Voice technology provider VoiceSignal and directory services company INFONXX are launching an “embedded” voice-driven local search product for mobile phones called “VSearch.” Available starting in March, the two companies described the service in their announcement this morning:

VoiceSignal will provide the speech recognition and application software and INFONXX will provide content and search support. The product will deliver to consumers a wide range of innovative information services including access to traffic, weather information, cinema times, stock quotes, horoscopes and sports scores . . .The technology will be embedded into mass market handsets made by the world’s leading OEMs, with Samsung Electronics positioned to be first to market in Europe with the revolutionary new platform.

A less expansive but similar offering is the recent TellMe by Mobile release. Currently INFONXX operates the consumer-facing directory assistance (DA) offering 118118 in the UK, which last year launched (together with MIVA) an interesting and, apparently, successful PPText ad program. (That will be the subject of a later post.)

VSearch will be ad supported. Accordingly, it loosely falls into the category of ad-supported DA now dominated in the U.S. by Jingle Networks (1800-Free-411), but also occupied by AT&T’s new 1800-YellowPages and several others.

Read the rest of this post at SEL.

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Related: m-spatial’s most recent UK mobile local search index:

Source: m-spatial

The arrows indicate movement since the last index (April, 2006)