VoiceCommands
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Chrysler taps Sprint for new Uconnect in-car data, wants always-on internet that's hands-off (video)
Interior technology is increasingly the main battlefield for automotive giants. We shouldn't be surprised, then, that Chrysler is bringing in some bigger guns for its Uconnect service through a team-up with Sprint. The carrier will integrate its cellular data into a Uconnect Access system where the source of pride is precisely how little Chrysler drivers will need to touch it: the two want voice commands that cut down the amount of involvement needed to plot a new course, change the music input or send a text message. Smartphones also get much more of a say in the matter this time around, providing remote control to open and ready the car before owners even set a foot inside. WiFi hotspot support carries on as well. Just be aware that you'll have to go big or go home to get an early taste of the new Uconnect -- it's available only in the 2013 model years of the Ram 1500 and SRT Viper for now, neither of which is especially gentle on the pocketbook. Update: It looks like the 2013 Dodge Dart R/T will also get the Uconnect goodies, which Sprint's press release neglected to mention. [Thanks, Nathan]
BlackBerry 10 gets voice commands in latest dev update (video)
Those lucky enough to have their hands on a BlackBerry 10 Dev Alpha device were treated to a nice little software update this week. While some were having trouble just getting it installed, others were able to fire it up pretty quick and found a nice surprise waiting for them -- voice controls. Hold down the play/pause button on the side and you'll be prompted to speak a command and offered a unified search interface. Sound familiar? It should, Android and iOS have both hopped on the speech recognition bandwagon, and its becoming an expected feature of a modern mobile OS. The fine folks over at N4BB were able to give the suspiciously familiar sounding virtual assistant a run through and, lets just say it's a bit rough around the edges. Of course, thanks to the limitations of the alpha quality software there wasn't much to actually test anyway. To see it in action check out the video after the break.
Apple sued by Shanghai firm for allegedly treading on patent with Siri, may say 'ni hao' in court
For all the heat it dishes out elsewhere in the world, Apple has had a hard time catching a break in China -- between having to settle with Proview over the iPad trademark and a recent, smaller dispute over Snow Leopard, it's been primarily on the defensive. The latest rear-guard action is in Shanghai, where Zhi Zhen Internet Technology claims that Siri's voice command charms infringe on a patent used for the Xiao i Robot voice system on phones and the web. We're just hearing about the lawsuit now, but Zhi Zhen insists that it's been long in the making with accusations filed in June and a patent application dating all the way back to 2004. Apple is characteristically silent on how it will tackle the case. We suspect it'll be more than a little eager to fight back in court: in addition to the lawsuit presenting a very conspicuous roadblock to bringing Siri to China with iOS 6, it comes from a company that hasn't been shy about plastering the Siri icon all over its home page.
Microsoft job posting hints at Connected Car strategy: Azure, Kinect and WP8
Redmond seems to have more grandiose ideas for Connected Car than it's let on before, judging from a recent help wanted ad on its site. Reading more like PR for its car-based plans, the job notice waxes poetically about using "the full power of the Microsoft ecosystem" in an upcoming auto platform with tech such as Kinect, Azure, Windows 8 and Windows Phone. Those products would use face-tracking, speech and gestures to learn your driving habits and safely guide or entertain you on the road, according to the software engineer listing. It also hints that everything would be tied together using Azure's cloud platform, so that your favorite music or shortcuts would follow you around, even if you're not piloting your own rig. All that makes its original Connected Car plans from 2009 seem a bit laughable -- check the original video for yourself after the break.
HTC teases voice control and/or dog translator for Sense
HTC might be over selling it a bit with the top secret stamp, and the foot note sort of indicates that your next One device wont be interpreting Fido's barks. So, really, that only leaves one logical conclusion -- HTC is working on a voice control app. It shouldn't come as any surprise if you've been paying any attention to the mobile landscape these past few years. Google kicked off the party with Voice Actions and Apple gave the speech recognition tech some personality with Siri. Now Samsung has S-Voice and LG has Quick Voice... what's a Taiwanese manufacturer to do? Presumably make your own speech-driven virtual assistant. When will it debut, what will it be called? Who knows, but judging from the image above it seems safe to assume that HTC's new tool will be delivered as software update to at least some existing handsets. [Thanks, Naman] Update: HTC tells us that it never intended to hint at a new voice service -- the image was just the punchline to a week of pet-related smartphone tips it featured on Facebook.
