16 May 2002

Users voice support for speech recognition Fluency launches VoiceXML platform for call-centres; Eckohtec launches voice portal for Virgin Mobile, 100,000 users. 11:35:59 PM     comments

Powerpoint considered pervasive (and harmful?) edits ideas: business manual as well as merely business presentation 70s: Consumer-led demand drives more communication inside companies instead of human contact, we get bullet-point presentation shows outcome of thought, but not the process But 1997: Scott McNealy bans PPT at Sun, now draws his slides instead [from infodesign cafe] 11:23:03 PM     comments

Artist improves freeway sign [Richard Ankrom] designed, built and installed an addition to an overhead freeway sign - to exact state specifications - to help guide motorists on the sometimes confusing transition to the northbound Golden State Freeway a couple miles farther north. [from infodesign cafe] 10:57:20 PM     comments

SMS-to-voice connects mobiles to wireline phones Deutsche Telecom sends 900m text messages a month, 2m of which go to fixed-lined phones via a system developed with Speechworks. 9:58:05 PM     comments

Logica talks expanding IT services as SMS dries up Logica doesn't expect it or CMG to retain the same market share in MMS as they achieved for SMS systems (50% and 31% respectively), mainly because the handset and network mfrs, Nokia and especially Ericsson (who is providing MMS for Vodafone) aren't expected to miss the boat this time. MMS (see Logica's pdf overview, courtesy of Guy Kewney's mobile treasure trove) is "seen as the next messaging gold mine", but will it be as explosive as text? Related: Nokia looks to MMS to drive sales 9:57:06 PM     comments

Bruce Schneier - Biometrics: Truths and Fictions Bruce Schneier, security guru: Biometrics: Truths and Fictions Biometrics (finger-print, voice verification, face or eye recognition, handwriting...) are strong because they're hard to forge (mostly), and good for users who don't have to remember passwords. But they're weak because they're easy to steal. And once it's been stolen by someone, you can't be issued with a new voice. Biometrics are powerful and useful, but they are not keys. They are useful in situations where there is a trusted path from the reader to the verifier; in those cases all you need is a unique identifier. They are not useful when you need the characteristics of a key: secrecy, randomness, the ability to update or destory. Biometrics are unique identifiers, but they are not secrets. Bruce takes a fairly hardcore security (ie skeptic) view of biometric. Elsewhere many companies are pushing solutions hard, and Laura Guevin's survey of the voice verification field is good overview. Elsewhere in securityland, experts say voice mail systems vulnerable 9:52:52 PM     comments