When
Google Navigation hit the scene, it
sounded the death knell for paid GPS on Android, so you can imagine the doom and gloom at Vlingo HQ last week when Google released the similar
Voice Actions for free. As it turns out, however, Vlingo's not going to give up that easily; Vlingo for Android, once a $10 download, is now free as well. In a surprisingly gracious blog post that genuinely congratulates Google on the accomplishment, CEO Dave Grannan explains that he wants Android users to be able to freely compare the services as Vlingo adds features further down the road, and makes one valid point in his firm's favor -- you can try Vlingo now if you've got Android 2.0 or above, but Google's service only runs on
Froyo. Interestingly enough, Vlingo on Android was the only version that actually charged; on Nokia, Blackberry and Windows Mobile, however, you could purchase a "Plus" license. Perhaps the company's not
quite as generous as we thought, but there's still no arguing with a free voice command service that also reads your email aloud -- go ahead and give it a try.
posted August 15th 2010 3:08PM
Looking forward to comparing the two. I really like google voice recognition though.
Bow to the 'droid, biznitches... soon Steve will too. give it maybe... 9 months.
@MisterWarmth
Steve's device (iPhone) can already do this, as a matter of a fact, turn on voiceover (I use the click home button 3 times method), and it can read your email by double tapping with two fingers (or ready anything else for that matter, including ebooks). Or, use Siri, or use google search voice recognition, or use the built in iPhone one (bit lacking but still works well for dialing and ipod functions) by holding down the home button.
@MisterWarmth
Steve lives in his own world where everything is covered in glossy glass and his dreams are magic.
@ISEPIC
Who do you think made that? It was Google. Apple didn't do shit.
@ISEPIC
Android users don't want to hear that kind of talk. ;)
@deliteguy
I had the google one before just trying Vlingo today.... Vlingo seems to do recognition a bit better for me. But I dont think I can use Vlingo with my SwiftKey keyboard. Vlingo appears to have its own keyboard.
@Drybones5 Steve can have all the magic dreams he wants, he still had to cut in line for a liver.
What is this? Droid first iPhone second??
@MoonWalkerCTE That notification bar looks like the stock Android one. At least Photoshop the right UI Vlingo! On a relevent note, Vlingo does a great job and is free and works on 2.1, so it's a great option. I will use both( I'm rooted with Frogurt) and be content with the "magic" of choice.
At least Vlingo is available everywhere. Voice actions/search doesn't exist in several countries such as Switzerland.
@MisterWarmth i think you are obsess with Steve .. that post has nothing to do with him ... maybe you like him ...
@MisterWarmth
You are one sick fuck.
@Drybones5
Actually, Google didn’t do shit - they just bought the companies. At least Apple created VoiceOver; the accessibility features in iOS have no equal on any other mobile platform. You just really don’t know what the hell you’re blathering about, do you?
@bonesb
Wait...you're saying its better to try to build your own software from scratch by hiring away talent from these companies than it is to just buy the company and integrate their genius into the bigger picture? Which one rewards the talent more? Why do you want a company that doesn't have a clue about voice recognition to design voice recognition software?
@MoonWalkerCTE
Must surely sting all those iFans who always rambled on and on about how many iphones sold in 1 day.
LOL
@bonesb :
On the contrary Apple buys/pays companies for technology more than any other company. They don't even shit on their own. They acquired their Multi-Touch tech by buying out a Finnish company (don't remember the name) which went bankrupt after they failed to sell their tech due to certain technical defects. The first gen iPhone had same problems because of which abruptly, a strip of display completely lost touch sensitivity. Also almost all their hardware is manufactured by other companies. They aquired intrinsity for their SoC's and even the much hyped Retina Display is not made by them. Acquiring IP by licensing/ purchasing or even buying out companies is common sense. There is no need to re-invent the wheel. Don't forget that Apple is no longer a core technology company. They are more of a Electronics Appliances company like your Refrigerator or Washing Machine Manufacturer that concentrate on making the appliances.
Voice is superior
Nokia has also had voice commands for a long time.
Might be part of the reason Vlingo has been free on Nokia at least?
@Rev
Correct. It's nice to see these new 'super' operating systems catch up though.
This is why I love Android, the option to replace existing services with 3rd party.
