‘Top Secret’ Zumba Voice-Controlled Phone Looks Like Spy Gear, Smells Like Vapour

In this video, the BBC takes us inside the top secret headquarters of IA Technology, where the former ejector seat company is working on the “world’s first fully accurate voice recognition phone,” the Zumba.

Accompanied by a card-like carrying case/base station, the Zumba slips out into an earpiece shaped like one of those old fossilised spiral shellfish. The entire assembly sits on your head, and operates all functions, including texting, through voice commands.

Our lovely presenter can’t tell us anything interesting about how this technology works (or more realistically, will one day work), other than that it is linked to some kind of cloud system, much like Google’s iPhone voice app. She enthusiastically blames this on extreme secrecy, but it sounds more like second-hand PR speak to me. Also, her demonstration unit appears to be a dummy, and there’s no sign that the touted speech recognition capabilities exist yet either.

The Zumba will apparently ship before next year. Or, IA Technology will explode into a massive cloud of unsent patent applications and investors’ £100 notes. Either way, we have our eyes on you, Zumba. [BBC]