Google Search App Brings Siri-Competitor to iPhone

Mike84 said:

Interesting article

http://www.forbes.com/sites/anthony...e-voice-search-is-also-much-faster-than-siri/

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His jump-to-conclusion that it was all client-side appears to be wrong, as I suspected it was.

In the comments, after a reader questioned him on it, he replied "Actually, according to this patent filing, Google’s system uses both client-side and server-side processes: http://www.google.com/patents/US20070011010."' He should have perhaps updated the article to indicate that (if he did I missed it).




Michael

Doesnt work on iPT 3rd gen

Works well on iPad 2.
Doesnt seem to work on 3rd gen iPod Touch running iOS 5.0.
When I go to Options and attempt to turn Voice Search on it instantly switches from On to OFF. Darn!

Minimum requirement is stated as iOS 4.3 so I'm guessing the hardware on iPT 3rd gen doesnt meet requirements. Yet another reason to upgrade to iPT 5.

Tinmania said:

His jump-to-conclusion that it was all client-side appears to be wrong, as I suspected it was.

In the comments, after a reader questioned him on it, he replied "Actually, according to this patent filing, Google’s system uses both client-side and server-side processes: http://www.google.com/patents/US20070011010."' He should have perhaps updated the article to indicate that (if he did I missed it).




Michael

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I read the article to mean that Google uses the client to recognize/interpret the voice request before forwarding it to the server for the answer, while Siri sends everything directly to the server, which does the voice recognition/interpretation along with providing the answer.

Voice Reply - English (US) Only

Just found out that if you want the female voice reply then you need to set your Voice Search language setting to English (US). Thus for Aussies you'd need to change from English (Australia) if you want the voice reply.
However, as we just discovered, when you set it to "US", Google doesnt recognise Australian city and company names. It probably isnt recognizing our Aussie accents. However when we set it back to Australia it works fine.
However this is all loads of fun playing with.


Siri was designed as a personal assistant and does a great job from what I've heard, whereas Google Search is purely just that, a Google search function. The two complement each other if anything.

mrbyu said:

Not exactly, because Apple won't let third party apps control these tasks... that's why there's never going to be a real Siri alternative on iOS, because it's simply not allowed by Apple.

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People will migrate away from Apple over time as they realize their closed, locked down approach disadvantages the user, as you point out.

rdlink said:

Just not true. Sorry.

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Very true. Most of the posts about it on this site seem to suggest so.

Not sorry (always stupid when people put "sorry")

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Drunken Master said:

Holy exaggeration Batman!

I just asked Siri to play Pink Floyd's "Comfortably Numb" and it worked on the first try.

Maybe it was a glitch?

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Please. It was that "OMG" feature that apple had to have to release on the 4s.

It's been a huge disappointment.

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nutjob said:

People will migrate away from Apple over time as they realize their closed, locked down approach disadvantages the user, as you point out.

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It's what doomed them before.

phpmaven said:

LOL, I figured somebody would challenge me.

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I wasn't, but go on.

phpmaven said:

OK, here we go:

For the rest of this, GS = Google Voice Search, SR = Siri

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And I'll be adding me results on GS for comparison.

phpmaven said:

"Show me the cast of the original star wars movie"
GS = just did a web search
SR = showed me all of the star wars movies in a cute movie themed list and you could touch each one to get the cast and info

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My result: got a picture of Star Wars: The New Hope and the cast listed in a nice card.

phpmaven said:

"Show me the cast of saving private ryan"
GS = just did a web search
SR = showed me a movie posterish looking card with all of the movie info

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Just like before I got a card on GS, not a web search.

phpmaven said:

"Who was John F. Kennedy"
GS = Showed me a nice info card about him and said a few facts
SR = Showed me an info card from WolframAlpha

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I got the same result as you.

phpmaven said:

"show me the Beatles discography"
Neither one of them understood what I wanted and just did web searches, I finally just said "Beatles discography"

GS = Showed me a cool scrolling horizontal list of the Beatles albums.
SR = brought up a WolframAlpha card with the info

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I got the discography too.

phpmaven said:

"who won the lakers game last night?"
GS = told me who won (The Mavs dangit!) and showed web results
SR = told me who won and the final score including a cool looking scoreboard card with the score by quarter

"when do the Lakers play their next game?"
GS = told me the answer and showed web results
SR = told me and showed a nice card that showed the teams records and what channels were showing the game

"Show me the Lakers roster"
GS = did a web search that showed an ESPN short list of players that was mostly inaccurate
SR = showed me a card with all of the players and their picture, number, height, weight etc...

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I got the same results.

phpmaven said:

"what is Kobe Bryant's scoring average?
GS = Just did a web search
SR = told me his average and showed me a card with all of his stats on it

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You keep focusing on American sports, why don't you try something else hmm?

phpmaven said:

"How many calories are in a Big Mac?"
GS = did a web search (the first listing did show the calorie count below it)
SR = showed me a WolframAlpha card with the details

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I actually tried that on Siri on an iPhone 5 and Siri suggested to do a web search...

phpmaven said:

Shall I go on?

