An patent for an application has recently been published, Apple has been looking into allowing iPhone users to transmit data to each other over voice channels. This would bypass wireless carriers backend servers in a manner similar to Nextel walkie-talkie feature.
Appleinsider said Apple filed a patent this past November. The patent states, conventional text messaging systems require the use of what is called the backend server and it may limit the amount of information that can be handled at a particular time and is therefore capacity limited.
The company notes that reading of text messages would be difficult due to the small screen on a handheld device, especially in situations where the recipient is impaired or preoccupied with another task.
“With the rapid deployment, proliferation, and technical advancement of mobile personal communication devices, such as cell phones, a user of these devices is presented with any number of ways to communicate with another user,” Apple wrote in the filing.
“For example, a user can send type a text message using, for example, Short Message Service-Point to Point (SMS-PP) protocol as defined in GSM recommendation 03.40 where messages are sent via a store-and forward mechanism to a Short Message Service Center (SMSC), which will attempt to send the message to the recipient and possibly retry if the user is not reachable at a given moment. Therefore, SMS-PP requires the use of a backend server to provide the necessary support for transmission of data between sender and receiver.”
The patent calls for a new technology where data is passed between the sender and receiver by way of voice channel only, bypassing the use of the data channel all together.
“In this way, a sender can select that data which he/she desires to send to a receiver unit using by first converting the data into an appropriate vocal/voice format which is then forwarded to a receiver unit by way of the voice channel,” Apple said. “Once received at the receiver unit, the vocalized data can be converted to an audio signal, which is then output by way of an audio output device (such as a speaker, earphone, etc.).”
The patent filing describes that is will be able to vocalize any textual data on the display screen (a phone number) in order to pass it by way of a voice channel to another iPhone or any number of other iPhones or compatible device. When it is received by the recipient,processing the vocalized data would be performed based on a prompted request by the user or based upon a pre-selected protocol.
“For example, once received [by an iPhone], the vocalized phone number can be passed to an audio output device that (in the case of a speaker) generates an audible rendition of the vocalized phone number,” Apple wrote. “In another case, the vocalized phone number is forwarded to a voice mail server where the receiver records the vocalized phone number as a voice mail message for subsequent playback.”
Apple also notes that the user can pre-select the option that forces the generated audio messsage to stored in the receivers voice mail inbox. The company also said additional processing can be performed whereby any vocalized multimedia data received is automatically converted back to text and converted as an audible type message.

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