'Evi' Arrives as Potential Challenger to Siri

[MacRumors]

TechCrunch reports on Evi, a new Siri-like offering from True Knowledge that has launched for iOS devices [App Store] and as a beta for Android devices. While Siri provides a fair amount of integration with Apple apps and services such as reminders and calendaring, it is currently limited to the iPhone 4S, while Evi is compatible with all iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch devices running iOS 4.0 or later.

She - we'll call this Artificial Intelligence a she - returns amazing results when consulted. Given that Siri is just not very good at giving answers which aren't about the US, Evi might just be the Siri for the rest of the world, especially since Evi wil run on any Andoid or iPhone, and not just the 4S. I've seen her in action and Evi is very, very smart.

Based on the same Nuance voice recognition technology found in Siri and the licensing of which accounts for Evi's $0.99 price tag in the App Store, Evi draws upon a database of nearly a billion facts as well as integration with Yelp and other services to deliver an array of information that seems to compare favorably to Siri's abilities.

Install Evi on an iPhone 4S and compare it to Evi. Ask "How do I make apple pie?". Siri is unable to provide a direct answer and so asks whether you want to search the web. Evi provides a list of recipes with web links.

Ask "Who was President when Queen Elizabeth II was born". Siri is unable to provide an answer and suggests performing a web search. Evi determines who Queen Elizabeth II is, when she was born, the dates when she will have been a teenager and then compares this against which US presidents were in office over that time, delivering the results of both serving US presidents during those years. Not bad huh.

Evi offers the option of voice or text input, local results for the United States and United Kingdom, and a built-in browser view for quick access to web links from results.

Article Link: 'Evi' Arrives as Potential Challenger to Siri

[Slix]

That logo... is so creepy.

[MacDawg]

While those results might be interesting, apple pie baking and presidents with the Queen's reign are not things I personally would be asking Siri or Evi

[JonneyGee]

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For those who will inevitably call Evi a copycat, this is good for Siri as it will require Apple to continue developing Siri. Hopefully this will spur on Apple to release an API for apps soon.

[AlphaDogg]

Too bad it is not integrated into the OS like Siri is.

[QuiteSure]

So far, no good. Asked a few questions like: "who were the seven dwarfs" "who was the 10th president of the united states" and while the recognition appears to be good (thanks Nuance) the responses have all been uniformly unhelpful:

"I'm having trouble getting a response from my servers. You might want to try again in a minute."

I'd rather get a web search than a no response.

[ArtOfWarfare]

Originally Posted by MacDawg

While those results might be interesting, apple pie baking and presidents with the Queen's reign are not things I personally would be asking Siri or Evi

While I agree I wouldn't ask these specific trivia questions, it demonstrates her ability to do more than just perform a google search for you.

Trivia lookup: Siri < Evi
Personal assistant: Siri > Evi

Although I should mention Siri is a terrible personal assistant. Her ability to interpret locations when I'm trying to set up a calendar appointment is... Nonexistent.

Her ability to create new contacts is... Well, also nonexistent. Both of these are tap and time intensive tasks that would be much easier to do with your voice on the phone.

[QuiteSure]

Originally Posted by QuiteSure

So far, no good. Asked a few questions like: "who were the seven dwarfs" "who was the 10th president of the united states" and while the recognition appears to be good (thanks Nuance) the responses have all been uniformly unhelpful:

"I'm having trouble getting a response from my servers. You might want to try again in a minute."

I'd rather get a web search than a no response.

When I asked Siri who the 10th president of the united states was, she took 4 seconds to return "John Tyler", his country, political affiliation, and other pertinent details of his term of office.

[iphoneIA]

Competition for Siri is a good thing right? I am going to wait and see what the reviews are after a few weeks and see if it will work. Having the iPhone 4 Siri is the one thing that I wish I had. Call me a cheapscate for not laying down the extra money for the iPhone 4S.

