There is a voice-to-text service, Dial2Do, which will allow you to use your iPhone (or any other telephone) to call a number and voice command it to create texts, emails, calendar reminders and other things.
You need to register at http://www.dial2do.com and then register the telephone numbers of the device with which you wish to access the service. If you take advantage of the Jott user's special offer by June 30, 2011 at http://www.dial2do.com/jott you can obtain your first year of service for $35 (regularly fifty dollars a year.)
There is a free trial, but it is extremely limited in functionality (no emails, or texts. only reminders which can give you some idea of the accuracy of transcription, but not how all the options function.)
What people don't realize is that texting and phone conversations are the problem, hands-free or not. It is the distraction from driving that is the problem.
If you are going to text or have a phone conversation, safely pull over, turn off the engine, then text or make the phone call.
And people wonder why legislators want to put cell phone blockers in vehicles.
They don't need new or more laws or gadgets. There is already a law on the books in all 50 states, it is called inattentive driving. They just have to enforce it.
I've asked this question and have never gotten an asnwer...does that mean @ traffic lights also?
-----In New Mexico it includes sitting at a traffic light. Reasoning being that you'll miss when the light turns green and you could potentially cause an accident with the people behind you or make them mad and start a road rage incident.
-----Thank you for your response. I've posted this same question in various forums at least a dozen times, and this is the first response!
Now back to regularly scheduled programming.dragon dictation is pretty good for just speaking. I've used it but you still have to do some 'finger interaction' in choosing the recipient but it is much less than straight typing.
I use dragon. It works but takes time to get right
-----"I use dragon. It works but takes time to get right" AND that takes your attention away from driving.
-----I've switched from Dragon to Vlingo. Vlingo is as close to hands free texting, email and search that I've come across for the iPhone. And, it's free. Vlingo is working on a completely handsfree version.
-----FYI, Vlingo is a nice app (the BB version was very good)... but the free version is limited in features. For example, you can compose, but you can't actually send a text or email. It also has adds. I think the full version is $4,99, not sure. It is a well designed program though and likely worth the cost if you'll have heavy use.
-----You are right Vlingo was very useful on Blackberry. I had forgotten about it.
-----I paid for the full version $9.99 after using Vlingo on my friend's Android.
Below is a YouTube link to a quick comparison between Dragon and Vlingo. Vlingo also has their own channel on YouTube.
http://m.youtube.com/#/profile?user=vlingovoice&v=vaVitdIO5h4&view=videos
Hands-on You Tube vids are a great way to compare apps.
I have found Vlingo to be the best "mostly" hands free all-in-one app to date.
I'm always hoping IOS will catch up to Droid in this respect.
In CA yes as well. The reasoning is that you are behind the wheel. Makes it straight across the board.
Of course, shaving, eating and plucking eye brows are never given citations. But that is a different argument for a different time :)
While I agree with you about texting, I'll pull over to make my Bluetooth voice call when you and everyone else remain silent while driving.
Texting while driving is illegal. Hands free phone calls are not.
HeyTell is a good app for this purpose. It does not transcribe, but if you keep the app open, all you do is hit the big button, talk and it sends the voice message to the contact (to their copy of HeyTell). Then when they reply, it will automatically play back.
-----I love HeyTell! I use it at work with my iPhone compatible noise canceling headphones to talk back and forth with my guys at work. It's great!
-----I can 2nd the HeyTell app. My friend got me to using it last week and now several of my friends and coworkers have it.
Its a great app. I think the audio is a bit low but its still a good app.
Talking on a phone and having a conversation in a car are not the same. When you are in a car together you share the same sights and sounds which makes it much easier for the driver to respond to an emergency situation than when someone keeps talking via phone.
That said, it is a bad idea to have an intense conversation while driving even if both parties are riding together. I've seen cars weave all over, change lanes indiscriminately, fail to stop for pedestrians etc. And nine times out of ten the drivers are either on the phone or having a too lively conversation with passengers. And these days it's mainly folks on the phone.
Please drivers, concentrate on the road—especially on busy city streets and highways. Don't endanger yourself or others unnecessarily. just because it's legal doesn't make it a good idea. "Safety First" may be an old slogan, but it's still a good one.
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