Rumor: Google prepping 'Majel' Android voice assistant to counter Apple's Siri

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  • Reply 121 of 180
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Gatorguy View Post


    I don't understand why this is such a big deal. Google's been working on voice control for several years...



    Really?! Still getting posters claiming it's just voice control? It's type of shallow, unconnected thinking that made the iPod dominate the PMP market.
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  • Reply 122 of 180
    mac voyermac voyer Posts: 1,295member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by igxqrrl View Post


    That's an interesting perspective; Android has had voice recognition for well over over a year. Yes, Siri is an improvement over what Android offers. And no doubt Google will respond by improving Android.



    Let's not try to pretend that Apple introduced voice recognition. In the smartphone realm they're a late player to the game.



    Voice Action were a response to Voice Control in the 3GS. Looks like I will just have to keep repeating it.
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  • Reply 123 of 180
    gatorguygatorguy Posts: 24,769member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by SolipsismX View Post


    Really?! Still getting posters claiming it's just voice control? It's type of shallow, unconnected thinking that made the iPod dominate the PMP market.



    Of course it's not "just voice control", which is why the next update of the Google feature is suggested to be much more that that. Is it "Siri-like"? Don't know and really don't even care for the time being. It will be what ever it is. And a few months later it will evolve again, just like Siri will.
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  • Reply 124 of 180
    Whatever Google comes up with, it'll be tied to Google Search, which means it'll be different from Siri significantly. It might be better or worse, no idea yet, but let's not argue about whether Google is 'copying' Apple's Siri, Google wouldn't want to copy it, because that'd be working against their mobile search revenue.
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  • Reply 125 of 180
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Gatorguy View Post


    Of course it's not "just voice control", which is why the next update of the Google feature is suggested to be much more that that. Is it "Siri-like"? Don't know and really don't even care for the time being. It will be what ever it is. And a few months later it will evolve again, just like Siri will.



    And yet you wrote, "I don't understand why this is such a big deal. Google's been working on voice control for several years?"
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  • Reply 126 of 180
    gatorguygatorguy Posts: 24,769member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by SolipsismX View Post


    And yet you wrote, "I don't understand why this is such a big deal. Google's been working on voice control for several years?"



    So now you don't understand feature progression? Of course you do. I thought I was pretty clear in my post.
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  • Reply 127 of 180
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Gatorguy View Post


    So now you don't understand feature progression? Of course you do. I thought I was pretty clear in my post.



    I understand feature progression, but you still fail to understand that Siri is more than voice control otherwise you wouldn't have written what you wrote or tried to backpedal your way out of it.
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  • Reply 128 of 180
    majjomajjo Posts: 574member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Mac Voyer View Post


    It seems people have already forgotten that Google's Voice Actions was just a response to Apple's Voice Control in the 3GS. Two years from now, people will believe Siri was just a response to whatever Google coughs up.



    Thats kind of how it works. Competition causes companies to leapfrog each other.



    Apple releases voice control

    Google responds with voice actions, increasing the functionality from voice control.

    Apple responds with Siri, increasing the functionality from voice actions

    Google responds with majel, increasing(hopefully) the functionality from Siri

    Apple responds with Siri v2.0 and so on and so forth.



    So i dont know what point youre trying to make with this.
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  • Reply 129 of 180
    stompystompy Posts: 414member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Santoanderson View Post


    Droid - Star Wars

    Majel - Star Trek



    Now if they can only work-in a feature named "Gandalf" they will have accomplished the fantasy-nerd trifecta.



    I nominate this as "Best Post of 2011."
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  • Reply 130 of 180
    nerudaneruda Posts: 440member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Mister Snitch View Post


    It is terribly me-too. Google used to innovate.



    Google = the new Microsoft.



    The whole Android thing is "me-too" IMO.
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  • Reply 131 of 180
    jkichlinejkichline Posts: 1,369member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AbsoluteDesignz View Post


    How is Siri original?



    Siri is original by being one of the best voice command systems and by adding a personality and ease of use. Other voice command systems have been available, but they are text to speech/speech to text and can issue simple commands or web searches. Siri integrates with the hardware/operating system and gives it mass appeal.
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  • Reply 132 of 180
    iqatedoiqatedo Posts: 1,846member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by majjo View Post


    Thats kind of how it works. Competition causes companies to leapfrog each other.



    Apple releases voice control

    Google responds with voice actions, increasing the functionality from voice control.

    Apple responds with Siri, increasing the functionality from voice actions

    Google responds with majel, increasing(hopefully) the functionality from Siri

    Apple responds with Siri v2.0 and so on and so forth.



    So i dont know what point youre trying to make with this.



    With respect however, that's not how it's working.



    Where's the improved iPad?



    Where's the improved compact notebook (MacBook Air class)?



    Where's the improvement on SIRI?



    (Fair enough, that last question is facetious... we'll await Majel to answer that Question!)



