DigitalAssistant
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Microsoft patent suggests you inhale whisper to your voice assistants
While voice assistants have grown in popularity over recent years, many people still hesitate to use them in public spaces, and that's a problem Microsoft is looking to tackle. In a patent filing, the company notes that for a number of reasons -- not wanting to disturb those nearby, not wanting to share private information around strangers -- people often avoid issuing voice commands when in public. "Although performance of voice input has been greatly improved, the voice input is still rarely used in public spaces, such as office or even homes," says the patent filing. "These are not technical issues but social issues. Hence there is no easy fix even if voice recognition system performance is greatly improved."
Amazon's Echo Input offers Alexa for your existing speakers
The latest gadget Amazon is shoehorning Alexa into is an audio dongle called the Echo Input. The $34.99 media bridge has line inputs, Bluetooth and a far-field mic. Think of it like a combo Chromecast Audio and Google Home Mini, but without the speaker and sold by Amazon versus Google and you've got the basic gist.
BMW will release its in-car voice-controlled assistant next year
BMW unveiled its Intelligent Personal Assistant at TechCrunch Disrupt today, which will give drivers voice control over their vehicle's settings, alert them to issues and let them check in on their car's health. It's scheduled to roll out in March of next year to all BMW models with the new BMW Operating System 7.0. "The always on-call technology platform is an intelligent, digital character that responds to the prompt 'Hey BMW' and has the ability to serve the driver in a range of ways from controlling vehicle settings, navigation and entertainment systems to explaining vehicle functions and even conducting a conversation," said BMW.
Bose's new smart speaker and soundbars offer Alexa control
Voice assistants don't seem to be going anywhere. If anything, they're becoming more and more ubiquitous. Case in point: Bose's new line of soundbars and speakers with Alexa and other smarts built in. Out of the box, the Home Speaker 500, Soundbar 500 and Soundbar 700 will react when you start shouting commands at Amazon's digital assistant this October. Bose promises that other voice assistants will follow at some ambiguous point, and early next year there will be an update that adds AirPlay 2 streaming.
Bixby still isn’t smart enough for a speaker
As it gears up to move into a new home (a Galaxy Home, to be specific), Bixby is far from ready. Samsung's digital assistant has become infamous for its tardiness, and even after showing up late to the AI party, Bixby doesn't have much to show for the extra time. It's not smarter than the rest and doesn't offer any new tricks, even in the recently announced Galaxy Home, other than perhaps better sound quality. As much as I'm excited about Samsung potentially giving Amazon, Google and Apple some competition in the smart speaker space, I'm pretty sure they have nothing to worry about, if my time with Bixby on the Note 9 is any indication.
Bixby will start collecting sports scores and news next month
Bixby Home is getting smarter. Well, in the sense that now in the US, Samsung's virtual assistant will offer sports scores and up-to-the-minute news coverage through a partnership with theScore. Swiping right on "select" Galaxy device home-screens including the S9 and S9 Plus gives access to the stats and news. To make the feature a little more useful, you can even follow your favorite teams and leagues so only the news that matters to you will show up.
Apple's Shortcuts app lets Siri do everything
It's no secret that Apple's virtual assistant, Siri, doesn't have the best reputation -- especially when you compare it to Google's incredibly smart counterpart. But, the company has been working hard recently to make Siri more useful for those of you with an iOS or Mac device. And today, Apple announced that Siri is getting smarter thanks to a new app called Shortcuts, which will let you build your own commands with any application. With the Tile app, for example, you can say "Hey Siri, I lost my keys," and that will then alert the tiny gadget attached to your keys.
Bank of America's AI assistant is ready to help with your finances
We've been expecting voice-powered virtual assistants in financial apps for a while now — Bank of America started developing its own back in 2016. Dubbed Erica, the virtual assistant is now ready to roll out to the bank's 25 million mobile clients across the US, from now through June of this year.
Alexa and Cortana finally team up in limited beta
Last year, Amazon and Microsoft announced that their digital assistants would soon be able to communicate and work each other. Initially, the companies said users would have access to these more integrated assistants by the end of 2017. That didn't happen, but today during Build 2018, Microsoft gave a demo of how Cortana and Alexa can work in conjunction and it looks like users will get access to these abilities in the near future.
Microsoft's Cortana AI can connect to your Gmail
Microsoft's Cortana refuses to sit idly by as Amazon's Alexa hogs all the skills. Even though the two digital helpers are best buds (by way of their upcoming partnership), Cortana is feeling competitive. The AI can now connect to your Gmail account via Windows 10, allowing it to access multiple calendars, contacts, and -- of course -- mail, as spotted by Windows Central.
