"XDA member vari9 points us to an app developed by a few devs over at dexetra that basically does the same exact thing as Siri. Total development time? 8 hours, according to the devs. Needless to say, this little amount of time put in the app almost guarantees that it is in alpha stage and as such you are likely to receive weird answers or no answers at all, but as with everything in the world of Android, this is a work in progress, which will flourish rather soon due to the large interest that was generated on this technology thanks to Apple's marketing efforts." It's quite clearly not on the same level as Siri, but the fact these developers managed to get this far this quickly is pretty impressive. Then again, as long as Iris keeps interpreting 'Fiona Apple' as 'Fianna Apple', 'owner Apple' or 'George Bush' (?!), it's completely pointless to me. In any case, it's free on the Android Market.
To read all comments associated with this story, please click here.
Member since:2005-11-13
Member since:2005-06-29
Member since:2005-07-06
I dunno, Thom; I don't use any of them. That's why I ask. Still, the original quote was not merely "voice recognition" but "improvements to voice recognition."
The original description is rather dismissive, quite frankly, & I took that at face value when reading articles that gushed over Siri. But I guess apparently Apple had something pretty neat, which WP7 and Android do not have. Otherwise, Android devs wouldn't be trying to imitate it.
I have no problems w/Android devs' imitating it, BTW -- just as I have no problems w/Apple's imitating Android's notification system. But, given that the original article wasn't a very good summary of what Apple actually had, I'm left wondering if Apple's notification system is also somehow different from Android's.
I could go out & compare devices myself, but then why should I come here & read this website?
Member since:2005-09-21
Uhm, how do you figure? Don't WP7 and Android already have voice recognition? "
Have you actually used it? I have (Vlingo and Google Voice actions) and no, it's not the same thing as Siri.
Not sure why people keep making the mistake of thinking polish and integration doesn't matter. Not only does it matter, it is the critical step between a tech toy and a useful everyday system. Windows Mobile phones could do basically everything that a modern smartphone can do, but the user experience sucked so it was basically useless. Same argument with MP3 players.. Not like Apple invented anything new there, it was all about polish and user experience to make it appeal to everyone.
Member since:2008-08-27
In all fairness, Android has had voice recognition for a long time and even WP7 got it before Apple. The only things Apple has to its credit, it's that Siri responds to more natural-sounding commands, Siri can be more fun to use, and that unlike the voice options in Android, Siri is almost useless outside of the USA.
Member since:2005-07-06
Voice controls were added to the iPhone in the 3GS, released June 19, 2009 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPhone_3GS)
Windows Phone 7 was released October 21, 2010 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Phone)
Just, FYI
Member since:2005-07-12
In all fairness, Apple had voice recognition before Siri (even though that is difficult to swallow for Thom & Co. (e. g. just think how Thom would comment the <strike>new</strike> copied features of Android 4 if the thing would be labeled "iOS5")
Edited 2011-10-23 18:50 UTC
Member since:2005-07-06
When the original description is filtered less...
...it seems to be just cautious about typical PR spectacles, waiting for at least a bit more independent demonstrations. Hm, but I can understand how such approach might confuse the faithful...
(plus, personally I would apply "not on the same level" also simply to severe lack of polish and maturity of this specific flavour of interaction; Iris is largely just a quick mash-up)
Member since:2005-07-12
Member since:
2005-07-06
OSNews two weeks ago:
OSNews today:
To be clear: OSNews' original description of iOS5's voice recognition was wrong?