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Vlingo is a life saver.

My friends and family sometimes accuse me of being distracted by shiny objects. Often those shiny objects are mobile technology applications or cool new gadgets. The latest addition to my shiny object arsenal is the @Vlingo voice recognition app. And I’m told that admitting you have a problem is an important step in getting help. So here goes.

Ahem. <clears throat and raises right hand>

I acknowledge that foursquare check-ins while walking into a five-star dining experience may be a bit off-putting. I am fully aware that Twitter hashtag trending means nothing to the majority of the population. And I fully admit that checking my emails more often will not cure cancer or solve world hunger.

So I may or may not have a shiny objects problem. But one thing is certain: there are some really cool shiny things out there that you may also want to know about that can make your lives better by saving you time. And I’m here to be your enabler.

Staying caught up with my email these days is virtually impossible. Add to that the text messages, Twitter replies, Facebook updates and voicemails, and quickly life turns into a catch-up game. Anyone else wish there was a way to simply speak into a small, portable object, push send and take care of all of it? Well, that’s kind of what this is.

What’s great is that this shiny object basically justifies itself, since it’s both a time saver and a safety tool. Okay. The safety tool is a bit of a stretch, but bear with me on that rationale…

Time saver.

The app integrates with email, SMS, online search engines, maps, voice-activated phone dialing, and social networks including Facebook and Twitter. So I can stay connected through a single application, without having to type on my less-than-ideal iPhone keypad. So I have more time for friends and family. So that’s good. (Sorry, Apple. I love the phone, but the keypad is just not awesome.)

Safety tool.

After a short learning curve of training myself to speak in a way that is more likely to be understood by the voice recognition software, I can draft emails, text messages, Facebook updates and tweets while multitasking – and potentially even while driving, in mobile phone acceptable driving zones, of course.  So, for those of you who have a hard time not texting or tweeting while you’re on the road, this application may actually help you make *safer choices. (Safer is the operative word there. More accurately, less unsafe than texting while driving.)

I think you’d all agree that speaking while driving is at least slightly better than texting while driving, which is illegal in 30 states. Of course handheld cell phones themselves are also banned in 8 states, so you can apply the safety principle to walking while texting, instead of driving while texting. I’ve seen people walk into mailboxes and lightpoles while texting. It looked like it hurt at least a little.

As with most voice recognition programs, I do find myself needing to go back to check for punctuation and misinterpretation. However, more often than not, this app gets it right the first time. And the app makers purport that the software learns your voice and vocabulary over time. The app does seem to make fewer word recognition errors now than when I first started using it.

Worth the money? Yes.

The application has a basic free version. This version lets you use the app for Twitter and Facebook updates, maps, voice recognition dialing and web search. For $9.99 you can upgrade the app to draft SMS/texts and emails, which are the functions I find most useful.

This app is a no-brainer, in my opinion. Easy to use, functional, effective and a time-saver and safety tool (sort of), to boot. Just don’t

Tags: business mobile apps, efficiency mobile apps, Facebook, mobile app, shiny object syndrome, SMS text, social media, Social Media strategy, Twitter, vlingo, voice recognition software