Pushing ahead in the decades-long effort to get computers to understand human speech, these three iPhone applications feature sophisticated voice recognition technology. The ability to recognize just about any phrase from any person has long been the supreme goal of artificial intelligence researchers looking for ways to make man-machine interactions more natural.  Systems that can do this have recently started making their way into the mainstream.  These three voice recognition iPhone apps are great…why?  Because they “rock like KISS” (via Lacy Razor) and they also happen to be free of charge!  Enjoy.

Melodis Dialer – one of my complaints for the iPhone in comparison to other smart phones was that it did not offer the ability for voice recognition dialing.  The Melodis Dialer application fixes that.  I’ve tested it out and although it didn’t connect with Paris Hilton for me it did recognize just about every other name.  The application works best when a first name and last name are spoken.

Google Mobile App – Driving or just don’t like to type?  This app is for you…functions just like Google’s search engine, however this app uses voice recognition to populate the search field.  Give it a try.

Voice Notes -  Have you seen the movie Dirty Work?  “Note to self…”  If you are like me and are always on the go you probably don’t like having to type notes into your iPhone.  Use VoiceNotes instead and record a short audio message for later reference. Why walk when you can stumble?  Why type when you can speak?