Apple exploring improved, contextual voice commands for iPhone

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Comments

  • Reply 21 of 36
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by fecklesstechguy View Post


    ...Your cloud is not available. Clouding is nice as long as you have robust access, marginalized connectivity or interruptions in service immediately disable your lovely command controls. Google is set-up to provide fairly robust cloud services and we will see more capacity as they build out support for the Chrome OS, but ask any BB user what happens when the cloud is offline and you get the drift.



    The most recent update to the Android Voice Search app (just released yesterday) had further improvements for EDGE and other high-latency, low-bandwidth connections.



    Further, if the network is down, I suspect the user is going to be more upset about not being able to check email, news, weather, youtube, facebook, twitter, etc, rather than voice commands suddenly not working. At least I would be.
  • Reply 22 of 36
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by SockRolid View Post


    Mac OS had speech recognition long before Google even existed.



    The issue is not who had a feature first. Google has done a better job integrating voice input into Android than Apple has for iOS. On Android, any text box (except password fields) in any app can receive voice input. This currently isn't the case on iOS. It's possible that that will change in the future, but for now, Android has better integration.
  • Reply 23 of 36
    r00fusr00fus Posts: 245member
    I would simply like the existing command set to be expanded.



    Additions I'd love and that should be simple:

    "Redial" -- this would be awesome when dealing with the crappy AT&T network

    "Call last caller" -- analogue to above, works on last incoming call

    "Time" -- tell me the time

    "Artist playing" -- tell me info on the song that's playing



    All of these would prevent me having to reach into my bag/holster to get the phone to find out that information, and tie in with only Apple's apps (iPod/Phone).



    If they really want to expand voice controls, they could allow voice to do things like:

    "Open App _____ " -- launch a given app

    "Text ____ " -- send SMS to a given contact (using mobile/iPhone number) - copy of Android functionality

    ...



    I'd be happy with the first list.
  • Reply 24 of 36
    r00fusr00fus Posts: 245member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by SockRolid View Post


    Maybe that's why Google is hedging its bets with Chrome OS. Because they know Android is doomed.



    No, Android is the front against Apple.

    Chrome (both browser and OS) is the front against Microsoft.



    Both are disruptive plays against their biggest competitors.



    The Android suit will go on for a decade or more, in the meanwhile the market will decide if Android is worth it, or not (I'm sure the carriers love it compared to even WP7). I think Android is far from doomed, but it may not be the world domination as previously forecasted from the Googleplex.
  • Reply 25 of 36
    Well, one of them currently exists:

    Ask your iPhone "What time is it?"



    You should be pleasantly surprised.

    Merry Christmas.

    :d





    Quote:
    Originally Posted by r00fus View Post


    I would simply like the existing command set to be expanded.



    Additions I'd love and that should be simple:

    "Redial" -- this would be awesome when dealing with the crappy AT&T network

    "Call last caller" -- analogue to above, works on last incoming call

    "Time" -- tell me the time

    "Artist playing" -- tell me info on the song that's playing



    All of these would prevent me having to reach into my bag/holster to get the phone to find out that information, and tie in with only Apple's apps (iPod/Phone).



    If they really want to expand voice controls, they could allow voice to do things like:

    "Open App _____ " -- launch a given app

    "Text ____ " -- send SMS to a given contact (using mobile/iPhone number) - copy of Android functionality

    ...



    I'd be happy with the first list.



  • Reply 26 of 36
    t2aft2af Posts: 44member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by tjw View Post


    yes, a different type of voice commands that are interpreted with a shitty piece of local software and a dictionary.



    Google are the first people to make voice commands that are actually useful by sending recordings to be processed in the cloud by cutting edge NLP algorithms, something that is no where near possible on a local device.



    my wm5 was working with voice commands very well years before android even existed and without having to go to the cloud.



    I'll be the first to admit the iOS commands are crap, and googles are pretty amazing by comparison. This comparison is completely inverted however once your network drops out, or you are abroad and haven't got data so readily available.



    The purchase of Siri is for the AI only IFAIK and the speech recognition is supplied by Nuance, and i'm not sure they were brought as part of the deal. Even if they were .. this is now a cloud based solution which fails in low signal / foreign countries situations.



    As far as I'm concerned they both have major shortcomings until you have googles accuracy using local resources.



    this could help tho :

    http://www.newscientist.com/article/...-language.html
  • Reply 27 of 36
    tjwtjw Posts: 216member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by t2af View Post


    my wm5 was working with voice commands very well years before android even existed and without having to go to the cloud.



    I'll be the first to admit the iOS commands are crap, and googles are pretty amazing by comparison. This comparison is completely inverted however once your network drops out, or you are abroad and haven't got data so readily available.



    The purchase of Siri is for the AI only IFAIK and the speech recognition is supplied by Nuance, and i'm not sure they were brought as part of the deal. Even if they were .. this is now a cloud based solution which fails in low signal / foreign countries situations.



    As far as I'm concerned they both have major shortcomings until you have googles accuracy using local resources.



    this could help tho :

    http://www.newscientist.com/article/...-language.html



    Yes but this is an invalid argument since your smart phone is not 'smart' when you don't have a data connection anyway. You are not going to send an email or use navigation that requires data in those cases anyway, whether you have voice commands or not.
  • Reply 28 of 36
    tjwtjw Posts: 216member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by SockRolid View Post


    Mac OS had speech recognition long before Google even existed.



    Android is doomed because the Oracle lawsuit has merit and there is legal precedent. Clear violation of the Java license agreement by using a clone (Dalvik JVM) of the real JVM. If you're not 100% compliant, you're in violation. Period.