Xbox 360 software at E3: FIFA 2013 / Madden 2013 gaining Kinect voice commands; Halo 4, Fable, Forza Horizon and Gears of War showcased
No new hardware for Microsoft at E3? No problem. Clearly, this year's all about software for the Xbox 360, with both FIFA 2013 and Madden 2013 confirmed for release with Kinect support. Aside from letting you flail to and fro in order to make plays, both titles will also support voice commands, right down to understanding multiple dialects in the former. As for Madden? There's some pretty intense voice integration, enabling one Joe Montana to actually call plays and direct the huddle with his voice here at the E3 stage. The demo was unsurprisingly awesome, and we're told to expect it on store shelves on August 28th. For those who aren't exactly "sports-inclined," there's also Fable and Halo 4 -- two titles that'll supposedly make this year the "best ever" for Xbox 360 software. Follow our liveblog of Microsoft's E3 keynote right here! %Gallery-156885%
Unofficial S-Voice app gets gagged, Samsung waits for its flagship hero
Did you get a chance to download Samsung's voice assistant APK over the weekend? Don't bother trying now, as Samsung (or Vlingo, which is behind the app) has locked down access for unauthorized devices -- namely anything that isn't a Galaxy S III. According to xda-developers, S-Voice's command requests are being rebuffed once Vlingo's servers detect any phone that's presumably not inspired by nature. There's just over a week to go, however, and soon you'll be able to shoot the breeze with your new smartphone love all you want.
Skyrim gets Kinect integration on Xbox, over 200 voice commands in tow (video)
Okay, we have some excellent and some disappointing Skyrim tidbits to share. The good news being that bestseller The Elder Scrolls V is finally adding (real) support for Microsoft's Kinect, but unfortunately, it's coming exclusively to the Xbox console (sorry PC folks). That said, developer Bethesda says the update -- which is arriving later this month -- will bring more than 200 voice commands to the title, allowing things like Dragon Shouts, Follower Commands and Hotkey Equipping. In addition to busting out your best moves, you'll also be able to control menus within the game, as well as save and load your Skryim progress. While the full list of commands is set to be unveiled "in the coming weeks," there's a sneak preview waiting on you right now just past the break.
Apple patents Siri-like system for controlling cameras, PMPs through a computer or smartphone
"Siri, turn on the flash and take three pictures with my camera after waiting two seconds." Apple's intelligent voice control system has been wildly popular amongst consumers in the U.S., and abroad, but Siri could be making her way to other devices in the future, including iPods, cameras and other consumer electronics. "Okay, Rock God, I will take your picture in two, one..." A patent by Apple filed in 2010 but published today describes a scenario in which you could control a secondary electronic device using your voice, with all of the backend processing passing through a connected smartphone or computer. According to the patent: One embodiment may include a first electronic device communicatively coupled to a server and to a second electronic device. The second electronic device may be a portable electronic device, such as a digital media player, that includes a voice user interface. The second electronic device may be capable of accurate speech recognition, but may not include additional computation hardware and/or software for training the speech recognition engine. As such, the bulk, weigh, and cost for manufacturing the second electronic device may be reduced, resulting in a more portable and affordable product.In other words, you could have Siri-like control of virtually any device, with all of the required hardware and software residing on an iPhone or MacBook, linked with other devices over WiFi or Bluetooth. Voice control wouldn't be practical in all situations, but it could be enormously helpful for certain operations, like adjusting settings or reviewing images. Instead of scrolling through hundreds of images, you could simply say "Siri, show me pictures from last Thursday," and see exactly the shots you were searching for. As always, this is one of thousands of Apple patents, and it quite possibly may never come to fruition as described. But here's to hoping it will. "Siri, show our readers the patent application" -- you'll find it at the source link below.Update: Well, it looks like we missed the mark a little bit here, as this is a patent application, not a granted patent. It's for a voice control system where a device receives voice commands and turns them into text using a speech-recognition algorithm received from a remote server -- which sounds an awful lot like Siri.
Siri shows up on an iPod Touch, no longer plays favorites in the iOS family
That Siri gal is certainly making the rounds these days. When she's not answering your questions on a 4S, she's showing up on iPads and elder iPhones. Not one to play favorites, Siri's now lending her considerable talents to an iPod touch. Two enterprising young hackers, euwars and rud0lf77, are the ones who put Siri on the iPod, and you can see the results of their labor in the video after the break. Of course, Apple's servers still aren't as friendly as the virtual voice assistant, so Siri's latest cameo remains a silent one -- but some Siri's better than none, right?
Siri ported to iPad, still getting silent treatment from Apple servers
Developers wasted no time bringing Siri to the iPhone 4, and nine days later, it's been brought to the iPad as well. This version, running on a first-generation jailbroken Apple tablet, suffers from a similar problem as past non-iPhone 4S ports: it's still not talking to Apple's data servers. This means that until devs manage to get voice commands recognized and initiated, the iPad's unofficial virtual assistant will remain effectively gagged.
Windows Phone Apollo to feature speech-to-text for email, low-end Tango gets split in two
If this hodgepodge of sorta, kinda official confirmation is to be believed, Windows Phone users can look forward to deeper integration of voice command functionality built-in to the Apollo update. Nokia US' CEO, Chris Weber, first spilled the speech recognition beans in an interview with VentureBeat back in early August, referring to the tech as a killer WP feature. Now, a report over on ZDNet backs up that leaked info with resume tidbits from former MS Windows Phone / Mobile Communications team members that had a hand in creating the so-called "Voice-Compose" and "Read-Aloud" features for native email clients-- even tipping us off to a possible Windows 8 and WP 8 convergence. There's also mention (gleaned from a company job listing) of MS' lower-end mobile OS splitting into two separate versions -- Tango1 and Tango2. We know what you're thinking. It's hard to get excited about far-off OS updates when we're still waiting on Mango's release. Still, it's good to know Ballmer and co. aren't just resting on their Windows laurels.
