Siri, Apple’s voice-activated personal assistant, might not be sitting alone on her throne for much longer.
Siri, Apple’s voice-activated personal assistant, might not be sitting alone on her throne for much longer. Just as when Apple launched the iPod and iPad and a flood of other MP3 players and tablets hit the market, competitors haven’t refrained from trying to imitate Siri’s success, either. Of course, Siri wasn’t the first or only voice recognition tool available when it launched.
Siri by Apple
Fierce Competition<
Several competitors, such as Google’s Voice Actions and Vlingo, were readily available to consumers before Siri was ever announced. Both pieces of software allowed users to automate certain tasks on their phone or other devices. Google’s Voice Actions, for instance, allowed users to quickly make a call, navigate to a destination, search the web or play music. Vlingo offered similar functionality.
Siri’s Unique Selling Proposition
The difference between these competitors and Siri, though, is how well Siri works. Using Voice Actions or Vlingo requires commands to be spoken a certain way, and in a limited amount of instances users have to repeat themselves because the software misheard. Siri’s big selling point was and still is how well it works. Users only need to speak; they don’t need to phrase their commands in a certain way. The software isn’t 100% accurate, but in real-life use it surely recognizes speech a lot more accurately than its rivals. But now competitors have put their foot on the gas, and are increasing their efforts to make seamless voice recognition software.
The Future of Voice Recognition
One of the big ways that voice recognition software is making its way into the marketplace is through hardware integration. Samsung has introduced a line of TVs that are gesture and voice controlled. Vlingo has announced a software package built for TVs that can be included by OEMs or added via an aftermarket set-top box. Others, such as LG, are coming with their own solutions. The hardware integration doesn’t end there, either. The Xbox 360 now offers the ability, through its Kinect peripheral, to quickly access content that is stored on the Xbox.
What Will Happen To Apple?
Since Apple doesn’t currently manufacture TVs or game consoles, all of this seems as though it isn’t a threat to Siri. And at first glance, that may be true. But Samsung is the largest smartphone maker in the world in terms of units sold, and Microsoft has heavily pushed its Windows 7 mobile and Windows 8 platform. In the end, Samsung and Microsoft may be able to leverage their position in other markets in order to make gains in the mobile sector. Such moves could and almost certainly would impact Siri’s position as the most popular voice recognition software. It would give Apple one less advantage with which to sell customers on the iPhone, and would give Apple’s competitors one more way to take market share away from Apple.
Will Siri Keep Up?
Siri isn’t stagnant though, and it’s a given that the software will improve. After all, it’s still in its beta stage despite likely being the most effective voice software on the market. As Apple works out the few flaws that are inherent in Siri, they should become more visibly competitive. The Cupertino giant might remove the beta tag sooner than expected and make Siri available on all of its devices, rather than just the iPhone 4S. This would certainly work as a preventative measure to increase Siri’s market share before Apple’s rivals have a chance to get their products to market.
No matter what the end result is, it looks like voice recognition is here to stay. It makes interacting with devices more natural and easier for people to grasp. The only question that remains isn’t whether voice recognition will stay, but whether Siri can maintain her position as queen of the voice assistants.
This guest post was written by Harrison L., who is a fanboy of Apple products and a bonsai trees geek. In his sparetime, he writes about bonsai tree tools and bonsai tree care and the steps required to make a good bonsai tree at home.
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there is no doubt that siri is one of the greatest ever invention in terms of cell phone technology. But this is getting some sorta competition by a new technology of microsoft. Lets see, how much it will be in the market, but if the competition increases, it will certainly be good for the users.