iPhone, Siri and mind control: the future evolution of the smartphone
It would be foolish to underestimate the importance of Apple [AAPL] Siri or other voice-activated intelligent assistants. These solutions are big steps toward new user interfaces: one day your iPhone may be controlled by your mind.
Mental machinery
Sounds far-fetched? Perhaps so, but rest assured work’s already taking place to perfect the mind-controlled computer, a topic researched by Macintosh user interface expert, Jef Raskin (RIP).
“Mind-reading has been wishful thinking for science fiction fans for decades, but their wish may soon come true,” IBM said. “You would just need to think about calling someone, and it happens.” IBM believes it will be making mind-controlled PCs and phones by 2016.
In a December press release, IBM explains: “Scientists in the field of bioinformatics have designed headsets with advanced sensors to read electrical brain activity that can recognize facial expressions, excitement and concentration levels, and thoughts of a person without them physically taking any actions.” Read more...
Siri, will Apple’s App Store lock out blind people on iOS 6?
A website has broken the wall of silence surrounding version 6 of Apple's mobile operating system iOS - and alleged blind people will struggle to use the App Store software in the new build.
iOS 6 rolls out tomorrow for iPhones, iPads and iPod Touches - but it has been in the hands of selected developers since July, allowing them to adapt their apps ready for the big launch.
Now a writer for AppleVis.com, which covers software for visually impaired users, has reported problems with the upcoming iOS 6 release. Read more...
Siri, meet Nina
Nuance Communications Monday introduced Nina, a virtual speech assistant that companies can add to iOS and Android mobile apps.
Nina combines Nuance speech recognition technology, text-to-speech software, voice biometrics and other software into a single offering that's hosted on cloud servers.
The technology is designed to understand what a user says, and to identify who is saying it, Nuance said. Read more...
Taiwanese university claims Apple’s Siri infringes its patents
A Taiwanese university has sued Apple for alleged patent infringement in its Siri voice assistant, as part of an initiative to help Taiwan's local electronic firms fight back against intellectual property disputes brought by their foreign rivals.
Taiwan's National Cheng Kung University alleged in the lawsuit, filed in a U.S. district court on Friday, that Apple's Siri feature infringes on two of the school's U.S. patents dealing with speech recognition technology. The university is demanding Apple pay a still undetermined amount in damages, and that the court order an injunction on Apple's use of Siri as a feature on its iPhones and iPads.
The school filed the legal action in response to repeated patent infringement lawsuits that foreign companies have filed against Taiwan's electronic firms, according to Chen Xisan, the director of the school's legal department. Apple has for example filed legal action against HTC, which recently saw shipments of its smartphones to the U.S. delayed because of the patent battles.
"We want to help the local industry," Chen said in an interview. "We also want to protect Taiwan's patents from being infringed upon."
Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Read more...
Apple’s Siri-ous mistake
One thing that Apple has been known for is anticipating what consumers want in a device before they even realize it. It's what they did with the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad -- all devices that sparked high demand in categories that had been either dormant or fairly static.
Then came Siri.
Siri was around as a stand-alone app before Apple acquired it; and other apps such as Vlingo responded to voice commands -- including Google's voice actions on Android. But it was Apple's version of Siri that ratcheted up interest in mobile-device "personal assistants" that could help users organize appointments, send messages and fetch information. Read more...
‘Siri, I have some some suggestions for you’
When Apple's new iPad was unveiled last week, one of the features users had hoped for didn't come with it. Siri, the voice-controlled personal assistant that's been such a hit on the iPhone 4S, wasn't among the tablet's new features. (Apple did add a dictation feature, but it has none of Siri's interactivity; all you can do is one-way dictation.)
Despite the disappointment of Siri users, this is actually not a bad move on Apple's part. Siri is still in beta and could use a little polishing before being rolled out to the iPad. Even though I found in my first month of use that it is good enough to change users' habits, Apple clearly wants to make damn sure Siri works as billed. Even in beta, Siri's easy interaction, fast results and sometimes quirky responses produce an emotional reaction that has encouraged people to use it -- a lot. Read more...
Apple tells Siri rival Evi: Get a facelift and you can stay
A British voice-recognition app that works like Siri may be allowed to stay in Apple's App Store, if it makes some changes, says a report in The Verge.
Information app Evi was approved and launched in the iTunes store on 23 January 2012. But on Friday it seemed that Apple's App Store arbitrators had changed their minds and were going to pull the app, complaining it was too similar to Siri. Replicating the functions of native iOS apps contravenes the rules of the App Store.
But looks like the axe has been stayed: several reports today suggested that Apple might make an exception to its rules and work with Evi's developers to differentiate Evi from Siri while allowing the application to remain on sale. The app was still available on iTunes at time of writing. It would be a surprising volte-face for Apple, which isn't known for making compromises, especially not with small British start-ups like the Cambridge-based Evi-makers True Knowledge. Read more...
