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We all know that the iPhone’s brilliant interface has changed the game. But let’s face it: while we’ve learned to deal with the touch-based keyboard on our iPhones, typing in messages is an inelegant process that is often executed with total disregard for the surrounding world. Some people (myself included) walk down the street while texting, pulling up directions on Google Maps, or updating Twitter. Some even send text messages as they drive. And so while touch has become a wonderful way to maneuver around a phone, it’s not always the ideal way to go.

A Charlotte, North Carolina-based company named Yap wants you to use your voice, instead. Yap, which just raised $6.5 million in its first round of financing, is a speech-to-SMS company whose technology lets you send texts to your friends without typing, post updates to Facebook and Twitter, and so on. Unlike speech-to-text services like Jott (our coverage) and PhoneTag (formerly Simulscribe), which employ humans to translate voice messages into text, Yap is entirely automated. See sample screenshot below.

On top of building its own speech-to-text applications, the company has opened up its platform to third-party developers and will license its technology to companies that can find interesting ways to deploy speech-to-text. By becoming a platform, the small company is entering into competition with some established players. The most famous of these is TellMe, a voice-recognition company that raised about $263 million before Microsoft bought it for around $800 million last year. The other is Nuance, which has a similar capability and has its applications on over two billion phones. Yap’s co-founder, Victor Jabolokov says his company has an edge on TellMe because, unlike TellMe, which requires adherence to grammatical forms, Yap can turn free-form speech into text. As for Nuance, which he sees as the bigger threat, Jabolokov says that the smaller company’s agility will let it tackle parts of this market before its larger competitor can lumber its way in.

The really big opportunity is not limited to speech-to-text. Despite the wonders of the iPhone, the killer interface for mobile that Jabolokov envisions will incorporate voice, translating your commands into search queries, pulling up calender appointments, setting a course for your GPS, and activating essentially any application on the fly. Jabolokov says this is the goal, but considering TellMe, Nuance, and Google probably have their eyes on it, managing to get there will be seriously tough.

However, there are hundreds of millions of SMS messages flying across the wire all the time, and getting a respectable piece of that will more than justify the investment. SunBridge Partners led the round, which included Harbert Venture Partners, Pittco Capital Partners, and existing angel investors.

[Editor's note: If you're interested in mobile innovation, be sure to check out MobileBeat2008, VentureBeat's conference on July 24]

Here’s the day’s action:
1) CNET sells its photo-sharing site Webshots at loss, may be ready to try again
2) Comcast isn’t the only ISP manipulating traffic
3) Apple may lose Warner Music, too
4) Yahoo’s Cammie Dunaway goes to Nintendo
5) Trusted Opinion, social recommendations, raises $1.3 million
6) JackBe, enterprise mashup software, raises $9.5 million
7) EchoSign, electronic signatures, takes $6 million

CNET sells Webshots to American Greeting for $45M – CNET bought Webshots, a photo-sharing site, for $70M in 2004, so the purchase apparently didn’t do much for the company. CNET itself is losing money, and also recently took on a $250 million loan, which may signal a desire for more (but hopefully better advised) acquisitions of internet properties.

Comcast isn’t the only ISP interfering with P2P — This post by Om Malik points out that other ISPs are probably also interfering with Net traffic. So much for Net Neutrality. Companies that rely on P2P traffic may have to count on lawmakers for relief if ISPs become bolder in their efforts to minimize certain traffic. Luckily, they’ve got congressmen like Rick Boucher, who has put the issue at the top of the House tech agenda.

Apple’s iPod aura wearing off with music labels — Last month it was Universal Music Group, this month it’s Warner Music. As record label’s contracts with Apple run out, the companies are deciding they don’t really want to be in a controlling relationship, and would prefer to see other distributors. Both Universal and Warner are shifting to a month-to-month contract with Apple that will allow them to strike deals elsewhere. If the companies have figured out yet that they don’t have to be in constant control of their own content, that might even mean a few crumbs for startups.

Yahoo-er Cammie Dunaway has indeed left for Nintendo – The New York Times confirms the rumor that Valleywag had the other week.

Recommendation-focused social network Trusted Opinion raises $1.3 million – More here.

JackBe, enterprise mashup software company, raises $9.5M more – The company, based in Fremont, Calif., raised the third round of financing from Harbert Venture Partners, Core Capital Partners, and existing investors Intel Capital, Darby Technology Ventures and Blue Chip Venture Company. The company’s Presto platform allows users to create applications by pulling in data from various sources, and faces numerous competitors, including Nexaweb and Xignite. It had previously raised $9.5 million.

EchoSign takes $6 million for signature automation — A month ago today, we reported that competitor DocuSign had taken $12.4 million to continue developing its electronic signature technology. We wouldn’t say they’re copying, but does anyone else hear an echo? (OK, sorry for that one.) This is EchoSign’s second funding, led by Emergence Capital and also participated in by previous investor Storm Capital.

Featured companies: Aldagen, LDR, Lyten Endoscopy, MachLabs, Permatox, TeleMedicine Clinic, ThromboVision

Spinal-implant maker LDR raises $25M — Austin, Texas-based LDR, a maker of spinal implants, raised $25 million in a third funding round. Investors included Telegraph Hill Partners, Austin Ventures, Rothschild Private Equity and PTV Sciences.

LDR sells spinal-fusion devices, artificial disks and other spine-related devices in more than 30 countries, and plans to use the funds for further expansion.

Aldagen adds $9M for adult stem-cell work — Aldagen, a Durham, N.C., biotech developing regenerative therapies with “adult” stem cells, raised an additional $9 million (PDF link), bringing its third funding round to a total of $23 million. Investors in the additional financing include Tullis-Dickerson, CNF Investments, Harbert Venture Partners and Intersouth Partners.

The company’s most advanced experimental treatment uses stem cells derived from umbilical-cord blood to somehow improve the speed and effectiveness of cord-blood transplants in children, although the company doesn’t explain how. Nor has it revealed the results of an early-stage human test. Other treatments now entering clinical trials use stem or related progenitor cells isolated from a patient’s own bone marrow to treat heart failure or clot-related oxygen deprivation in the limbs.

The Triangle Business Journal has more.

ThromboVision raises $4M for personalized-medicine diagnostics — The Houston, Texas, biotech ThromboVision said it raised $4 million in a first funding round. Investors included the private-equity firm National Healthcare Services and private investors.

ThromboVision is developing new tests of platelet activity that may help doctors determine which patients are most likely to respond to low doses of blood thinners such as aspirin or Plavix, which are used to prevent clots that can cause heart attacks or strokes. This is similar — in concept, at least — to the FDA’s recent push to require the use of genomic tests to determine the proper dosing of warfarin, another blood thinner. (See our coverage here.)

MachLabs launches two device companies — MachLabs, a Redwood City, Calif., investor partnership founded by entrepreneurs Michael Laufer and John Lonergan, recently launched two medical-device startups, VentureWire reports (subscription required). Lyten is developing a minimally invasive treatment for obesity, while Permatox hopes to introduce a non-invasive alternative to Botox.

TeleMedicine Clinic receives €7M for radiology services — Barcelona-based TeleMedicine Clinic, a center for the outsourced analysis of medical images such as X-rays and MRIs, raised €7 million ($9.7 million), VentureWire reports. Investors included Kennet Partners, Active Capital Partners and an undisclosed European seed investor.