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Finally, A Car That Listens (And Truly Understands)

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Be honest: who doesn't talk on the phone while driving? I do it all the time, although I draw the line at texting or reading messages behind the wheel. (I don't have the brain power or the coordination to multi-task that way.) The fact is, the temptation to make phone calls, send text messages or even search for new music on the radio is overwhelming in today's connected world. The result is a dangerous epidemic of distracted driving.

Hands-free voice recognition technology was supposed to be the answer, but I find most of the systems in today's cars to be incredibly aggravating. You're forced to dictate commands in formal, clipped phrases, most of which are misunderstood anyway. I always laugh when I say something like, "Call Jane Smith" or "Play Artist R.E.M." and the response is, "Climate Control On." Only it's not really funny and tends to make me more distracted as my frustration grows.

I'm told that existing voice systems, as sophisticated as they are, don't work as well as they should because they are limited by the car's computing power (not to mention that carmakers thought they could cut corners by installing lousy microphones).

So I've been waiting for a true breakthrough in voice technology for cars, and I think -- just maybe -- it is here. Today, Nuance Communications unveiled a new Siri-like voice feature for automobiles that will let you send and receive text messages and email using natural language. No more stilted commands. You can just say what you want: "Send a text to Anna Smith, 'I'm stuck in traffic. I'll be at the office as soon as possible'."

An alert will also sound when there's an incoming message. You can say, "Listen to the email from Alex"  and Nuance’s human-like text-to-speech feature will read it to you. You can then respond: "Reply to Alex, 'Sushi sounds great. See you at 7'."

The technology, called Dragon Drive!, is similar to Nuance's Dragon Go! for mobile devices which is widely believed to be powering Siri, the popular voice recognition feature in Apple's iPhone 4S. (Neither Nuance nor Apple will come right out and say that, though.)

What makes it unique is that Dragon Drive! seamlessly incorporates both the car's embedded computers and the cloud-based features of in-car infotainment systems.

Messaging capability, available in six languages (US and UK English, French, Italian, German and Spanish), is the first application for Dragon Drive! Coming soon you'll be able to ask your car to download new songs, find restaurants or search news headlines.

The first cars to offer Dragon Drive! will be unveiled early this summer, according to Nuance executive vice president Mike Thompson. He deferred to the carmakers to make the announcements, though. Nor would he estimate how much it will add to the car's sticker price, saying it depends on whether automakers choose to make it standard, sell it as a stand-alone feature or fold it into an option package.

If it works as promised, I'll bet the federal government will soon regulate that all cars have such voice-controlled systems.

Here's a video of how it would work: