Vlingo has been around for a while. I remember it back when it was free for all, and it was a great way to drive. In fact, there were many BlackBerry users who used the BlackBerry for this very app. And it has grown, improved, and become a more versatile application. Simple use with the touch of a button. Let’s take a look…
Vlingo is available in the BlackBerry App World or from the Vlingo website itself. The description of Vlingo for those of you who have never heard of Vlingo is as follows:
I downloaded and installed Vlingo Plus which is only $19.99 on my BlackBerry Tour 9630 with 5.0. It installed quickly and easily. There’s an interactive set up during which Vlingo helps you set your shortcut key and also scans your contacts. Here’s an interesting thing to remember. I have two different gmails on my phone, both were synced, however only one has family in it. The Vlingo the default synced contacts, not all the ones in the book. So I had to be sure that both of my gmails were synced with the same contacts.
So after it’s set up, you can go into the options and personalize it, perhaps make changes to what you’d like. I’m going to walk you through the application first. Clicking on the icon brings up a page with three sections: What Can I Say? Tell A Friend..; and SafeReader.
What Can I Say? This section explains how you can control your phone with voice and gives you examples. You can do a web search by voice, Dial with the command Dial or Call which you can do by name or number, Facebook status in which you can update your status by voice, Twitter updates, email which is exclusive to the paid version, Note to Self, Open Applications such as Open Calendar, and another feature of the paid is to use it within other applications. So if you are in BlackBerry Messenger you are able to hold the button down and say what you want to say and it will be spell it out for you to enter. Now the new feature: Hear incoming messages, turn on Vlingo SafeREader to hear the first 30 words of text or email messages read to you.
Tell A Friend lets you email a friend to tell them about Vlingo and how it’s really been a value to you.
SafeReader is the last part of the page which allows you to turn it on or off.
Clicking on your options key brings up Help and Online Support, as well as Options. I’m going to take you through the options next.
There are six sections in options. The first is General. This section is where you choose which key will be the voice key, the voice key behavior of Anywhere or Only On Vlingo Home, the language which can be US or UK English, Profanity Filtering which can be set to on or off, Vlingo Everywhere Behavior which can be set to Show Popup or Paste Immediately, Location Awareness which can be set to on or off, and how you want your contacts sorted.
The next section is Audio. In this section you can set Alert Tones to On or Off, Volume to Quiet, Normal, or Loud, Text to Speech Voice which can be set to Male or Femaile, TTS Playback which can be set to Off, Brief, or Full, and TTS Playback for Bluetooth.
The Applications section has SafeReader which can be set to SMS and Email, SMS Only or Email Only, the Web Search engine which you choose either Yahoo or Google, Note to Self in which you can Add Memo, Add Task, Send SMS to Self, or Send Email to Self. It also includes Twitter in which you set your login credentials, Auto-Dial which can be turned on or off, and Auto-Dial Behavior which can be set to Less Frequent, Standard, or more Frequent.
Next is Tagline. In this you can set the Email Tagline, SMS Tagline, and Facebook Tagline to be on or off. The Network Section has Auto Configure which you can Run Test. You can set the connection type to Direct TCP, BIS, or MDS.
Save your settings and you’re ready to use Vlingo. I tested this out with text, emails, in applications, and allowed the SafeReader to read. It works amazingly. For calling and texting it is so easy. You hold the key down, you see it listening and you speak into the phone as you hold the key down. I say “Call John” and it brings up John as it calls. I try holding the key down and say “Message to John, Message ‘What time did you say?’” and Vlingo types it up and I only have to hit send.
Using Vlingo in applications is easy too. I’m in the BlackBerry Messenger, I hold the key down while in chat and say what I want to answer and it sets to paste. SafeReader works great too.
Anyone could benefit from Vlingo, while you’re driving, while you’re working, in a hurry and want to save time while writing, it’s easy and fast. Save time and make things convenient. It’s a five star application and for the convenience it’s great. It didn’t slow my phone down at all. It’s easy to use, and the use of one side key of your choice makes it so easy to use. I can’t tell you how much of a convenience this application makes. Versatile and convenience beyond description, you’ll have to try this out.
PROS: Understands and types, I didn’t have to use correcting as long as I spoke slow. It read my messages and let me use it in any application.
CONS: Only having to paste in other applications, and the fact that if you use syncing with your emails, and have a default, those are the contacts it will recognize.
Read about the free and paid version of Vlingo here and compare the features
Vlingo is compatible with the following BlackBerry Devices: Bold (9000 series), Bold (9700), Curve (83xx), Curve (8900), Curve (8520), Pearl (81xx), Pearl Flip (82xx), Storm (9530), Storm 2 (9550), Tour (9630), World Edition (88xx)
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
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Review: Vlingo Plus v4.5 With SafeReader, Communicate Hands Free At Work Or Play
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