Thursday, April 19, 2007

Voice-Recognition

After reading this article on cnn.com, I was amazed. http://money.cnn.com/magazines/business2/business2_archive/2007/02/01/8398978/index.htm?postversion=2007031512 It is about voice-recognition technology. The newest software called Mobile Dictation was launched by Nuance, which claims that its is near one hundred percent accurate. It will be available on most cell phone carriers sometime this year. It is not clear in the article, but I think it is used for text messages or email messages. The person will speak into the microphone built into the phone and the words will appear on the screen.
Last year, the market for voice-recognition technology topped $1 billion. Every aspect of the market for the technology is continually increasing, too including car dashboards and cell phones. The new Microsoft Vista comes with voice-recognition and Google may use voice recognition to allow people to search by voice instead of typing. There are so many different companies that are using the technology for various things. A company called VoiceBox Technologies has a system that can analyze a word used in a certain context. For example, it can find out what is meant when someone says "traffic," such as road conditions or a term for moving drugs. Other companies save a lot of money by using voice-recognition for customers calling into the store. Instead of people answering phones and taking time to answer people's questions, the people talk to the system and are directed further if needed. This saves a lot of time and money.
These companies even record the calls and use them to improve the system. Another use of the technology can be seen in the war with Iraq. Soldiers are using dictionaries to speak different languages. They speak a certain language into the electronic device and select the translation language and it is produced.
The future for voice-recognition is endless. Some experts say that every appliance and gadget that we use could contain voice-recognition in the near future. Also, it may be possible for the technology to be able to correct mistakes in grammar and word choice.

Comcast

I'm guessing if you have digital cable or home phone service in the bay area that Comcast is your provider. Comcast is already the nation's largest cable company according to a cnnmoney.com article. http://mediabiz.blogs.cnnmoney.com/2007/04/11/comcast-goes-to-the-movies/#comments Last Wednesday, April 11, Comcast became even bigger when it purchased Fandango, a website where people can go to check movie times and buy tickets, among other things. Fandango is ranked third in visitors behind moviefone.com and movietickets.com for movie ticketing websites. Comcast seems to be attempting to over take the entire entertainment industry (besides music). They are in the process of creating Fancast.com and they will be using Fandango on the site. The wesite says that users will be able to search for movies, television shows, and watch videos on the website. Also, you will be able to see when a television show is on and you can watch them online, if desired. They want to be the only website that people will go to in order to get any entertainment information. Comcast also recently launched Ziddio.com, which is a Youtube like website. (Ziddio has partnered with facebook too. Comcast also owns a video game website called gameinvasion.net.)
Because of all of these moves that Comcast has made, competition has increased among other companies. Startups like Blinkx and TVeyes, as well as TV Guide have begun working on video search engines to compete with Comcast and other similar sites. The amount of money generated can be enormous. Advertising is key on these types of websites and the more traffic on a website, the more it will cost for a company to advertise on the page. According to Score Media Metrix, last month Comcast had the most traffic on their website with 17 million visitors. (They beat out ESPN, facebook, and craigslist.) It looks like no other competitors even have a slight chance to keep up with Comcast's speed. There is no telling how much power it may have in a few years.

Thursday, April 12, 2007

49ers New Stadium Proposal

The San Francisco 49ers may relocate to Santa Clara. A few months ago, officials proposed a new stadium for the 49ers in Santa Clara, which would be located next to Great America off highway 237. The stadium would be completed in 2012 if Santa Clara accepts the proposal. It would cost an estimated $950 million to build it according to a SJ Mercury article. http://www.mercurynews.com/southbayfootball/ci_5595601. This price would make it the "most expensive open-air NFL stadium ever built." However, Santa Clara has to come up with $180 million. It is unclear to me how they will pay for it. A possible idea is to increase the utility bill for Santa Clara residents and use this money to fund the project. I know that this may anger some people. Despite residents paying for the stadium with money from their pockets, there would be some positive things for the city. The stadium would create more jobs, boost the economy, and bring people to the city. When people attend the games, they are likely to go around the city, before or after the game, and possibly go shopping, spend the night in a hotel, or go to a restaurant. This would be great for the city because people would spend money and the businesses will benefit. The only worry is that too many people may congest the area causing traffic and possibly disturbances.
The city of San Francisco is trying to keep the 49ers where they currently are. They proposed a new stadium at Hunter's point, however, this seems unlikely because they have to build new roads to make it easier for people to access the stadium. (A news report on channel 2 says the roads would not be finished before 2012). Santa Clara offers great access to nearby highways: 237, 101, and 880/17. There would be little traffic congestion here, unlike San Francisco. It looks promising for Santa Clara and I hope the 49ers move here.