Article: Boom predicted for voice recognition devices; Carmakers pushed to reduce drivers' in-car distractions.(News)

Byline: Douglas A. Bolduc

Motorists will not have to do as much with their hands by the end of the decade.

Telematics Research Group predicts that 30 million passenger cars - about half the global units - will have voice recognition capability by 2010.

About 8 percent of the world's cars - approximately 4.7 million units - have voice recognition devices now.

"We are on the verge of large scale numbers that will bring [voice recognition systems] down in price," says Phil Magney, president of the US-based telematics consultancy.

Says Arnd Weil, product manager for embedded speech at US-based software maker ScanSoft: "Our focus ...

Related newspaper, magazine, and journal articles:

 
 
Newsweek Harper's Magazine The Washington Post Chicago Tribune Crain's Chicago Business PRNewswire Pediatric News The Nation Advertising Age The Economist (US) A FREE trial gives you access to over 80 million articles! Access over 6,500 publications with a FREE trial!