By Allan Maurer
CHARLOTTE, NC—If your mobile device has a voice to text feature now or in the future, you may be Yapping it up –using the automated voice to text software developed by Charlotte’s Yap—without knowing it. “Our business is evolving toward being a platform play for others,” says Yap CEO Igor Jablokov.
The company’s software could help prevent the dangerous practice of texting while driving, which California has already banned , something other states may also do.
Jablokov is one of many industry leaders who will participate in TechJournal South’s upcoming Internet Summit at the Friday Center in Chapel Hill, NC, November 19 (see www.internetsummitevent.com for more information or to register).
The Summit will explore Internet trends and opportunities created by web 2.0 technologies, social media, online advertising, widgets, online video, and the future of the industry, including how to capitalize on its shifting dynamics.
One trend Jablokov sees, is smart phones and other ultra portable devices are replacing the PC for many users. “Those tiny PCs and smart phones will apply pressures to the laptop and desktop markets,” he says.
Smart phones are going to become so pervasive, Jablokov suggests, that “The razor phone is going the way of the Dodo (the extinct bird).”
That’s all good news for Yap, which Jablokov says is going to bring out software developer kits so third parties can add its speech recognition software to their platforms. “We’ll support every major product,” he says, “Iphones, Google’s Android phone, Blackberries, java phones, everything you can think of.”
Jablokov notes that the keyboards on most smart phones and many other mobile devices are so small that “Voice is the natural interface.”
Jablokov says one user sitting next to his laptop actually used flipped open his phone—which had Yap– to spell check a word instead of the laptop. “It was easier and quicker to speak the word into the phone and have the service spell it than to check it via an online dictionary, where he would have to go to the site and try spelling the word.
One mobile phone maker discovered that for about half its users, their phone was their only computer, a trend Jablokov suspects will continue.
Yap’s speech recognition software does not require the human intervention most other such services require. “They send your messages to India or Africa where a human being turns the speech into text,” explains Jablokov.
Igor and Victor Jablokov founded the company in 2006. It has raised $7.5 million in backing, most recently a $6.5 million A round led by SunBridge Partners with Harbert Venture partners, Pittco Capital Partners and individual investors participating.
“Yap is truly a leader in freeform speech recognition and driving innovation in the mobile user experience,” said Paul Grim, general partner at SunBridge Partners, at the time of the funding.
“It is increasingly clear that the fastest, easiest, and safest way to interact with services on a mobile device is using your voice, and Yap makes this both possible and intuitive.”
On the Web: www.yapme.com
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