This is NOT a new feature by any means. Voice command software has been available by other software developers for some time now. Although this may be MS's first crack at it, we seem to have forgotten that Microsoft is NOT the only software developer out there (yet).
Anyone who bought an iPaq 3800 series will probably remember IBM's via-voice software that came bundled on the CD. It did a pretty good job, and had an incredible WOW factor. Fonix has a pretty decent one call Voice Central that I play with sometimes, and is relatively good without any voice training. There are others I've seen advertised on PocketGear.com as well.
The fact that MS is doing this now does not impress me. Its not like this is a radically new concept. This is just another example of Microsoft trying to own the market by implementing their version of what would otherwise be useful third party software.
To which I can go on to say that the voice command advertised in the new Toshiba 8xx series could be anything... who says its this MS implementation? It could be Fonix's, or IBM's via voice (which has been bundled with iPaqs before, so I wouldn't be surprised). I'm really not impressed.
Making mountains out of molehills....
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Microsoft Bringing Voice Control to Pocket PCs
