Voice - the App

With smart phones today you can do anything. You can turn off your kitchen lights and turn on your TV. What new app will you need, what new app will you want? Voice. The time is upon us when eventually a smart phone will no longer need to include a phone. Instead it will be a hybrid compact tablet/laptop computer with voice capabilities.

Until this past year most major mobile telecommunications providers did not even make VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) available to their customers. However, this strand of Moore's Law will have it become as commonplace as ring tones. Apple and Verizon have given in to the consumer’s pressure and embraced Skype. Dan Neary, Skype’s Asia Pacific Vice President has stated that Skype is not only now available on Android platforms but preparing iPad compatibility for release in summer 2010. In addition to these signs, market research company Frost & Sullivan is predicting that mobile VOIP will increase significantly from 2008 revenues of $605.8 million to $29.57 billion by 2015. It is just a matter of time until Google voice also embraces and adequately supports VOIP.

Companies are even basing new products on this idea that voice should be an app. Dell recently announced the details of the Dell Streak. The Streak is a 5 inch tablet, fitting snugly into your pocket and comfortably between smart phones and the larger tablets. The Streak is the beginning of how voice will be treated in the future. Using an Android platform the Streak is designed for use with Google Voice which would provide full functionality of a smart phone without the cost. It also boasts a front facing high resolution 5 MP camera that lends itself to Video VoIP. Consider it, get all the functionality of any smart phone and only have to pay for a data only plan.

Aubrey Stewart is a technology communications consultant specializing in Call Center Solutions and Voip Support services.