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Several months ago we demonstrated how you could now find reliable voice control and speech recognition for many different types of mobile devices (see Smartphones, PDAs Finding their Voices). VoiceSignal—a company highlighted in the article—licenses its technology to original equipment manufacturers and original device manufacturers for use in handhelds, cell phones, and smartphones.

In partnership with VoiceSignal, Samsung today officially introduced the first speech-to-text dictation application for cell phones. Called VoiceMode, the software lets you speak into a handset and have the phone convert those words directly into text—especially useful for mobile messaging, including SMS and e-mail, where keypads and, if you're lucky, small keyboards currently rule the day.

Samsung's p207 is the first VoiceMode-enabled cell phone.

The company demonstrated the handset at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas last week. From reports at the show, the technology puports to work as advertised. Although you must speak one word at a time rather than use a normal conversational voice.

The tri-band (850, 1800, and 1900Mhz) GSM p207 also supports 3G EDGE networks. EDGE delivers data up to three times faster than GPRS, the current data-exchange standard for GSM. As a result, instead of streaming audio and video, for example, at 115 kilobytes per second (Kbps), EDGE handsets like the p207 should perform at 384 Kbps on a compatible newtork the one supported by Cingular Wireless.

In related news, another new Samsung phone, the a890, will debut another VoiceSignal application. Called QuickPhrase, the company says the software lets you address a message and activate one of the frequently used short messages pre-programmed on the phone.

Once in the messaging application, users can activate phrases such as "Call me" or "Will call you later" by simply speaking those words, and the text is included in the message.

It is not known how long Samsung will be the exclusive cell phone/smartphone vendor to offer VoiceMode and QuickPhrase with their mobile handsets. Nor is it known exactly when and where the p207 and a890 will ship.

A Samsung representative did tell SmartPhoneToday, however, that the p207 won't be available for another month or so. From the looks of the p207 photo above, it appears Cingular Wireless should be the mobile operator offering the handset in the United States.