Amazon Kindle Fire Release Date: Siri-Like Software Be Featured on Device

By Elton Jones, Christian Post Reporter Friday, November 11, 2011

Amazon may develop a voice-to-text application for it Kindle Fire tablet through its acquisition of “Yap.”

Yap's software transcribes a user's spoken words into written text on smartphone devices.

News outlet Wired provided more details on Yap: "What Yap does do, though, and does very well, is cloud-based voice transcription - i.e., literal, word-for-word rendering of speech into text, at very high volume with very high accuracy but at very low cost."

"It can do this with direct dictation or recorded speech, with something as short as a text message or voice mail or as long as an entire keynote address. Transcribed speech can then be used for search, commands, or output directly into a document,” Wired added.

Amazon may be using Yap's technology to develop a feature similar to Siri for its Kindle Fire tablet. The tablet does not have a microphone, so this new application is purely speculation for now.

A virtual assistant feature for Amazon's tablet may become another reason for customers to straw away from Apple's devices, though.

The online retailer's upcoming tablet will feature a 7-inch Multi-touch 1024 x600 display with 169 ppi, the Amazon Silk web browser, up to 8 hours of battery life and a deep integration with numerous Amazon services. Users will be able to stream books, movies and music from Amazon's services.

The Kindle Fire computer tablet will officially release in stores Nov. 15. The tablet will retail at $199.

The purchase of Yap by Amazon reportedly occurred two months ago.

Yap recently merged with Dion Acquisition Sub headquartered at 410 Terry Avenue in Seattle, also known as the Amazon.com building.

The Jablokov brothers, Igor and Victor, first founded Yap in 2006.

Paul Grim, a general partner at SunBridge Partners, gave a statement on the dictation company: "Yap is truly a leader in freeform speech recognition and driving innovation in the mobile user experience. It is increasingly clear that the fastest, easiest, and safest way to interact with services on a mobile device is using your voice, and Yap makes this both possible and intuitive."