A short time ago we brought word that Nuance Communications, the company behind Dragon Dictation and many other voice-to-text technologies, was bringing even more woeful voice to the case through Dragon Drive! Messaging. Dragon Drive! Messaging ‘is Nuance’s new automotive-grade connected car service that lets people speak emails and text messages”. Now word comes that it will be available in the new 2012 BMW 7 Series, BMW 3 Series Touring and BMW 3 Series ActiveHybrid vehicles. Better still, the 2012 BMW 7 Series will be the first car ever to feature Dragon Drive! Messaging and it is coming to market this month with the BMW 3 Series Touring and BMW 3 Series ActiveHybrid to follow later this year.
Dragon Drive! Messaging
delivers a fully-integrated mobile assistant messaging experience that lets drivers speak, listen, edit and respond to text messages and emails – keeping their hands on the wheel and eyes on the road. Drivers can speak simple commands to format e-mails by adding new lines, paragraphs, and speaking punctuation and other format commands.
The technology makes it possible for drivers to interact naturally with their car while also minimizing manual and visual distractions. This is something we spent a good amount of time discussion while I was with ford in Dearborn Michigan and it is great to see the next generation of the technology already arriving in cars!
As the release notes,
Dragon Drive! Messaging will be available in BMW vehicles starting in July 2012 in six different languages, including US and UK English, French, Italian, German and Spanish. BMW buyers can test Dragon Drive! Messaging free for 60 days. Once the trial period expires, Dragon Drive! Messaging will be available as a Nuance service with annual renewal option. To learn more about Dragon Drive! Messaging for BMW, visit www.nuance.com/bmw. To find a list of compatible devices for BMW ConnectedDrive supporting Dragon Drive! Messaging, visit www.bmw.com/bluetooth.