Pioneer today launched Zypr, a free-to-use Web service platform providing voice-controlled access to online services such as mapping, navigation, social media, calendars, weather, and more. Using Zypr, developers can provide consistent, task-oriented access to these services, whether from the smartphone, the desktop, or even the car.

Apple's Siri has generated significant interest in voice-driven, task-oriented control systems. Voice control has tended to be restricted to more specialized roles, used to accommodate disability, or in situations where traditional screens and keyboards aren't usable, such as in cars. With Siri, voice is becoming less restricted: it's used because, for many tasks, it's quick and convenient.

As with Siri, Zypr is voice-driven. It's also task-oriented—think "find me a good Mexican restaurant near Peter's house" rather than "open the Yelp application, then search for Mexican restaurants with a five star rating near this address." Siri is limited, however, in that it's a sealed system. Developers can't embed Siri-like functionality into their own applications; nor can they plumb their own services into the Siri back-end. Zypr is designed to do both these things.

Zypr aggregates a range of services into a common, consistent platform. Pioneer has made the necessary partnerships with firms such as Twitter, Facebook, and Google, so developers don't need to integrate each third-party service individually. Similarly, developers don't need to keep pace with changing fashions: if a new social networking site makes the big time, Pioneer will integrate it with Zypr. Developers won't need to alter their applications just to support new services.

Pioneer's plan is for Zypr-powered services to be developed for a wide range of devices. The company has a strong presence in the in-car entertainment market, and plans to release devices with Zypr support soon. However, the company has ambitions beyond the motor vehicle; it wants to offer consistent voice access on the smartphone and desktop, too. Pioneer even wants to make the service usable by its competitors, hence its branding as "Zypr" rather than anything with Pioneer in the name.

The service and API are all free to use. Rather than charging for access, Pioneer is hoping to monetize Zypr through revenue sharing from paid search, advertising, coupons, and subscription services. Any money made from revenue-generating usage will be split between Pioneer and the application developer. In addition to the free access, the company has also provided an open source Java client to help developers use the service.