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Baidu unveils a voice-activated, AI-based smartphone assistant
Chinese tech company Baidu announced at its Baidu World conference on Tuesday that it is launching a voice-activated assistant for its Android-based smartphones. The program is called "Duer", which roughly translates into "Du Secretary", is expected to directly compete with Siri, Cortana and Google Now. Initially, the app will allow users to perform tasks like ordering food as well as controlling smart devices around the home and accessing other on-demand services (ride hailing, designated driver services, or housekeeping) via voice command. Eventually, the company plans to integrate Duer into its other apps, like Maps, and potentially even into the self-driving BMW that the company is rumored to be working on. [Image Credit: ChinaFotoPress via Getty Images]
Honeywell's £229 voice-activated smart thermostat comes to the UK
For a while, Honeywell's range of smart thermostats was pretty limited in the UK. While the evoHome Controller certainly held its own against rival devices like Google's Nest and Tado, the company decided to bring its Single Zone Connected Thermostat to UK shores last week, and is now ready to let Brits control their heating using only their voice. The aptly-named Voice Controlled Thermostat basically acts like Google Now for your boiler; you get its attention by saying "Hello, thermostat," and then issue commands to make it warmer/cooler or change the temperature by a set number of degrees. Like Honeywell's other controllers, the Voice Controller Thermostat also comes with a companion app, allowing you to program the heating remotely and save energy while you're out the house. If you fancy some hands-free heating, Honeywell's new thermostat is now available for £229 from its wide network of official UK suppliers.
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.
Amulet voice-activated remote for Media Center demo
Although we scoured the CEDIA 2010 floor for products that use or are related to Windows 7 Media Center, we had a hard time finding anything. One of the only two booths we did find that wanted anything to do with Redmond's media software was Amulet Device's voice-activated remote for Windows 7 Media Center -- Vidabox was the other one. Overall it seemed to work, but didn't do what it was commanded on every attempt, which is what one might expect from beta software. As you can see in the video, the company has optimized many of the screens for voice control, but you can use the old favorites if you prefer too.
Amulet Remote actually listens when you yell at it
Now here's a novel concept. The Amulet Remote, designed specifically for Vista Media Center but likely adaptable to other setups, is a voice-activated controller that enables users to record a series, watch a recorded show, skip to a new playlist or queue up a photo slideshow by simply hooting and hollering. The built-in microphone is there to take whatever vocal abuse you feel is warranted, and there are even a few actual buttons if you're still fond of the tried-and-true approach. It's expected to ship in March for a palatable $299; have a look at what it can do for you in the video after the break.[Thanks, Vanbrothers]
iSpeak: Voice dialing for iPhone 3G
Sunday night on the TUAW Talkcast, we were discussing how much fun this week was going to be from the iPhone software perspective. This announcement from Fonix Speech is exactly what we were talking about.Fonix iSpeak is a voice activation application for the iPhone 3G. There are a couple of operations that you'll be able to accomplish just by speaking a command. You can dial someone by saying a phone number or the name of a person in your Contacts list. You'll also be to whiz through your music library, play a song, or start up a playlist by saying the name of an artist, song, or playlist.According to Fonix Speech, Fonix iSpeak "includes a run-time engine that sits on the phone allowing users to interact with the personal contents of their Apple iPhone™. Unlike other voice applets that enable voice search of the Internet by sending commands over the airwaves, this client-side application gives users the power of voice interaction with their personal content and eliminates network latency."There's no word on when the app will actually be available nor is there a price on the website, and the company didn't respond to a phone call. Fonix Speech says that they'll be selling it "directly" and through "traditional Apple distribution channels" -- the App Store, perhaps?
Meet ApriPoko, Toshiba's channel surfing helper-bot
Finally, a robot that "gets" us. Researchers at Toshiba in Japan have created a talking bot that can be used as a voice-activated universal remote in addition to formulating plots about terminating humans. The 5-pound, 11-inch-tall android is called ApriPoko, and is capable of learning how to control electronics by watching you and asking questions about your behavior. When you use an infrared device, the robot senses the signal and asks the user "What did you just do?" If you say something akin to "I turned on the TV," it will commit the command to memory, and you can operate those functions by voice. Apparently, the little guy is still in the R&D stages, but there are plans to turn this technology into a consumer device -- one which the company swears will not kill you in your sleep.[Via Pink Tentacle]
Microsoft speculates on ad-supported Sync
Apparently, Microsoft has plans for Sync that extend beyond the standard voice-activation scheme they've got going right now. The company wants to deliver a wider range of network connectivity for in-car use, and they're debating the possibility of moving away from subscription-based services to an ad-funded scenario. What exactly does that mean? We'll let Martin Thall, general manager of Microsoft's Automotive Business Unit explain: "We know where you are and we know where you're headed," he says, seemingly unaware of the Orwellian implications. "We could target that advertising directly to your car." You getting that? Targeted ads. In your car. While you're driving. Apparently, execs don't think you'll mind being bombarded inside your vehicle because you're, "used to advertising in the car. We hear ads on the radio and see billboards on the road." Of course, this is speculation on future technologies, so nothing is set in stone -- hopefully someone comes to their senses before our hovercar interiors glitter with holographic spam.
Valet - a flexible application launcher with Parallels integration
Valet is a new kind of application launcher that brings some interesting innovations to the table. First, upon activation it offers a heads-up display containing application icons, organized into categories of your choosing. This is a rich visual departure from competition like LaunchBar and Quicksilver. Second, Valet is heavy on voice control, though you apparently still need to activate it with a hotkey. Perhaps most interesting is Valet's ability to also open Windows applications inside of a Parallels virtual machine. That's right: you can create a category containing Windows apps like Internet Explorer, Access or even shortcuts to Control Panel items. Calling these things from Valet will start Parallels, open your virtual machine and fire up the Windows app of your choosing. Does anyone else see the line between OSes getting thinner with new apps like this? Valet doesn't stop there though; other tricks up its sleeve include Growl support and automatic detection of new apps. If you want to see Valet in action, its developers have put together a nice demo (QuickTime link) of the voice activation and heads-up display features. Valet is a Universal Binary. Licenses are $25, and volume licensing options are available upon request.
Intel stumbles while stepping to Apple's 6 button remote
Honestly: I'm always down for some competition; it keeps (some) companies innovating and (hopefully) on their toes. But wow... if you're going to openly take on a device like Apple's beautiful and simple 6-button Remote, it might be a good idea to make sure you're firing on all cylinders.Check out this video at CNET of Don McDonald, Intel's VP and general manager of their digital home group, demoing a voice-activated remote for Windows Media Center. Mr. McDonald brags that the remote has absolutely no buttons, but forgets to mention it has almost no functionality either. Watch, as he tries not once, not twice, not thrice - but a whopping four times (with some serious lag on his last attempt) to ask the remote "what time is Family Guy on TV." Also, note how much they trust the abilities of their 'zero button remote'... with all the buttons it actually contains.I'd say you and your team earned an A for effort Don, but you might have to whip out those tablet PCs and get back to the drawing board on the voice-activation bit. Just be careful the next time you try using it to dictate your product design notes.[via digg]
