As is being widely reported Google has bought startup Clever Sense, which earlier this year launched the local-mobile recommendations app Alfred. Alfred is like "Pandora for the real world" and was dedicated to creating a comprehensive "interest graph." Clever Sense assigns or maps physical places to one another based on styles, characteristics and attributes in the same way that Pandora does for music. However this process is all done by "artificial intelligence." Here's how Clever Sense itself described the functionality behind Alfred: The Extraction Engine built into the Clever S [...]

Related Topics: Apple: Siri | Google: Acquisitions | Google: Maps & Local | Google: Mobile | Google: Voice Search | Top News

When you first begin using Siri it’s not entirely clear what you can do with it. (It's also not clear how to access it.) Yesterday Danny wrote up some initial thoughts/criticisms of the Siri local search experience. In this piece I'm going to offer some general thoughts comparing Siri (on an iPhone 4S) with Google Voice Actions on my current phone (Android EVO) as well as some head to head examples of queries on both. Siri Leans on Google If you say to Siri, "What can I ask you?" it returns a list of the categories of things it can do. However when I rephrased the question slightly and ask [...]

Related Topics: Apple: Siri | Google: Mobile | Google: Voice Search | Top News

It sounds great. Speak into Siri about some local need, get nice results from Yelp's reviews. In reality, it's pretty easy instead to end up stuck with only a phone number and directions from Google Maps. From Siri To Yelp To Google Maps Consider this example, which illustrates the situation I've repeatedly found to be true with Siri: I asked Siri for "Places to eat." It pretty awesomely interpreted that to mean nearby restaurants, a natural language query that Google Voice Actions, as I've tested them, disappoints on. Selecting a restaurant from the nice list, which comes from Yelp and [...]

Related Topics: Apple: Siri | Google: Voice Search | Top News

Beyond some of the processing and other technical upgrades in the new iPhone 4S, the standout feature of the new device is the Siri "Assistant." It's an expanded and enhanced version of what's behind the existing Siri iPhone app, which is being shut down on October 15. And while Siri is not a "voice search engine," people will certainly use it to find information and accomplish tasks they might otherwise have used search or apps to complete. Siri is more "transactional" than search, taking users to an "answer" or a page where a task can be completed (e.g., making a reservation on OpenTable, [...]

Related Topics: Features: General | Google: Android | Google: Mobile | Google: Voice Search | Search Engines: Mobile Search Engines | Top News

The Siri voice search assistant that Apple demoed today as part of its big press event looks pretty impressive. If it works as shown, it'll go a long way in patching up one of the big weaknesses the iPhone has had versus Android, that of lacking built-in voice commands. Voice Actions: A Spoken Magic Wand I've used various Android phones with Google Voice Actions since Google first rolled them out in August 2010. They're amazing. Press on the search button, speak a command, and the phone works its magic. It's very, very cool. I got a reminder of that a few months ago when visiting with a f [...]

Related Topics: Apple | Features: Analysis | Google: Android | Google: Mobile | Google: Voice Search | Top News