Microsoft Buys Tellme - Challenges and Potential
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One of the points mentioned in the conference call was that the Tellme platform learns from the speech processing it does. As one ZDNet blogger put it, "the more speech the Tellme platform processes the smarter it gets. If you embed Tellme with all of Microsoft's products you could have one smart voice system."
But Microsoft could still face some challenges in getting its search on cell phones. As things stand now, anyone attempting to do that needs to forge a relationship with the wireless carriers. As Googlewatch pointed out, trying to get a deal to have your stuff planted directly "on the carrier deck" is tough, "and often involves signing over one's soul." Microsoft isn't the kind of company that would take kindly to being pushed around like that; it is far more likely to try to find a different path that accomplishes the same thing.
For that matter, so is Google. Rumor has it that the search engine giant is working on its own mobile phone. Signs that have been held up over the past few weeks as pointing in this direction include patents filed by Google on predictive mobile location-based search technology, and a comment in a venture capitalist's blog. Some have said it's probably not a phone, but more likely to be a BlackBerry-like device, or even a full-fledged PDA with Google software.
Of course, a Google phone could give the company a leg up in mobile search that rivals Microsoft's competitive advantage in purchasing Tellme. There's no need to worry about getting on the carrier deck if you own the phone! Google, of course, is not commenting on the rumors, though it has signed a number of deals related to mobile search and is known to be working on mobile advertising.
Or perhaps we're looking at it too narrowly. The next battleground for search isn't mobile and local -- or at least, it isn't just mobile and local. Given the possible applications for Tellme's speech interface, and the various technology areas that Google is known or suspected to be involved in, the next battleground for search is going to be -- everywhere. It's nothing short of making search seamless and ubiquitous across all of your devices and environments: at home, at work, in your car, everywhere. And you thought the current competition over search was cutthroat!
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