Windows Phone 7 Tips and Tricks (XIII) – Speech recognition

One of the most attractive feature of the Windows Phone 7 platform is the Speech recognition function. Using the Speech recognition WM7 smartphone owners will be able to accomplish standard commands only by using their voice. 

To open the Speech function, one must click and hold the Start button of the phone. When the application opens it will start listening for a voice command.

One of the commands used often with the Speech recognition features is the “Call contact name”, where the “contact name” is the name of a person listed in the phone's phonebook. If the person's contact card includes more than one phone number, then you will get an option to choose which one you want to call.

Users can also choose to call someone by their phone number, if they don't have it stored in the phone's contact list. Simply say “Call phone number”, after the Speech app opens, where “phone number” is the phone number that you wish to call.

"Find search term” or “Search for search term” is another frequently used voice command, where “search term” is the term a user wants to search the web with. Obviously, all searches are made using Bing engine and Bing maps. However, note that the Speech for searching the web feature may not be available in all countries and regions.

The “Open application” or “Start application” voice command cannot be missed, as it greatly reduces the time one needs to open a certain app such as Calendar, Maps or Music.

If you want to call someone using a voice command, but suddenly changed your mind, you can cancel it by pressing the Back button of your smartphone.

Furthermore, WM7 smartphone owners can use voice commands through a Bluetooth headset, as long as it's paired with the phone.

Feel free to suggest your own Windows Phone 7 tips and tricks, especially if you're an advanced user.

Windows Phone 7 Faces Shortages in the US Too

Surprisingly, Windows Phone 7 devices are said to already face supply issues in the United States, even if some suggested that they were off for a rather slow start. 

Even if reports indicated that only a number of 40,000 Windows Phone 7 handsets were sold during the first day of availability in the country, it seems that some stores did run out of stock, suggesting that the demand was actually greater than originally expected. 

The same happened to the first Windows Phone 7 devices that arrived on shelves in Europe, with many wireless carriers there reporting out of stock issues only several days after the initial launch. 

Even so, some might argue that the initial sales of Windows Phone 7were not so great when compared to the sales of other platforms, but it appears that the low stock was one issue that prevented AT&T and T-Mobile from selling more handsets.

Some of the latest news around the web suggest that Windows Phone 7 sales differ from store to store, at least when it comes to AT&T. While some stores registered great sales, others reported very low interest in the new devices, it seems. 

Even so, since there are stock issues with the new mobile phones, even if stock was reduced, we can assume that the new mobile OS from Microsoft will actually be able to attract more users to its side than initially expected.

“As is sometimes the case with the launch of a new product, initial supplies are tight,” a Microsoft spokesperson reportedly stated.

“We understand some customers are disappointed to learn their local stores are already out of stock. We hear their concerns and are working diligently with our partners to bring more phones to stores in the coming weeks.”

Given the fact that  Windows Phone 7 is new to the market, it would certainly need some time before being able to convince people that it offers great enhancements over the older Windows Mobile platform. 

Of course, it might not offer the amount of applications available for Android or iPhone, but things are just warming up for Microsoft's new OS and for the developers supporting it.