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Intelligent personal assistant Cue adds support for iPhone calendars, iOS 6
One thing that stands out in our modern digital age is the sheer volume of information that we must process. There is so much information coming at us from our calendars, emails and social feeds that it seems like we have information everywhere -- and never where we want it to be. This information overload is one reason why Cue piqued my interest when it recently launched the latest version of its iPhone app. Cue is a startup that lets you organize information across many of your online accounts. Originally launched as Greplin, it started off as a way to search through your personal information, but the company realized early on that it could do more than just regurgitate your calendar entries. Now the service indexes all your incoming information, parses it for important snippets and intelligently ties it together. When you look at a meeting on your calendar in Cue, you can see the contact information for the people attending the meeting, any associated emails about the meeting and the necessary contact information from your address book. The latest version of the Cue app lets you view all the events from your iPhone calendar and gives you additional control over which calendars show up on your Cue. As someone who uses multiple calendars, this is a welcome improvement. Cue has also been updated to support all versions of iOS, including the upcoming iOS 6. The Cue: Know What's Next app is free and syncs information from several online services including Gmail, Google Docs, Google Calendar, iPhone Calendars, Yahoo Mail, AOL Mail, iCloud Mail, Dropbox, Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. Premium account holders who pay $50 a year or $5 monthly for the service can also add in their Evernote, Salesforce, Yammer, Basecamp, Reddit, Pinboard, Delicious, Tumblr and Google Reader accounts. That is a lot of information indexed in one place and available at your finger tips. If you enjoy being on the cutting edge of technology, then you should check out Cue. I talked with founder Daniel Gross and he said the company has big plans to expand its scope beyond contacts, calendars and files. The company has been building the infrastructure to process a large amount of incoming data and now it is signing third-party agreements that will let you track other information like order statuses and travel reservations from within the iPhone and web app. Backed by Sequoia Capital and other angel investors, Cue has a shot at making a dent in the fledgling personal assistant market. With services like Cue, Siri and Google Now, this is going to be an area of explosive growth in coming years.
Voice Answer updated with more features for people locked out of Siri
Owners of the Apple iPad 1 and 2 won't get Siri on iOS 6 when it ships. Neither will those who use an iPhone older than the 4S. That leaves people looking for alternatives, and fortunately there are a few. I took a look at Evi some months back, and now newcomer Voice Answer, which is US$3.99 in the App Store. It runs on any iOS device with iOS 4.3 or greater installed. The new version, just released, adds voice messaging, email dictation and calling from the iPhone contact list. The app can translate into 54 languages, update Facebook and publish Tweets. It also can set reminders, but not through the iOS Reminders app. Instead, it goes on your calendar and adds an alert, which is fine. Despite the improvements, Voice Answer just doesn't seem as sharp as Siri. In my last review I asked the app for driving directions to Phoenix, and got a "Your question is not clear to me" response. I tried with the new version and got, "I do not understand, sorry." Voice Answer did find the nearest golf courses, something the older version could not do. While the app says it can make calls from your contacts, that didn't work very well in my tests. When I asked the app to call my friend John (I gave the first and last name) it gave me a list of every John in my contact list, none of which had a similar sounding last name. Another 2 points for Siri. Sending email had some of the same problems as calling someone. I would give Voice Answer a unique name, and it asked me to rephrase the query. This new version has an articulated animated robot on screen, which is where you direct your questions. I found the experience a bit creepy and the look of the robot was kind of grotesque. Thankfully, you can opt for the older, Siri-like GUI and turn the robot animation off. Despite the less than perfect recognition, I think Voice Answer is a credible substitute for people who can't get Siri. Sure, it has some rough edges, but so does Siri, which remains in beta. If you need a quick check on the weather, or a web search, or information on a variety of subjects, Voice Answer does very well. It seems to trip up on the newer features, like calling and messaging, but I'm hoping those things will improve over time.
Siri lends a hand via your Bluetooth-enabled car stereo, reminds you to buy milk (video)
Sure, we've seen Siri used to do a host of things, including controlling the temperature in a hacker's home. But the folks over at Autoblog were curious to know just how well the virtual assistant would work with Bluetooth-enabled car stereos. Once your iPhone 4S is properly tethered, holding down the handset's home button will activate Siri. Treating her as an incoming call, your Notorious B.I.G. playlist will pause before the ready-for-command chime sounds. The in-car assistant was tested on two Mercedes-Benz automobiles, a Chrysler 300, a Dodge Charger and a Nissan Maxima, with the Maxima showcasing the best results. It comes as no surprise that mic placement on each stereo and in-cabin background noise provided a noticeable difference in Siri's listening abilities during the test. For a glimpse of the action before trying it out yourself, hit the video just past the break.
