“Future iPhones could utilize technology that converts text to voice messages, and does so over voice channels instead of GSM,” Jacqui Cheng reports for Ars Technica.
“Such a system is described in a recently-published patent filed by Apple, called ‘Multimedia data transfer for a personal communication device,’ which would essentially turn the mobile devices into walkie talkies for multimedia data. It could also serve to benefit users who are visually impaired by providing vocalized versions of the data being sent,” Cheng reports.
“The patent specifies that the vocalization of the multimedia data wouldn’t be done with the help of a backend server. Instead, it would be done locally on the sending device itself and then transmitted to the receiving device through a voice channel. This means that the devices could ‘talk’ to each other without having to utilize cell minutes, like the walkie-talkie-like functionality (also known as “Push to Talk”) already built into some cell phones,” Cheng reports.
More in the full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Lizard” for the heads up.]
Future iPhones will continue to raise the bar. As each iterations is introduced it will have larger capacities, longer battery-life, additional features, and will drop in price. Of that you can be sure.
Okay, as long as it doesn’t have that annoying “beedle-eep” every time someone finishes talking.
call it iSquirting
not
Gee, Ya think?
@G4Dualie
So that’s what the AT&T ads were referring to as “raising the bar”.
And here I thought it dealt with their lousy coverage.
Even the visually impaired have needs! Well done Apple!
I HATE those damn walkie-talkie phones! They are so annoying!
People come into the store and shout into then and I want to say to them, “Hey buddy, they have a damn phone—call ’em!”
But you know how it goes, I love my job and the boss knows it.
Back to work, children.
Amen
I hate those push to talk f***ers too.
They drive be up a wall, I just want to smash them in the floor!!!
Visually impaired using a smooth, touch-screen interface…
@G4Dualie
Thanks for your enlightened take on this topic. You have assured us on the future direction Apple will take regarding their products.
Very perceptive of you to analyze Apple’s corporate behavior for the last 20+ yrs.
What are you, 16?
>Visually impaired using a smooth, touch-screen interface…>
It would be great if the buttons were different shapes so that color blind people could be helped. Then if those shapes could be made universal for all devices – so much the better.
This is a misleading patent. The cool aspect is really converting data to a voice signal. This moves data without using a network’s dedicated sms server, for instance. In short, it keeps data transfer while wrestling away networks’ control of it. Have a voice plan? That’s all you need…
Aw shucks, you’re welcome…
I’m just happy that you took the time to read what I wrote. I’m getting really good at gleaning the facts necessary to make that leap, ya know? It’s an acquired skill I’m told and you sir have evened my conviction that I’m on the right track.
You write very eloquently, yourself there Big MAC. Tell me something do you measure your Big MAC the same way a cat measures its tail; from the ass out?
Becha do?