for a voice experience right out of the box. "Because it's so intuitive, we believe there is a real opportunity for voice to materialize as the leading user interface for the phone," said Dariusz Packzuski, senior director of consumer services at Tellme. "By bringing voice access to calling, texting and searching, together we reduce 'menu surfing' on phones and make the benefits of voice more tangible for everyday needs."

"For example, Sprint has integrated voice access to the Live Search application on Sprint Instinct phones and subscribers love it," Packzuski said. "In fact, we've seen impressive adoption of voice with three in every four search queries being initiated by voice."

In a recent study conducted by Sanderson Studios Inc., more than 70 percent of respondents said that voice is superior to keypad or touch-based methods to perform some of the most popular mobile tasks. This includes looking up a business listing or location (78 percent), sending a text message (72 percent), placing a call (79 percent), getting information such as movies, weather, traffic or sports (77 percent), and getting directions (81 percent).  
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