Apple patent application imagines iPhones that learn the sweet sound of your voice
Button-loathing Apple really wants people to stop dirtying its devices with sticky fingerprints. That's why it's applied for a patent that should improve the frustrating experience of using iOS's voice control -- precisely the kind of update we've been awaiting since Apple bought Siri last year. With the help of a technology billed as "User profiling for voice input processing," your device would identify your voice, check against a library of words associated with you without having to trawl through its entire dictionary. We just hope Apple doesn't do away with physical inputs entirely -- we'd hate to broadcast to the world all the guilty pleasures we have loaded on our iPods.
Google Mobile's pizza ad proves its point, ad nauseam (video)
Pizza. Pizza. Pizza. Pizza. Pizza. If you're speaking said word while using Google Mobile on a GPS-enabled smartphone, you no longer need to specify where exactly you want the app to search. Of course, we highly doubt you'll see too many germane results while speaking it from Easter Island, but that's just one of the million examples shown in the supposedly comedic video hosted after the break. We'd commend Google on its effort, but our appreciation waned after about 22.8 seconds.
Amulet voice-activated Windows Media Center remote hits the FCC
Amulet Device's intriguing voice-activated remote for Windows Media Center has long since missed its original ship date, but it just popped up at the FCC, complete with product shots and the user manual. Besides providing typical universal features like IR learning, as a package the rechargeable battery-powered controller, USB dongle, and companion Windows Media Center Plugin will allow users to operate their home theater by simply speaking commands to the remote's built-in microphone. Like any good robot servant, the remote will also audibly respond to questions such as "what song is playing" and even distinguish when you're talking to it versus just chatting with friends, thanks to nifty advanced positioning sensing technology. Sadly taking dictation isn't in the cards and there's still no word on an official launch date, but that hasn't stopped the budding emperor in us from hoping it arrives soon.
Ford's SYNC learns 100x more voice commands, integrates Nuance technology
We'll be honest -- we weren't the biggest fans of SYNC from the onset, but that had more to do with its insistence on playing Run DMC on our request for Naughty By Nature during a cross-town CES run than anything else. Now, Ford remains one of the few automakers that actually bothers to update their navigation systems on a consistent basis, and while SYNC is still far from perfect, it's getting a rather significant update today. The introduction of MyFord Touch brings the amount of commands that SYNC understands up to 10,000 -- that's a pretty big jump from 100, where it began. Following in BMW's footsteps, Ford is also integrating voice control technology from Nuance, which allows drivers to speak "more naturally" to the system rather than having to memorize a few hundreds first-level snippets. Unfortunately, we still think voice control within vehicles is too slow; much like Windows Vista, there are simply too many confirmation prompts, too many forks in the decision tree and not enough of an overall benefit to chose it over handling things with your digits. Feel free to disagree and pick this up on your 2011 Ford Edge, but be sure to view the video past the jump before getting all hot and bothered.
Ford SYNC owners to get stock quotes, horoscopes and movie listings shouted at them
Hooray for voice command systems... that no one uses. Okay, so maybe someone uses 'em, but until voice recognition software improves drastically and / or our own memory banks swell dramatically, we still see most motorists reaching for buttons, toggles and wheels when it comes time to interact with their vehicle. That said, existing Ford owners with SYNC'd rides can soon do a lot more talking with their system thanks to a few complimentary updates hitting the Traffic, Directions & Information (TDI) sector. The cloud-based service will allow drivers to demand that a given stock quote, horoscope, movie time or travel inquiry be sorted and shouted, and just in case you glossed that last sentence over, we're going to reiterate once more that your SYNC system will now read back your horoscope. And guess what? These updates should be taking effect immediately, so feel free to make a mad dash for your garage and try 'er out.
Control 360 with your Voice
One Voice Technologies has developed a means to control your Xbox 360 with the power of your voice. Media Center Communicator v3 for Windows Vista was announced yesterday, and can control up to five Xbox 360s with your voice commands. While having a variety of PC related features, MCC v3 allows gamers to watch video content, play music, or play photo slideshows on your 360. We're guessing this is all done with your PC's content via Media Center, so unless you have it on your computer, you're probably not going to be saying "Xbox Play Halo 3 Trailer" anytime soon. That being said, if they developed a way to control your 360's dashboard and allow you to browse content stored on the 20 14 GB Hard Drive, that would be far more appealing. While it seems kind of gimmicky, surely it must appeal to someone. Availability and pricing are to be announced. Would you be interested if it only applied to streaming PC content onto your Xbox 360 with voice commands? How about if you could control your Dashboard with MCC v3?