Any chance Apple halts this app because it it too much like Siri?

[*LTD*]

Thank you, Apple.

[Snowcat001]

Siri is more like a personal assistant, Evi seems to be more of an intelligent search machine, it doesn't really seem to help you get things done but tells you where and how and when and who and... .

[iNtrigued]

Guys, if I'm nt mistaking, Siri is still a Beta version. I'm sure she'll grow up to Evi and maybe even mature more after it gets out of beta phase ........

What do you think?

[AlexJaye]

Originally Posted by QuiteSure

So far, no good. Asked a few questions like: "who were the seven dwarfs" "who was the 10th president of the united states" and while the recognition appears to be good (thanks Nuance) the responses have all been uniformly unhelpful:

"I'm having trouble getting a response from my servers. You might want to try again in a minute."

I'd rather get a web search than a no response.

Same issue I'm having over and over.

[ozaz]

Why are you having trouble getting a response from your servers?

Evi: "I don't know right now - try asking again next week"

[srxtr]

Originally Posted by Evi

I'm having trouble getting a response from my servers. You might want to try again in a minute.

Evi's answer to everything I ask. Not too bright I think.

[jclardy]

I like their thumbs up/down buttons to help find relevant info. Although they are a little large, and I think you could get away with just having a thumbs down button (And assume the response was helpful otherwise.)

Sometimes I ask Siri a question that I just want to search for and it picks up on a certain word like "ice cream" and then searches for ice cream restaurants around my location. I then have to rephrase my question, but at that point it is just easier to type it in myself. If there was a "thats not what I meant" button it would improve Siri's usability immensely, along with giving Apple information on where Siri is failing to meet peoples expectations.

[AustinIllini]

Originally Posted by iphoneIA

Any chance Apple halts this app because it it too much like Siri?

In theory the writing would be on the wall for this application. Newer versions of the iPhone will have Siri, so I see no reason for Apple to stop it as Apple moves forward.

[marcusj0015]

That name is WAY too close to "Evil" and it's clearly a ripoff of Siri at the same time. terrible name.

a ****ing cyclops for a logo? are you TRYING to commit product suicide?

is this a strange psychological study involving marketing?

[rmwebs]

Originally Posted by *LTD*

Thank you, Apple.

You mean than you Nuance for letting apple use THEIR technology...Apple did not invent bugger all here.

Evi is a great option for those of us not stupid enough to move from a 4 to 4s just for a voice assistant gimmick

Now, stop being smug.

[*LTD*]

Originally Posted by rmwebs

You mean than you Nuance for letting apple use THEIR technology...Apple did not invent bugger all here.

When the Apple train comes in, everybody rides.

Don't you already know this?

[chrono1081]

Originally Posted by JonneyGee

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For those who will inevitably call Evi a copycat, this is good for Siri as it will require Apple to continue developing Siri. Hopefully this will spur on Apple to release an API for apps soon.

The whole "competition is good" thing rarely proves true FYI. I know its the trendy thing to write (no offense) but it really means nothing in most cases.

[rmwebs]

Originally Posted by *LTD*

When the Apple train comes in, everybody rides.

Don't you already know this?

Except Apple weren't first...again...

Don't you already know this?

[shartypants]

Originally Posted by marcusj0015

That name is WAY too close to "Evil" ...

I was thinking the same thing, they need to do a rename and get a better icon. The technology looks awesome, I've often asked Siri questions that Evi seems to answer. I think we will see these improvements in Siri soon, like people have pointed out, its still in Beta.

[rmwebs]

Originally Posted by srxtr

Evi's answer to everything I ask. Not too bright I think.

Looks like growing pains...same thing happens with every Apple online service and we all get over it and move on

[AJKing]

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Wondering if their servers are getting over burdened because I keep getting the "I'm having trouble getting a response from my servers. You might want to try again in a minute." as well.

Never used Siri but I hope it's much better than this. Much of what I say it doesn't seem to understand.