XM Satellite Radio and VoiceBox Technologies (a company that makes a "conversational" voice search technology) have teamed up to create a voice-search-enabled platform. In other words, just "say it and get it" - and ta-da, it's on your radio.

The platform's speech recognition algorithms are designed to determine the context and intent from conversational speech, letting you speak in free-form language and it will obey your command. I wonder if we'll be able to give our radios names? I will call mine, Ramone.

Expect this to be available to automakers and the aftermarket in mid-2006, and for it to be displayed at CES.

[Billboard Radio Monitor]