Google bans Siri knockoff from Android Market, but legit competitors persist
Apple didn’t invent voice control when it rolled out its Siri personal assistant software with the iPhone 4S, but it definitely has garnered a lot of attention for the software. More than one Android developer is trying to get in on that popularity, some less legitimately than others.
Devices running Google’s Android mobile operating system have had voice control capabilities for a while now, but the thing about Siri is that it takes existing technology (voice-to-text and voice command tech have been around for years) and has found a way to make it work better than most people are used to. While I’ve watched my Android-owning friends repeatedly trying to use their voice control apps to find an address or call a loved one, often repeating themselves once or twice just to get the software on the same page, Siri is billed as being a lot more responsive and being able to understand a lot more speech more intuitively. Read more...
Spire crack brings Siri to jailbroken iPhones
Siri, Apple’s much loved or otherwise personal assistant, can be accessed by jailbroken iPhones using an application dubbed Spire, says noted cracker Chpwn.
The Spire crack, posted on Cyndia, enables the download of Siri code from Apple’s servers - which takes around 100MB so Chpwn recommends Wi-Fi use. Once installed, the code requires activation via a proxy server using the credentials of an iPhone 4S – a problem encountered by other Siri cracks that want to stay on the right side of Apple’s legal team. Read more...