Mercedes Benz working Apple’s Siri into its cars
Apple has found a lot of success in adding the voice-activated personal assistant software Siri to its iPhone 4S. Apparently, other companies are taking notice.
At the Mobile World Congress this weekend in Barcelona, Spain, Mercedes Benz rolled out plans to integrate Siri into its “Drive Kit Plus” program. This will essentially allow drivers to access their iPhone apps using only their voices while driving.
The story comes from the International Business Times. Mercedes Benz, the publication reports, already has a software program that projects the iPhone screen onto an in-car system to allow users to make use of their smartphones without having to divert their attention from driving. Drive Kit Plus interacts with the existing systems to allow a hands-free method of accessing lots of different iPhone systems while driving, like music, text messaging and email. Drivers can even send updates to Facebook and Twitter with Siri’s help.
On the iPhone 4S, Siri also is capable of handling navigation commands, bringing up directions to specific places when asked questions as well as when given instructions. It’s not hard to see how well the technology behind Siri can translate into being used in a car, and it sounds like hands-free navigation will be one of the biggest selling points for Siri and Drive Kit Plus. Read more...
Now Siri brushes up on Russian, Japanese languages
Apple is already testing Chinese, Japanese and Russian language support for its voice-activated personal assistant technology Siri - and will roll out the new functionality next month as its efforts to cosy up to customers in these lucrative markets gathers pace.
Chinese tech site DoNews spoke to an Apple development engineer working on the Chinese language version of Siri who said at present only Chinese Mandarin would be supported, alongside Japanese and Russian, although it’s likely that Cantonese and other dialects won’t be too far behind. Read more...
Android Alternatives to Apple’s Siri Personal Assistant
When it was announced in October, one of the headline features of Apple's iPhone 4S was Siri, an "intelligent assistant" which answers spoken questions and takes orders given in natural English. It was less like Google's Voice Actions for Android, an app which understands a limited set of specific commands, and more like the computers on Star Trek.
Not exactly like them. Its limited vocabulary includes facetious, canned responses to questions like "What is the meaning of life?" which Internet comedians have exploited. Meanwhile, noted feminist writer Amanda Marcotte has observed "Siri is an electronic version of a [female] secretary," and that its answers to questions about women's health issues are very unhelpful ... especially compared to its answers for men who want to solicit sex workers.
Despite these issues -- and outages that have affected Siri's network service on and off since November -- Siri remains one of the iPhone 4S' "killer features," and is heavily promoted on Apple's official website for the iPhone. Google is even said to be trying to make its own alternative to Siri, code-named Majel (after the actress who voiced the "Star Trek" computers), according to Taylor Wimberley of Android and Me. Read more...
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...
After a month, Siri finds her voice
After a month of using Siri, the new voice-controlled "personal assistant" available on the iPhone 4S, I've decided it may be time to add voice control to the list of paradigm-shifting ways to interact with a computer -- right behind the mouse, keyboard and, more recently, touch gestures. While voice control remains far from perfect, the ease of use and instant results Siri delivers may be just enough to shift people's habits. It's certainly changed mine.
Controlling computers using voice commands has been a promised fantasy for years. Though various companies have tried, none has delivered something easy, convenient, or reliable enough to work well for most users. Apple's Mac OS has had voice commands built in since the mid-1990s, and I recall Windows booths at CompUSA staffed by Dragon Dictation engineers wearing awkward headsets, as OS/2 Warp gathered dust on the shelves.
In fact, most phones have been able to do voice-controlled contact and number dialing since before the arrival of smartphones. Despite widespread availability, voice control never gained traction because the effort required to get it to work right wasn't worth it for most people. Voice control -- from the old Speakable Items in Mac OS to the method of dialing contacts on older cell phones -- always required specific phrasing that sounded more like a command than natural speech.
"Dial 5-5-5-5-5-5-1-2-3-4" -- enunciating each word and number -- is a lot harder to do on a regular basis than to simply say "Call mom." Read more...
Microsoft thinks Windows Phone has Siri’s functionality covered
Whether you’re a fan of Siri or not, few of us would claim that any non-Apple platform has anything quite like it. The Android loyal will correctly point out that their OS has had voice commands and dictation for ages, but even the most hardcore fanboy will acknowledge that it lacks the conversational AI element to truly be a Siri rival. Maybe somebody needs to tell this to Microsoft. One of their execs stated in an interview that Windows Phone has had Siri-like functionality from the beginning.
The statement was from Microsoft chief strategy and research officer Craig Mundie. When pressed on Siri, he dismissed the AI assistant as “good marketing,” claiming that telling a Windows Phone to text somebody and dictate your message is just like having Siri. He seemed especially excited about being able to “query anything through Bing just by saying the words.” Read more...