iPhone 3.0 OS May Have Voice Recognition

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The potential voice feature may currently be going by the code name "Jibbler," and could be integrated into the SpringBoard application, another new feature that will be a part of the iPhone 3.0 OS. SpringBoard will act as a home page and launch applications in the next version of the OS and will support the new Spotlight feature, reports Ars Technica.

The Web site reports that its sources uncovered references to class names, including "VSRecognitionSession," "SBVoiceControlDisableHandlerActions," "SBSensitiveJibblerEnabled" and "SBVoiceControlSoundCompletion."

The current speculation is that each of those classes refers to Voice Services SpringBoard, which would indicate that the enhancements to the OS would be tied to the new Finder-like application.

If Apple is in fact working on developing voice command for the iPhone, it wouldn't be a stretch to see voice dialing become a feature available in the next version of the OS. Competitors in the smartphone space have allowed for voice dialing for quite some time.

In fact, adding voice dialing to the iPhone would be consistent with some of the upgrades to the OS that already have been announced. While Apple continues to innovate with the device, it also seemed to address some of the functionality issues that have been present since the iPhone launched.

The ability to send and receive MMS, for example, has been standard on mobile phones for years, but the iPhone strangely lacked that ability. Perhaps the Cupertino crew thought that being able to e-mail a photo anytime and anyplace would be enough functionality, but users still wondered why the feature wasn't included.

The company addressed MMS in its initial iPhone OS 3.0 feature rollout. Perhaps Apple is doing the same with voice commands. Of course, the company isn't likely to stop after it adds voice dialing -- it's likely that it will use the added functionality to continue to innovate on the platform.