WatsonSpeechApi
Latest
QNX's Watson-connected Porsche 911, hands-on (video)
Remember that QNX-loaded Porsche 911 we sat down with (in?) at CES? Well, it's back and it learned a few new tricks en route to New Amsterdam York City. The car-friendly software company got its hooks into AT&T's Watson Speech API and used it to power a new voice-command system for it's own take on the "virtual assistant." Using the new speech recognition tool and Ma Bell's LTE network QNX was able to pull up websites, find a Starbucks (though, in New York City you'd have to be blind to not find one) and place calls. All in all, the demo wasn't too different from what we saw in Vegas in January -- in fact, we wouldn't be surprised to find out that Porsche was also utilizing Watson, long before it was announced. For a familiar, but still interesting demo, check out the video after the break.
AT&T Translator app hands-on: smashing the language barrier (video)
Translation apps aren't exactly the newest or sexiest thing in the world of technology, but we've got to hand it to AT&T for whipping up a rather impressive demo. The company showed off a next-gen version of its AT&T Translator app, which may one day allow people to communicate in real time regardless of their spoken language. The app uses the carrier's new Watson Speech API, in this case via a VoIP call on a pair of iPads, to not only transcribe dialog, but translate it from English to Spanish (and vice-versa), then play it back in the target tongue using a computer generated voice. This isn't like the Google Translate app on your phone -- the translation happens in near real time, with only a slight latency as your words are fed through the system. The demo wasn't without its hitches (the room was noisy and filled with bloggers totting wireless devices), but it went more or less as planned, and our gracious hosts were able to complete a call requesting a taxi cab. One day AT&T hopes to make this a standard feature of its services, eliminating the language barrier once and for all. To see the app in action check out the video after the break.