Google Home can now do two things at the same time
Google Assistant on your Google Home is going to get a lot more useful this week. The AI butler has recently been updated to support commands that have up to two conditions. Meaning, now you can tell your smart speaker to do things like the bump the temperature in your kids' room and start playing Slayer's "South of Heaven" in there as a lullaby. Or, if you'd rather set the mood in your living room rather than give your offspring nightmares, you could ask Assistant to dim the smart lights and start streaming something from Google Play on your TV. CNET notes that making a query with more than a pair of requests doesn't work.
Google Assistant's latest feature is a male voice
Ahead of its Pixel 2 event, Google has quietly added a new voice to Google Assistant. The AI, which can be found on Google Home and the company's handsets, no longer skews female. As spotted by Android Police, Assistant now also boasts a male option. Fittingly, Google has bestowed the impersonal, robotic voice with the nondescript title: "Voice II." To switch to the new intonation (probably in US English only), select settings on your phone Assistant or the Google Home app. The voice options can then be found in preferences, under "assistant voice."
Google wants its Assistant to be your personal translator
Two of the biggest digital assistants are taking different pathways to find more users. Amazon recently made its intentions clear: It wants to play nice with its rivals. And so we're getting Microsoft Cortana integration with Alexa, and vice versa. That's on top of the thousands of third-party skills Amazon's AI already has. Google, on the other hand, is focussing on making its tech more self-reliant. Judging by its latest demonstration, its efforts are paying off. The company just unveiled a bunch of impressive features at a Google Developer Days keynote. They indicate that Google Assistant now possesses better contextual awareness. Not only will it be able to answer some of your vaguest questions, but it will also come in handy on your travels.
Alexa and Cortana will soon work with each other
Amazon and Microsoft are integrating their digital assistants. Alexa and Cortana will soon be able to communicate with each other, allowing users of one AI to benefit from the other's skills. In the near future, summoning the AI helpers will be as easy as saying "Alexa, open Cortana," or "Cortana, open Alexa." That may sound like an odd fit now, but both Amazon and Microsoft are convinced of its perks.
Use Google Home to stream CBS All Access to your TV
You can already use your voice to control your Spotify account with Google Home. The connected speaker also works with Chromecast as a sort of voice-enabled remote control for Netflix. Now Google Home can do the same thing with your CBS All Access and CW TV accounts. Which means, of course, that you can use your voice to watch the upcoming Star Trek Discovery or the latest episode of The Flash with Chromecast built-in.
Apple is using AI to make Siri smarter
Apple may have started the digital assistant craze with Siri, but it's largely been playing catch-up lately, specifically to Google and Mountain View's own Assistant. Now Apple's helper has more-expressive voices (both male and female, English and British) and in-app translation features. More than that, Siri can act as a task manager of sorts, offering access to banking in the Citi Mobile app or, for whatever reason, a QR code in WeChat.
WSJ: Bixby Voice won't debut on Galaxy S8 until late June
To hear Samsung's Galaxy S8 ad campaign tell it, the company's Bixby digital assistant was already fully featured and ready to go at the handset's launch. The reality is quite a bit different, however. Bixby Voice, the would-be competitor to Siri and Google Assistant apparently won't be available until late next month, somewhat narrowing the "later this spring" timeframe from April. Wall Street Journal reports that the cause for tardiness has to do with how the assistant comprehends English syntax and grammar. To be fair, that's a sore spot for pretty much every artificial intelligence system at the moment.
Amazon taught Alexa to whisper sweet nothings in your ear
Soon enough, Amazon's Alexa will shout out your grocery list. That's assuming developers take advantage of the new language framework that Amazon has added to its digital assistant. The idea is that the Speech Synthesis Markup Language (SSML) will hopefully give Alexa more natural speaking patterns. Specifically, now Alexa is capable of whispering, bleeping out swear words and adding emphasis to a phrase in addition to changing volume, speed and pitch of its voice.
Alexa on Huawei's Mate 9 won't listen unless you press
When we first learned that Huawei planned to bring Amazon's Alexa to its Mate 9 flagship, there weren't many details on what the execution would look like. All we really knew was that it would be rolling out via a software update to the phone, and that its availability would be limited. Today, Huawei has revealed just how the integration will work. Sadly, parts of this implementation don't make sense, with the most disappointing piece being that you have to press your phone at least once before you can talk to Alexa. That basically defeats the point of even having a voice assistant.
Line is building its own digital assistant called Clova
Japanese-based messaging app Line is wildly popular in other parts of the world and the company has even expanded from a simple chat app to a full-service mobile carrier. According to a new report from the Financial Times, Line is branching out again and developing its own digital assistant called Clova to compete with the likes of Alexa and Google Assistant, complete with its own line of smart speakers.
