Now Android VoiceActions Knows British English !

Google is offering European users the chance to verbally control their Android devices in their native tongue, including those that speak the Queen’s English.

Google has realised that not everyone speaks English like Americans after it updated Android’s voice support.

Google announced that it has expanded Voice Actions for Android so that it will now support British English, French, Italian, German and Spanish.

The Voice Action capability was first unveiled by Google last year. It essentially allows users to speak verbal commands into their Android smartphones or tablets, to browse the web, make notes, send texts, play music, access websites, or make telephone calls.

Queen’s English

Until now it is thought that Voice Actions for Android was only available for English speakers, and American English speakers to boot.

The technology is based on Google’s popular “Search by Voice” feature. Indeed, Voice Actions for Android is very similar to the technology Apple acquired from Siri in May 2010, and to software from startup Vlingo.

Now Voice Actions for Android can understand Brits speaking the Queen’s English, but it can also accept command from those speaking French, Italian, German and Spanish.

“Today, we’re pleased to announce that users in the UK, France, Italy, Germany and Spain can now use Voice Actions in British English, French, Italian, German and Spanish” said Google’s Bertrand Damiba, a product manager, in a blog post.

“To use Voice Actions, tap the microphone button on the Google search box on your home screen, open the Voice Search app, or press down for a few seconds on the physical search button on your phone to activate the “Speak Now” screen.”

It also offered a video demonstration of the feature in action.

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Downloadable App

Voice Actions is available on phones and tablets running Android 2.2 and higher, and can downloaded from the Android Market.

The following is a list of the commands that can be spoken in order to perform a Voice Action on a particular phone or tablet:

send text to [contact] [message]
call [business]
call [contact]
go to [website]
navigate to [location/business name]
directions to [location/business name]
map of [location]

Users can also use their voice to conduct a Google search.

Adapted from Tom Jowitt: Google Updates Android Voice Actions For Brit Speak, September 20, 2011

How much do you love your phone?

 

If you’re like me, you are one of those people who feels more comfortable leaving home without a wallet, but feels lost without a phone. A new survey tries to gauge the American mobile obsession, especially among iPhone users.

About 22 percent of all respondents said they would rather give up their toothbrush than their phone for a week, and that number jumped to a whopping 40 percent among iPhone users. A whopping 83 percent of iPhone users think other iPhone users would make the best romantic partners.  Now go ahead and laugh…

 

For more information on iPhone Applications Development, iPhone Developers, Hire your iPhone Programmers, visit http://www.dckap.com

 

Source: http://gigaom.com/2011/08/03/how-much-do-you-love-your-phone/ 

7 Tips for Building a Better Branded App

This post originally appeared on the American Express OPEN Forum, where Mashable regularly contributes articles about leveraging social media and technology in small business.

At this point, many companies recognize that developing a branded mobile app can be an asset. Unfortunately, fewer of them understand how to best leverage this new channel in order to benefit their brand.

“We were inundated with requests that were like, ‘We need an app because somebody within an organization says we need an iPhone app or we need an Android (Android) app,’ ” says Anthony Franco, the president and co-founder of app development agency EffectiveUI. “The conversations are sometimes a little awkward because we asked the very simple question, ‘Why?’ And there was this struggle, and there’s still a little bit of struggle with articulating the reason behind the mobile app.”

In order to better articulate the factors that should drive mobile app development, EffectiveUI recently commissioned a Harris Interactive survey of 781 online adults who downloaded mobile apps. As the company suspected, the study found that 38% of mobile app users weren’t satisfied with the apps available from their favorite brands.

Franco recently chatted with us about how brands can avoid contributing to this group of unsatisfied mobile app users.

1. A Mobile App Is Not a Marketing Campaign
 
If your goal is merely to make your brand visible, advertising networks are a better outlet for your marketing campaign than a mobile app. Only 18% of respondents in the study said that they even considered whether an app was from a brand name company when deciding to download it. Even your most loyal customers won’t download an app unless it does something useful for them.

When a major credit card company recently tried to build a social network around its brand on a mobile app, for instance, it crossed the line between what is appropriate for a mobile app and what is appropriate for a marketing campaign, said Franco.

“[The mobile app] had nothing to do with their business really, other than to attract eyeballs,” he says. “And if you look at the reviews on that app, it’s: ‘This is an obvious attempt at trying to market to me. It’s a well-designed app, it’s pretty, but all it is is about deals in my area trying to sell me something.’ Try to stick really closely to what your business does, and provide value.”

2. A Branded App Is Not a Mobile Website

Some companies that Franco has worked with have initially wanted to put all of their website features into their mobile apps. But that’s not what apps are intended for, Franco says. Seventy-three percent of mobile app users in the study agreed that they expect a company’s mobile app to be easier to use than its website.

Taking the top 10 features of a company’s website and moving them directly over to its mobile app, for example, just doesn’t work. The problem is that those 10 features may be useful on the web, but that usefulness may not translate when put on a mobile device.

“[Customers] don’t want the entire website on a mobile application. They want utility and a very defined set of features that are specifically designed for mobile use cases. Make it easier to use — make it less complex than your website.”