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Please do, how about checking some other things:

"Who is brad pitt's wife"
"When did michael jackson die"
"How many matches arsenal won this month"
"Who are will smith's sons" and "who is jaden smith's father"
"Who is the story by of skyfall"
"what is the education of ian fleming"
"Show me hurricane sandy damage photos"
"Where is that museum with egyptian stuff nearby" (change egyptian stuff to whatever "stuff" your closes museum has)
"What is bill gates bacon number"

In all cases you get a precise answer from Google Voice Search and a card that accompanies the answer. In Siri, you either get nothing, or "I found this".

phpmaven said:

Don't get me wrong, I think Google's voice search is really impressive. Much better than Siri at Google searching, but I feel so far like Siri is still better at answering many info requests that don't involve OS integration.

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Well I have quite the opposite feeling, I haven't played much with the latest version of Siri, but the older one was far behind.

When you ask questions like "Who is X", you still get only a response form Siri saying "I found this" and then the card, Google Voice Search will read out a nice description for you. In GVS you usually get actual answers, and not just "I found this".

I could also post a "test" and list questions where Google Voice Search is far superior. It's all about picking the right questions. The actual quality of answers is, in my opinion, better in GVS.

Siri was the biggest single marketing tool for the 4s - of course they were never going to allow it on the 4.

And sooooo many people fell for it.

Ir works also on my iPhone 4, while for Siri you need to have a 4s or newer........shame on Apple

Siri is useless to me, it hardly understands what I say. I am not sure if it is a problem with me or problem with its voice recognition.

Google Voice I get about 7 out of 10 times correct understanding of my voice search inquiry , which makes me believe its a Siri problem...likes its an Apple maps problem.

winston1236 said:

Lol the gs2? Do you know how old that is?

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Strangely, google voice search runs smoother on iPhone4 and iPhone3Gs, but not on GS2, all are almost as old if not older.

mdelvecchio said:

...oh my, did you really say that? you just invented a false rumor. why? what data did you have that suggested apple forced them to remove it?

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My post was edited. In the original video that Google posted several months ago (the app seemed to have been stuck in limbo since April) the voice was shown responding.

It seems pretty logical to me to come to that conclusion if, after several months before being approved, the voice did not work, but was shown working in the original video. It's also important to note I said that they may have been forced to alter the app.

However, I edited my post very shortly after to correct that assumption as the voice only responds to questions when set to English (US).

RVdave said:

I read the article to mean that Google uses the client to recognize/interpret the voice request before forwarding it to the server for the answer, while Siri sends everything directly to the server, which does the voice recognition/interpretation along with providing the answer.

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No it is almost certainly using the server for recognition too. Didn't you read the patent information?

Heck for that matter the app is not large enough to be doing it all locally.



Michael

JGRE said:

Ir works also on my iPhone 4, while for Siri you need to have a 4s or newer........shame on Apple

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Sigh.

Siri is a background feature of iOS. Not a feature of an App.

Bored of reading these statements

Tinmania said:

No it is almost certainly using the server for recognition too. Didn't you read the patent information?

Heck for that matter the app is not large enough to be doing it all locally.



Michael

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No, I didn't read the patent info, just the Forbes article that said ......."Simply put, Google Voice Search, which is a feature of the Google Search app, performs the voice recognition for each query on the client-side, while Apple’s Siri processes these requests on the server-side. This means that when you push the microphone icon on the Google app and start talking, the software process required to understand what you are saying is occurring on the device itself. And when you are performing the equivalent action on Siri, your device is passing that information to a remote server which is processing the request and then returning an answer, in pieces, back to your device. "

If this is incorrect I have 2 questions...

1) Other voice recognition apps don't have to contact a server, why should this one not be able to allow the client to handle the VR portion of the routine prior to contacting the server?

2) If both Google and Siri are sending everything to the server for processing, why is Google faster?

Thanks

scoobydoo99 said:

Your desperation is evident - you are throwing so many different arguments around, just hoping that one sticks. Unfortunately, you just don't make sense.



Identical? No. But very close. HOW they perform the tasks can vary widely, but when it comes to software, if they don't perform essentially the same functions, they don't really compete. Both Calculator and Excel can solve mathematical equations. They don't compete, though.



The "artificial limitation" you mention is the fact that Siri is a multi-functional capability built into the OS, and Google's search app is just an app for searching the internet by voice. Yes, if Google were coding iOS, things would be different. And if wishes were horses....



Huh? So if BMW's Voice Control in my car has better voice recognition than Siri AND Google search, is it now a Siri competitor, too? Nonsense. The quality of voice recognition of any software has nothing to do with defining the app's competitors.



Again, you're all over the place. Now you are comparing Android functionality to Siri. Which is it - the Google iOS app competes with Siri, or Android's functions compete with Siri?? Pick a topic and stick with it.




So we agree



oh, okay.

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Just pathetic. They both interpret speech to perform tasks. Google's implementation is artificially constrained by Apple's iOS limitations. Despite that, they still compete in terms of answering queries. Competition is a continuum. They also compete DIRECTLY when a consumer is choosing between iOS and Android and using each platform's voice assistant as a pro/con.

