Each week we search for the best apps for your smartphone. This week: voice apps.
Vlingo
Free; iPhone, BlackBerry, Nokia, Windows phones
Few mobile users are concerned when people overhear their phone conversations, so why not let the world know what you're Googling for as well? Vlingo brings voice search to most smartphones: press a touchscreen control, say what you're looking for and the app will - if you're lucky - convert your words into text, search for it on Google or Yahoo and show the results in the browser. On an iPhone it worked best when spoken into clearly, loudly and in an American accent (it's a US app). For other smartphones, Vlingo Plus (from $10/£6.20) converts speech into emails. Impressive, but it can take time to find the right tone of voice.
Google Maps
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Free; Android
The latest version of Google Maps, the app found on recent Android handsets, allows verbal searches. It is claimed the app understands an English accent but the success rate was low. More frustratingly, the app's best feature was unavailable: start a query with "Navigate to ..." and it brings up a turn-by-turn route between your start position and destination - but only if you're in the US, as the feature has yet to make it to Europe.
Google Mobile
Free; iPhone, BlackBerry, Nokia, Windows phones
This bundle of Google apps includes voice search, and it's more elegant than Vlingo. You don't have to hold down a virtual button; instead you use the touchscreen to ready it for a voice command, with the mic becoming active as motion detectors sense the handset is being brought up to your mouth. It, too, is claimed to recognise a British accent, among others, but search results were as hit and miss as those for Vlingo. Is Google's masterplan to have us all squeaking in Californian?
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Choice Dialer
Free; Android
The voice-activated dialling software that comes with Android displays a contact on the screen after you speak the name. It is not as sophisticated as the version found on the iPhone 3GS, which also allows you to dictate a phone number or search for music. This free app redresses the balance - and more, as you can also edit contacts and set reminders verbally. It may be a little buggy - a consequence of the many different versions of Android - but it is being updated regularly.
Vocalia
£2.39; iPhone,
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iPod Touch
This brings the 3GS's powerful voice commands to older iPhones and the Touch too (as long as it has an external mic attached). Launch the app and you have the choice of searching contacts, the music library or your Safari bookmarks; speak your search term and - hopefully - off you go. The option to add spoken shortcuts for contacts is a nice touch, as is its ability to search for first or last names only, but the lack of a free trial version is a shame, because like all examples of this nascent technology it can be frustrating to use if your voice doesn't fit.