Just a note that Phones Show 101, out now, has an interesting interview with the CEO of Vlingo, the email/text/search voice recognition system for Symbian, talking about how it works on the likes of the Nokia N97 and the future for voice. There's also my extended take on the hottest new competition for Nokia and Symbian, the Google Nexus One. Can Android 2.1 make up for the hardware shortcomings?
Read on in the full article.
Oh yes, note that all the Vlingo codes have now gone. Sorry! If you want to be quicker next time, you need to subscribe to the show on YouTube or via iTunes.
I liked your review of the Nexus One. It was unbiased and consistent with my own experience. I haven't used voice recognition much, but I have found it to be a little better than you describe. I think a few things are at play. First, it does a better job with American accents, which perhaps is no surprise since it the software was developed in the US. Second, you talked quite rapidly in the video. If you enunciate more it works better (perhaps that explains why it handles American accents better). I have used it with Documents To Go to compile short lists (e.g. shopping lists) and it is great for that. I wouldn't write a novel with it, but it has its function.
I noticed that under "Settings" in the Android menu is a Text-to-Speech menu. In it, you can select your language. There are separate settings for speech rate and language. American English and British English are two choices, along with French, German, Italian, and Spanish. Perhaps you had your Nexus One set to American English?