If you are a talk radio listener like myself, you've probably had the Auto PC wake up to some random word that someone on the radio says. If not, you've probably experienced the Auto PC simply never recognizing you if you are playing the radio at any sort of high volume level. The AutoArray fixes this problem marvelously. It's able to pick out your voice alone and pass it along to the Auto PC.

Another area that AutoArray should excel in, although I didn't get to test it, is dramatically improving recognition accuracy in SUV's and convertibles. These high road noise environments have been a great source of frustration for Auto PC users because the noise would confuse the recognizer or drown out the driver's voice.

Since the AutoArray is able to focus in on the user's voice, users who are soft spoken or have a higher pitched voice will benefit greatly from this microphone. Ambient noise in the vehicle makes speech recognition notoriously difficult for a person with these attributes and in some cases unworkable. The AutoArray will put an end to these difficulties. I enjoyed the fact that it was able to pick my voice out when I spoke softer to my Auto PC. With the standard microphone, I always have to raise my voice to get my Auto PC to hear me. Not so with the AutoArray.

Where do I get one?
I'm going to purchase an AutoArray for my Auto PC. It made my speech-based interaction with the Auto PC a far less frustrating and stressful experience. Simply not having to shout to get the Auto PC's attention was perhaps the biggest appeal to me, but also the increased recognition accuracy and improved recognition speed were a welcome benefit as well. This product is available for purchase now from authorized Auto PC dealers. I'm told it sells for around $150, seemingly steep but the improvement is worth it. You can check out this unit on Andrea's web site at http://www.andreaelectronics.com/dsda.htm.

Jason Dunn, principal of Kensai Design & Communications (at http://www.kensai.com), is a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional for Windows CE. In this capacity, he volunteers his time and expertise in the newsgroups and tries to stay on top of the evolving CE platform. Jason also runs two FAQ's at http://windowsce.kensai.com.