Apple files patent application to learn the sound of your voice

Apple, which recently filed a patent application for a technology to keep screens on mobile devices free of fingerprints, is upping the ante by filing for a new application that could keep you fingers from even touching the screen in the first place.

The application is for what Apple calls User Profiling for Voice Input Processing, which it describes as being able to identify your voice and understand complex commands. Need to make a playlist? No problem, just ask. Need to call your friend? Just say so. The patent application says all these commands are possible: play, call, and search. According to the application, it would allow the user to "find my most played song with a 4-star rating and create a Genius playlist using it as a seed."

Apple's interest in voice commands is not new. In April 2010, Apple bought Siri, a small company that created an app that let users operate their iPhone with voice commands. Apple is expected to deeply integrate voice navigation technology from Siri into the upcoming iOS 5.