    "Majel, are you an improvement over SIRI?"



    "Of course I am, I am the original trekker!"
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  • Reply 133 of 180
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by SolipsismX View Post


    ...



    We also have this rumour tying it only to Google search whereas Apple ties it to very specific services on the internet that cater to specific tasks. On top of that, we have no knowledge of Google tying Mejel to the Android OS for tasks the way iOS 5.0 on the iPhone 4S does. These things are important.



    ...



    Google finds itself between a Majel and a hard place:



    1) if Google tightly integrates Majel into into Android and various cloud/web services (ala Siri) it defeats the raison d'être of Android -- to serve ads to mobile users.



    2) If Google doesn't do the above, then it is just another limited-use voice command system -- and Android becomes a less-useful mobile OS.



    ...To paraphrase Eric: "If you don't know what you want/need to do -- perhaps you shouldn't be doing it!"



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  • Reply 134 of 180
    john.bjohn.b Posts: 2,742member
    Is there anything Google won't copy and put their brand name on?



    Anything?



    <crickets>
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  • Reply 135 of 180
    gatorguygatorguy Posts: 24,769member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by SolipsismX View Post


    I understand feature progression, but you still fail to understand that Siri is more than voice control otherwise you wouldn't have written what you wrote or tried to backpedal your way out of it.



    Geesh. . .

    It started with voice control. The next upgrade should make it more than that, tho your voice will still be required.



    I think sometimes you make believe you don't understand so that you have something to talk about. You're a lot smarter and more capable of understanding what's said vs. the literal words used than you're making yourself out to be.



    If memory serves me right I think it was the "old" Solipsism that I had already mentioned the upcoming Google voice features update to several weeks back.
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  • Reply 136 of 180
    Phandroids just don't get it, and recent articles showing what a mess Android apps are kinda proves the point.



    It's not what you implement, it's how you implement it.



    It's no good coming up with feature lists of things if you don't bother actually using it, and using it comes down to the good old User Interface (latterly called the User Experience). If the UI is rubbish, then it doesn't matter how good the product is, people won't like it. And Google have no idea about UI.



    In fact, has anyone been a long term user over Keyhole and Google Earth? Used Google Earth for the first time in a long time, and the interface has actually gone backwards. Instead of controls that Keyhole came up with that were easy, they've changed something. Navigating the 3D aspect of Google Earth is now horrible.



    So I worry that not only do Google not understand UI, they are actually going a bit backwards these days in some areas.
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  • Reply 137 of 180
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Gatorguy View Post


    Geesh. . .

    It started with voice control. The next upgrade should make it more than that, tho your voice will still be required.



    I think sometimes you make believe you don't understand so that you have something to talk about. You're a lot smarter and more capable of understanding what's said vs. the literal words used than you're making yourself out to be.



    If memory serves me right I think it was the "old" Solipsism that I had already mentioned the upcoming Google voice features update to several weeks back.



    You are being deliberately? obtuse. Voice recognition is only the front end -- it's what they do with the voice after it is translated into text, analyzed for meaning and context... then determining what needs to be done and, finally doing it.



    Comparing voice control to what Siri does is analogous to saying "anyone who can type is an author".
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  • Reply 138 of 180
    gatorguygatorguy Posts: 24,769member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Dick Applebaum View Post


    You are being deliberately? obtuse. Voice recognition is only the front end -- it's what they do with the voice after it is translated into text, analyzed for meaning and context... then determining what needs to be done and, finally doing it.



    Comparing voice control to what Siri does is analogous to saying "anyone who can type is a writer".



    OMG. . .

    Rather than accuse you of being obtuse, I'll repeat: Voice control came before Siri, Google Voice actions etc. Everything that has and will follow started there and is a part of what makes Siri/Voice Actions/Majel or whatever work. Natural voice services build on voice control. Thus saying Google has been working on voice control (which the normal reader understands as voice features but whatever) for years is absolutely true, and the next update will improve and enhance existing voice features is again absolutely true. Baby steps. . .



    It'a may be a slow day and looking for some way to find a technical snippet of a post to disagree with must be some members way of filling it.
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  • Reply 139 of 180
    I thought Google claimed that the voice assistant currently in Android was already up to snuff.



    Guess not.
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  • Reply 140 of 180
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Gatorguy View Post


    OMG. . .

    Rather than accuse you of being obtuse, I'll repeat: Voice control came before Siri, Google Voice actions etc. Everything that has and will follow started there and is a part of what makes Siri/Voice Actions/Majel or whatever work. Natural voice services build on voice control. Thus saying Google has been working on voice control (which the normal reader understands as voice features but whatever) for years is absolutely true, and the next update will improve and enhance existing voice features is again absolutely true. Baby steps. . .



    It'a may be a slow day and looking for some way to find a technical snippet of a post to disagree with must be some members way of filling it.



    Do you think that Google will implement their mobile voice actions in such a way to avoid presenting search results and ads where possible?
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