    Microsoft was forced to pay Sun $20 million as the result of a similar Java breach of contract lawsuit. And if you're hoping that Larry Ellison will settle out of court and allow Google to continue to ship a non-compliant version of Java on Android, think again. The language of the Oracle suit requires all Android software to be "impounded and destroyed."



    Maybe that's why Google is hedging its bets with Chrome OS. Because they know Android is doomed.



    native (read crappy) voice actions compared with googles method are completely different. The later is so much better it is a new product. It's like saying the person who invented the film camera should be credited with inventing the digital camera. Face it google are light years ahead of apple on this. Apple don't even have the infrastructure to pull it off.



    I have seen the details of the law suit but are you really stupid enough to think larry ellison, the famous competitive billionaire, would pay a huge amount of money in a law suit for no financial return - just to kill android.... You're pretty stupid if you believe this will kill android. It will end with a settlement of $millions for oracle to pocket. I don't think he is as deranged as some of you fan boys - i.e would happily pay a fortune just to close something down because you don't like it. His motivations are financial and a dislike of Eric Schmidt.
  • Reply 29 of 36
    jetzjetz Posts: 1,293member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by tjw View Post


    Yes but this is an invalid argument since your smart phone is not 'smart' when you don't have a data connection anyway. You are not going to send an email or use navigation that requires data in those cases anyway, whether you have voice commands or not.



    I disagree. I think t2af is right. Android's voice actions do have some lag. That's one issue that could be resolved by local processing. At the same time I doubt you could get Google's accuracy or the ability to do this in several languages accurately (given the pledge to provide this service in many more languages and given their focus on speech recognition and speech synthesis this won't be hard to pull off) without the cloud.
  • Reply 30 of 36
    jetzjetz Posts: 1,293member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by nbcbubba View Post


    What is everyone's experiences using the paid apps that do SMS and email via voice please?



    Works decently on Android. There are times it'll give you a false reading of your speech. But all in all for small day to day stuff, both voice actions and general text entry (Android enables speech to text for every textbox), works quite well. I rarely type long emails or SMS anymore. Anything more than the most basic sentence I do by speech. Same for any short SMS when I'm somewhat pre-occupied (like when driving).
  • Reply 31 of 36
    jetzjetz Posts: 1,293member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by fecklesstechguy View Post


    ...Your cloud is not available. Clouding is nice as long as you have robust access, marginalized connectivity or interruptions in service immediately disable your lovely command controls. Google is set-up to provide fairly robust cloud services and we will see more capacity as they build out support for the Chrome OS, but ask any BB user what happens when the cloud is offline and you get the drift. Or you forget to pay your cell bill, or a hurricane takes out a coverage area - how much do you want to have to rely on cloud when there are so many vulnerabilities? How about someone deciding a DDOS is in the works because they're pissed about something Google has done? The network infrastructure serving public use is not as robust as you need for reliable voice control to depend on. Now if you setup a tiered structure where simple commands are locally resident and more complex controls are clouded, then you at least retain some level of serviceability. And no Google are NOT the first people to make voice commands that are actually useful - please leave the hyperbole for the actual Android/Google fora, not here.





    I seriously doubt you'll be worried about not having voice commands on your phone if a Hurricane knocks out cellular coverage. And if you forget to pay your bill, how useful would your iPhone be anyway (even if it has voice commands processess natively). And then there's DDOS attacks against Google? Really? They survived the trained hackers of the Chinese government. I'll take my chances that they can protect a server that does voice commands. Talk about FUD....unpaid bills, hurricanes, DDOS attacks....when you going to bring up the locusts and the taking of the first-born?



    As for who did it first....who gives a rat's ass? Do you care whether Apple was the first to have a candybar touchscreen phone? Maybe you only buy Ford because Henry Ford made the first mass produced automobile? First does not mean best.
  • Reply 32 of 36
    enohpienohpi Posts: 103member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


    Apple could improve voice commands on the iPhone by making them contextualized, asking users to select, by hand, an application before dictating commands aloud.






    They might want to make Voice Command actually work before they make it contextualized.



    Just a suggestion.
  • Reply 33 of 36
    t2aft2af Posts: 44member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by tjw View Post


    Yes but this is an invalid argument since your smart phone is not 'smart' when you don't have a data connection anyway. You are not going to send an email or use navigation that requires data in those cases anyway, whether you have voice commands or not.



    ? calling someone using voice control

    ? adding items to a todo list



    just 2 that come to mind that have affected me recently.
  • Reply 34 of 36
    enohpienohpi Posts: 103member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by tjw View Post


    Shape of things to come I guess: apple playing catch up to google.





    Google also beat Apple to the punch with NFC. We might get that with the iP5, but I wouldn't hold my breath. It was rumored to be part of iP4, and we know that that did not happen.



    With cool new Google Phones coming out one after another, it will be very difficult for the iPhone to stay ahead of the pack. Impossible, really.



    But the iPhone has never been about having every available feature. The iPhone has a great user experience, even if it is not able to boast the tech in the Google Phones. It is easy to use, and that is the only thing that really matters.
  • Reply 35 of 36
    enohpienohpi Posts: 103member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by solipsism View Post


    How is that a ?voice command??



    The user employs his voice to issue commands.
  • Reply 36 of 36
    enohpienohpi Posts: 103member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Jetz View Post


    It'll be interesting to see how Apple implements voice commands.



    They already have. It is a standard feature on the iPhone. It remains unused due to poor performance.
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