iPhone OS 3.0 Beta Features Voice Control

In one of our earlier next-gen iPhone rumor posts, we mentioned in passing that the iPhone OS 3.0 beta contained references to voice control.  Not much has been said about it since because it was just assumed the feature was simply voice dialing, that is until now. Ars Technica has uncovered a few more details about Apple's new voice feature.  The feature is apparently code-named "Jibbler," and it will supposedly enable voice synthesis and voice recognition in iPhone OS 3.0:

Not much information is known at this time, but according to our own people familiar with the matter, Jibbler appears be an enhancement to the iPhone SpringBoard application, the Finder-esque app that acts as a launcher and will support the newly announced 3.0 Spotlight search. Jibbler may be controlled via the iPhone headset -- button squeezes could be used to record short voice segments from the user, which Jibbler will then interpret. Voice synthesis can then be used to give the user a response, similar to the latest generation iPod shuffle, which can "read" playlists and track names -- the difference being that the iPhone hardware itself could handle real-time voice synthesis.

Ars Technica assumes that this feature will also be made available to third-party developers in the eventual future.

That's all we know about this mysterious "Jibbler" for now.  It will be interesting to see if this turns out to be more than a simple voice dialing feature, and whether or not it will be compatible with all iPhone hardware or just the next generation hardware.

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