@Concept Artist
Well I think that only feature phones and iPhone do not allow such things though =)
@Rev Vlingo came out for the iPhone first.....
(Womp womp womp wooooooooooomp)
Notice the order in which the phones are portrayed. App development needs to follow suit when developing.
Don't worry, since the order in the photo is in line with daily activations and who's doing more than whom, app development will fall right in line.
@Dwillycom
I would rather that developers develop for all platforms at once. That way, we can all just get along. Stop the mobile OS hatin'.
@Dwillycom
Good thing you don't rule the world, then. What a dumb and selfish thing to say.
Aw c'mon, make the iPhone version free too. Dragon Dictations cool, but Vlingo is much better for texting/emailing via voice.
Lucky Androids.
@kaynnn or wait...is it the full app with text/email thats free? Or do you still have to buy that as an extra add on like on the iPhone?
@kaynnn
The full app is free.
I love my iPhone 4 to death, but the Voice Recognition on it is totally useless.
Me: "Dial Jennier Stubbs."
iPhone: "Playing The Rolling Stones."
Cue music I don't want.
The only time I pull out my iPhone Voice Recognition feature is when I want to give my friends a good laugh. (Sigh)
@Mishka
I've yet to see a good implementation on any phone though.
Google didn't give their voice recognition more than 70% accuracy either, which I would consider still way too low.
http://moconews.net/article/419-google-launches-voice-actions-for-android/
Even 98% accuracy could still mean one wrong command in 20. Hope they can improve it over time. Then we can get to the bigger problem of languages other than english.
@Mishka Now that's funny. lol.
@fingers haha i was going to say...
@Mishka i doubt very that you have an IPhone
It's ALWAYS a good time to listen to the Stones.
Your iPhone is just trying to help you rock out!
@fingers
I was thinking about word based accuracy but you are right, 70 percent is doesn't make any sense other than as command based accuracy.
@fingers
The point was this (also the reason why we still aren't simply dictating these posts to computers)...
Say average command is two to three words and we would have 98 percent word accuracy. With that, a 2 word command would have a success rate of about 0.96 and 3 words a rate of bit over 0.94. Thus average rate would be one fail in 20.
This is the biggest problem with voice recognition. Say you were dictating a ten word sentence. The probability to get it completely right would drop down to about 82 percent.
one more reason for developers to run away from android.
@anyop Haha a troll, yeah that thinking makes sense
@anyop No, its called don't develop dumb apps that are probably going to become available for free anyway. More outside the box thinking, mkay?
@MisterWarmth
So, don't develop any productive or useful apps, since Google will just come along and release it for free? Great way to promote app development for the future.
@MisterWarmth
Wholeheartedly agree... Like Google did with the Nexus One, its setting the bar. Dont make crap apps and charge for them. How about being creative and making worthy apps that offer more than their free counterparts...? Common sense really.
@anyop
So you're against competition, gotcha.
Vlingo's recognition of My voice has been much better than Google's implementation. I like the UI better as well, but both seem pretty good... Soon enough, Google will find a way to make it stand out over the competition, though.
@Dellibedaboss Probably though full native gingerbread recognition, so that it works in all applications. Like the one thing that Android's voice command system is missing its application commands. Like I can't say "open Mog", and have Mog open, let alone use the voice commands to find a song using mog. That's the future of voice, and if its going to be a race between Vlingo and Google to get there first, I'm pretty sure that Google's going to make it before Vlingo can.
WAIT... it does that already, albeit not all apps. Well, thought so... Lingo opened my calendar and voice actions did a Google search for the term.. =/ Not perfect, but it wass just released... I expect an overhaul by Gingerbread's release.
The point and great thing about Voice actions is that 3rd party apps can tie in and in the feature eventually even extend the voice commands.
A snippet of the recent Last.fm app changelog as example:
• Additional voice commands for Froyo users: "Listen to my library," "Listen to my recommendations," "Listen to my loved tracks," and "Listen to my neighborhood"
i love free stuff
Freeware will kill developers and they will abandon Android development. Who wants to spend time developing for an OS that will undercut you. No one can make a living or innovate without putting food on the table.
Android will be for the "me-free" generation. The generation that thinks the world owes them something for nothing.