With Apple's Siri technology debut, voice control integration has taken the spotlight. As CNET writer Christopher MacManus says, “typing with your hands is so retro.” In addition to Siri on iOS devices, Android developers have also released their own voice apps, capitalizing on the popularity of the technology. While voice control isn't new, the most recent versions from Apple and Android are definitely the best we've seen. Amazon is another major technology player that recently entered the voice recognition technology space. The company quietly acquired Yap, a speech-to-text software developer, increasing rumors that Amazon is building their own speech recognition technology.

All these developments point to an ever-increasing speech-to-text movement. CEPro recently speculated that 2012 will be the year for voice control. They believe voice control is losing its negative stigma and becoming an acceptable, even desirable behavior. While the technology is not quite flawless yet, we believe voice control recognition is evolving and will continue to grow, improve and be used for mobile productivity in the following months and years.

Aside from voice control, there has also been buzz surrounding other advanced input technologies, including eye movement and gestures. Recently at CES, technology company Tobii showcased Gaze UI, an early version of their technology that they say will eventually allow professionals to scan through documents and perform a variety of functions on their devices by tracking eye movement. CES also had a fair amount of gesture-based recognition technology presented by startups and well-established companies, including Samsung and PrimeSense, the technology behind Xbox Kinect. While these two alternative input technologies are on the rise for a multitude of functions on many consumer electronic devices, in my opinion, at least for now, voice control still offers the biggest promise as a utility for productivity purposes on smartphones and tablets.

Even though voice technology is closest to being widely adopted by users, it’s still in its infancy and has yet to catch on with the majority of mobile users. As already mentioned, Siri and other voice control apps from Android have brought renewed attention to the technology, and we’ll soon see if this attention has convinced users to stop typing and start speaking. To us, it’s fascinating to consider what potential it has for a mobile Office productivity app, like Quickoffice. While we already offer compatibility with text-to-speech and speech-to-text on our Android apps, we can’t help but get excited about the possibility of future versions. All our apps could be integrated with more advanced voice control technology that allow users to easily write, edit and share documents on the go, set up meetings, save files and send emails, all by simply by telling your device what to do.

Will we see these technologies continue to grow, improve and be used for mobile productivity? Which of these new input methods will lead: Gesture-based, eye movement or voice control?