I've just begun to play with Google Voice Search. The immediate reaction was "wow that was fast!"

The second reaction was "why would Apple approve an app like that?" In particular if they are having a dispute with Google why would they let an app that outperforms Siri on searches into the App Store?

Then I gave Siri a whirl and noticed that it was quite fast. Faster than I was used to (could be coincidental of course).

Next thought was that Apple had a problem with their Maps. Google has pretty darn good Maps.

Any thought that Apple cut a deal with Google to get some help where they needed it?

Please forgive me if this has been asked. I could not get through all 390 posts that were already in this thread.

Re: iPod Touch 3rd gen

Doh! Just remembered that iPod Touch 3rd gen doesnt have a built in microphone. Of course it wont work. Duh! lol
I no longer have my headphones with mic so cant test it out with that. I'm guessing it probably will actually work with a pair of those plugged in.

An alternative to Siri, but obviously still no integration to iOS, is Voice Answer. Now that is really cool. It's a little slow but you can have full on conversations with it. I mean it remembers previous questions asked and thus understands the context of the ongoing conversation. I dont have Siri so I dont know if it actually does the same. But having a 10 minute conversation with a piece of technology was pretty amazing.

aerok said:

Yes there is no way anyone should use Siri by a company that creates AI controlled weapon systems. Oh wait...

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No offence but your failed attempt at humor smells like the writings of an annoyed Google employee.

Bezetos said:

"Who is brad pitt's wife"
"When did michael jackson die"
"How many matches arsenal won this month"
"Who are will smith's sons" and "who is jaden smith's father"
"Who is the story by of skyfall"
"what is the education of ian fleming"
"Show me hurricane sandy damage photos"
"Where is that museum with egyptian stuff nearby" (change egyptian stuff to whatever "stuff" your closes museum has)
"What is bill gates bacon number"

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Ok, I'll bite.

"Who is brad pitt's wife"
G = showed me Angelina Jolie
S = offered to do a web search

"When did michael jackson die"
Both gave me the answer

"How many matches arsenal won this month"
G = showed me who won their last match and their upcoming schedule
S = showed me a nice scorecard with their current record and the roster of players

"Who are will smith's sons" and "who is jaden smith's father"
G = gave me the answers
S = offered to search

"Who is the story by of skyfall"
I assume you mean, who wrote the story of skyfall or who wrote the screenplay

G = didn't know what I was talking about
S= gave me the answer

"what is the education of ian fleming
G = I tried 5 times and it couldn't get the "Ian" part and kept searching for Fleming
S = web search

"Show me hurricane sandy damage photos"
I'll pretend you didn't put this one in here

"Where is that museum with egyptian stuff nearby" (change egyptian stuff to whatever "stuff" your closes museum has)
G= gave me useless web searches
S = kept giving me a list of museums close by

"What is bill gates bacon number"
G = gave me the answer
S = web search

This just proves my point. For simple web searches, G is obviously superior in most cases. But for many other informational searches, Siri often offers better results. I think Google Voice search is great, but it certainly doesn't come close to replacing Siri. It certainly is a great tool that I will be using quite a bit.

We have been developing a 'Siri like' app for all iOS devices for some time now. It's called 'Voice Answer', and also introduces a 3D animated robot that does the searching and chatting for you. Check out voiceanswer.com

First time I'm seriously considering jumping ships from Apple onto Google.

I'll wait till the next iteration of iOS to see.

iWe said:

No offence but your failed attempt at humor smells like the writings of an annoyed Google employee.

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Just wow... your logic is so flawed, it astounds me.

kjs862 said:

First time I'm seriously considering jumping ships from Apple onto Google.

I'll wait till the next iteration of iOS to see.

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Yep, recent events are definitely testing the loyalty we want to continue having to Apple.

RVdave said:

No, I didn't read the patent info, just the Forbes article that said ......."Simply put, Google Voice Search, which is a feature of the Google Search app, performs the voice recognition for each query on the client-side, while Apple’s Siri processes these requests on the server-side. This means that when you push the microphone icon on the Google app and start talking, the software process required to understand what you are saying is occurring on the device itself. And when you are performing the equivalent action on Siri, your device is passing that information to a remote server which is processing the request and then returning an answer, in pieces, back to your device. "

If this is incorrect I have 2 questions...

Click to expand...

I'm not going to spend time answering questions when you didn't read where the author of the Forbes article himself admitted he was in error. I already explained where he did that, but you didn't read it.

For the record I have already confirmed it uses server-side processing. The voice recognition stops the very instant internet connectivity is lost--right in mid-sentence. Very easy to test: unplugged the wifi router's internet connection in the middle of speaking.

A cursory check of the apps's size shows it to be only 12.7 MB. After using for a few days there is another 14 MB in data (likely a cache of previous searches). There is no way--no possible way--this kind of voice recognition can be done in that amount of code. You need upwards of a gigabyte.

Finally, it's wise to not blindly accept an "article" just because it comes from Forbes. Only a little common sense is needed to come to the realization that the author is full of crap.



Michael