Developer creates proxy server for Siri, controls thermostat with his voice (video)
Now that Siri's protocol has been freshly dissected and laid bare for the world to behold, hackers have been busy finding ways to move Apple's personal assistant beyond the realm of the iPhone 4S. That task may be getting easier, however, now that a developer has created his very own third-party proxy server, designed specifically for Siri. The dev, known by his Twitter handle @plamoni, demonstrated his brainchild in a recent video clip, using a plug-in to control a WiFi thermostat with only voice commands. As @plamoni explains, the hack won't require users to jailbreak their iPhone 4S, but it won't let them port Siri over to earlier iPhones or iPod Touch models, either -- not yet, at least. The idea, according to the developer, is to make it easier for other hackers to experiment with and build upon Siri's functionality. Head past the break to see the demo video for yourself, or if you're up for it, grab the source code and instructions on how to create your own server, at the source link below. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Switched On: As Siri gets serious
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. Nearly 15 years passed between Apple's first foray into handheld electronics -- the Newton MessagePad -- and the far more successful iPhone. But while phones have replaced PDAs for all intents and purposes, few if any have tried to be what Newton really aspired to -- an intelligent assistant that would seamlessly blend into your life. That has changed with Siri, the standout feature of iOS 5 on the iPhone 4S, which could aptly be described as a "personal digital assistant" if there weren't so much baggage tied to that term. Siri is far more than parlor entertainment or a simple leapfrogging the voice control support in Android and Windows Phone. At the other end of the potential spectrum, Siri may not be a new platform in itself (although at this point Apple has somewhat sandboxed the experience). In any case, though, Siri certainly paves the way for voice as an important component for a rich multi-input digital experience. It steps toward the life-management set of functionality that the bow-tied agent immortalized in Apple's 1987 Knowledge Navigator video could achieve.
Voice Brief for iPhone is updated with some welcome new features
I first reviewed Voice Brief in March. The app uses a synthesized voice to read your email, Twitter feed, Facebook, the current weather, stock prices you follow and some RSS feeds that you choose. I liked the app and said it had great potential but needed some updated features. Today it has some of those new features, and they are worthwhile improvements.The new version integrates with your alarm clock, so it can wake you up to the latest news and weather. It supports Google Reader and improves linking with RSS feeds. It now allows integration with multiple calendars and allows a musical selection to function as a bridge between topics. There are also some bug fixes that should make the app more stable, although I didn't find any issues with the original version. Voice Brief is not a small app. It weighs in at 271 MB because all the voice files are on your iPhone. The next update will add a fresh GUI and improved mail account support. The current version only supports Apple's built-in mail and Gmail. I always thought Voice Brief would be great if it was combined with the Siri app, which has powerful search and speech recognition, but it doesn't talk. Apple has bought Siri, and it's likely to be part of the iPhone OS at some point in the future, so I expect lots of upgrades. Voice Brief is US$3.99 in the App Store, and you can see a video of the app in action here.
Robovie R3 all set to assist, freak out elderly and handicapped shoppers this November (video)
The Robovie R3 is the latest in a distinguished line of humanoid bots developed for the purposes of research, discovery, and (a tiny bit of) geeky fun. Following its predecessor's footsteps -- the R2 secured employment as a guide to lost shoppers -- the R3 will be making its mall debut in November of this year, where it'll assist people by carrying their shopping, providing information about nearby products, and holding their hand as it guides them through the crowds. Intended as a way to get elderly and handicapped people back out into the community, this is part of a viability study for the robot's usefulness, and if it finds success maybe its anime eyes and dalek form factor will find their way outside Japan as well. Video of the R3 after the break.
Robosoft Kompai takes care of your elderly so you don't have to (video)
This one has been quite a long time in coming, but Robosoft's service drone has finally made it off the drawing board, collected a catchy name, and headed off to the big world to seek its fortune as an R&D platform. Kompai is a personal assistance bot built around speech -- it understands basic instructions and requests and offers appropriate responses with its own monotonic style. It'll serve as a note and shopping list recorder, a calendar, a music player, or a video conferencing tool for when old grandpappy needs to call his doctor. If you think having a programmable hunk of mobile metal that's permanently connected to the net in your house is a good idea, look out for OEMs picking up the design during the Intercompany Long Term Care Insurance Conference taking place next week. And if you just wanna see a bug-eyed bot talk to an old dude, click past the break for the video. [Thanks, Erico]
MIT's Affective Intelligent Driving Agent is KITT and Clippy's lovechild (video)
If we've said it once, we've said it a thousand times, stop trying to make robots into "friendly companions!" MIT must have some hubris stuck in its ears, as its labs are back at it with what looks like Clippy gone 3D, with an extra dash of Knight Rider-inspired personality. What we're talking about here is a dashboard-mounted AI system that collects environmental data, such as local events, traffic and gas stations, and combines it with a careful analysis of your driving habits and style to make helpful suggestions and note points of interest. By careful analysis we mean it snoops on your every move, and by helpful suggestions we mean it probably nags you to death (its own death). Then again, the thing's been designed to communicate with those big Audi eyes, making even our hardened hearts warm just a little. Video after the break. %Gallery-76874%
White Box Robotics' 914 PC-BOT on the loose
It's been a long seven years for the folks at White Box Robotics, but it appears that the company is all but ready to start pushing a limited production lineup of 914 PC-BOTs out the door. While a past interview with White Box's CEO showed (false) promise of seeing shipments in 2005, an official pre-order page typically means business. Those anxious to get their hands on a maid that won't demand a raise once or twice annually will be forced to pay substantially more than the company's target price (which seems to vary from time to time), but will receive a 55-pound motorized personal assistant reminiscent of R2D2 that comes prepped and ready to learn. The 21-inch tall 'bot sports a differential drive train with independent front suspension, two DC "stepper" motors, dual M2-ATX PSUs with automatic battery monitoring and auto-shutoff, head-mounted webcam, eight integrated IR sensors, an IO board rocking a myriad of control inputs, a VIA motherboard, 1GB of RAM, 40GB 2.5-inch SATA drive, DVD burner, WiFi, Windows XP Home, and most importantly, PC-BOT software (code name "Brian") to get those wheels moving in the right direction. The company boldly claims its robotic companion can do "anything you want it to do" -- so long as you can program it -- and should begin shipping "anytime" for around $5,000 (or $5,599.99 for the mounties in Canada).[Via GoRobotics]
