Nuance has announced the Dragon Recorder app, allowing iOS users to use their device as a voice recorder on the go.

Australian app developers keen to integrate speech recognition into their apps for iOS 4.0 or Android 2.1 devices are the target for the local expansion of Nuance’s Mobile Developer Programme which from today is providing support for Australian English in all its glory.

Retail giant Woolworths is mid-way through a massive overhaul of its contact centres – consolidating from eight to two, has introduced interactive voice response (IVR) systems in three key areas, and now has biometric voice identification on its radar.

There will be widespread adoption of healthcare technology (EHR) globally throughout this year in a pivotal period for vendors, with some vendors likely to be pushed out of what is seen as an already competitive market.

The acquisition of voice-to-text messaging service provider by global speech technology leader Nuance could herald a rapid uptake in the technology across mobile operators and in unified messaging systems and other applications.

Optus has launched a voice to text message service for its mobile customers, powered by SpinVox, after announcing plans to do so back in April, but there have been reports that much of the voice to text conversion is undertaken by human operators.

Six months ago Telstra outsourced operators for its mobile memo service to the Philippines. The telco has now announced it will be returning to native English-speaking operators.

The third coming of the Jesus phone has come at last, with the masses in their millions saying hallelujah for the much faster and smoother iPhone experience, but while trouble in paradise has ensued with reports of overheating and bugs in iPhone OS 3.0, no-one has yet properly copied the iPhone, let alone surpassed it.

A voice biometric system giving National Australia Bank customers enhanced security with their telephone banking has now been fully deployed by Telstra and Salmat working together using Salmat’s VeSecure  solution.

National Australia Bank has become the first bank in Australia to use voice biometrics as an alternative to PINs to authenticate  customers for telephone banking