3. A Branded App Should Provide Utility

Seventy-five percent of survey respondents said that a mobile app should do exactly what they want or need it to do. “In other words, provide me utility,” Franco says. “Don’t market to me. Provide me something to get something done.”

There are quite a few utility-based branded apps out there. Chipotle, for example, has an app that allows you to order without waiting in line. One feature in the Starbucks app allows users to buy coffee with their phones. And Target recently introduced an iPad app that will make it easier for customers to shop during the holidays.

4. Focus on the User

In order to understand what will appeal to your target users, it’s helpful to understand your target users. And a little research never hurt in contributing to this objective.

Franco says that after the brand decides what kind of consumer it is targeting with its mobile app, the app developers should figure out a way to deepen their understanding of what that consumer wants. Sometimes it’s a matter of interviewing people on the street. Sometimes it’s going into people’s offices and watching how they use a website or software.

“[A mobile app] has to be user-centered,” Franco says. “It has to come from a place of empathy for what the user wants to get done on their device. It can’t be from a place of big creative, big think, big campaign, and hoping it’s going to go viral. That’s not what people want on their mobile devices.”

5. Build Around Mobile Use Cases

People accomplish some tasks on their phones. They prefer to do other tasks on a website or in some other way. It’s important to focus on the former category so that you don’t clutter your app with features that users won’t appreciate in a mobile setting.

EffectiveUI cited the FedEx app, for instance, allows users to do four tasks: make a shipping label, track a package, find a FedEx location and get a quote. While the app leaves out a lot of features that are available on the company’s website, it focuses on tasks that people are likely to complete on their phones, while standing in line, on a train or during a break.

6. Think Twice Before Becoming a Game Developer

While some brands like Barclaycard and Audi have had some success with branded mobile apps that are games, this strategy is a risky one. First, you’re entering the gaming business. There are a lot of companies that exclusively build games in the app store, and they’re pretty good at it. Competing can be tough. Second, it’s hard to determine the ROI for a game. Are they really engaging with your brand by, let’s say, navigating a character down a crazy waterslide?

“If you want to [get] eyeballs, there are ad networks for that,” Franco says. “You’re specifically going in and picking out a game that is relevant to your brand and saying, we want to sponsor that game. So instead of getting into the gaming business, stay in the marketing business if that’s your goal. And sponsor other things. Or use the mobile ad platform.”

7. It’s Better to Have No Branded App Than a Mediocre One

The EffectiveUI study found that 13% of people who had a bad experience with a branded app avoided downloading other apps from that brand because of it. That means that if you create an ineffective branded app, it will affect your future attempts at mobile applications as well.

“The study basically says take this channel seriously,” Franco says. “And don’t just treat it like a $60,000 microsite campaign. A bad microsite falls flat, and it’s designed to go away in three months. A bad mobile application does lasting damage — it’s there forever. So take it very seriously.”

For more informations about Android Applications Development, Android Developers, Android Programmers, log onto http://www.dckap.com
Source: http://mashable.com

Mobile Application Development

Mobile application development is the process by which applications are developed for small low-power handheld devices such as personal digital assistants, enterprise digital assistants or mobile phones. These applications are either pre-installed on phones during manufacture, or downloaded by customers from app stores and other mobile software distribution platforms.

Platforms supporting devices by multiple manufacturers

Android is a Linux-based platform from the Open Handset Alliance, whose 34 members include Google, HTC, Motorola, Qualcomm, and T-Mobile. It is supported by over 34 major software, hardware and telecoms companies. The Linux kernel is used as a hardware abstraction layer (HAL). Application programming is primarily done in Java. The Android specific Java SDK is required for development although any Java IDE may be used. Performance critical code can be written in C, C++ or other native code languages using the Android Native Development Kit(NDK).

Windows Mobile is a variant of Windows CE for mobile phones. Windows CE was originally developed for palmtop computers and Pocket PC PDAs with stylus-touch screens, and later adapted for use with keyboard-equipped smartphones. Phones have become the largest installed base for CE, though market share has fallen since the introduction of Android and IPhone. Windows Mobile supports a subset of the win32 programming interface, and a simplified GUI with one window on the screen at a time. Applications can use the .NET Compact Framework Devices are compatible with applications on Pocket PC/Windows Mobile devices. Windows Mobile 6.5 introduced IPhone-like finger-based touch interfaces, while Windows Phone 7 is a substantial redesign that uses Silverlight and XNA for rich user interfaces.

iPhone functions as a camera phone, including text messaging and visual voicemail, a portable media player, and an Internet client, with e-mail, web browsing, and Wi-Fi connectivity. The user interface is built around the device's multi-touch  screen, including a virtual keyboard rather than a physical one. Third-party applications are available from the App Store, which launched in mid-2008 and now has well over 300,000[2]  "apps" approved by Apple. These apps have diverse functionalities, including games, reference, GPS navigation, social networking, and advertising for television shows, films, and celebrities.

BlackBerry supports push e-mail, mobile telephone, text messaging, internet faxing, web browsing and other wireless information services as well as a multi-touch interface. It has a built-in QWERTY keyboard, optimized for "thumbing", the use of only the thumbs to type. The BlackBerry devices soon took a dominating position on the North American smartphone market. Also important for BlackBerry are the BES (Black Berry Enterprise Server) and the Mobile Data System (BlackBerry MDS).