Apple Negotiating Deal With Nuance for Speech Recognition in iOS 5?

[ArchaicRevival]

??? You already can... from Apple's website for iPod Touch:

Want to hear some music? Just ask.

Ask and you shall hear.
Voice Control knows the music in your iPod touch. Want to hear something specific? All you have to do is ask. For instance, say “Play artist Bob Dylan,” and iPod touch does just that. Ask what song is playing and hear iPod touch answer. Tell it to play your favorite album, artist, or playlist. Speak simple commands such as “shuffle,” “next song,” and “pause.” Even have iPod touch play more songs like the one you’re listening to.​

LOL Maybe he meant a full on conversation? hahaha

 

[KnightWRX]

It is much more convenient than talking to someone. I want to tell someone "I'll be home in 15 minutes." When I am driving home, I don't want to discuss how my day was. I don't want to discuss how the <insert sports team> did last night. Or a variety of other topics. I want to tell the person that I will be home in 15 minutes so that our dinner plans can be arranged ahead of time. Just far more convenient to tell someone a one line statement. Save the other crap for when I get home. Let me just tell them when I'll be home.

Sounds like when I call my GF, which is usually a short "I'm leaving the gym, can you take XX out of the fridge ? See you in 10".

And then I hang up. You have serious problems if you can't do that and need to resort to impersonal texts. I had a texting plan. I scrapped it. There's hope for you yet, maybe you'll start being more sociable to people around you.

Not to mention hands free bluetooth talking is much safer on the road than texting.

 

[PlipPlop]

Its been on phones for ages hasn't really caught on. It just seems strange if your in public screaming at your phone.

 

[gramirez2012]

It just seems strange if your in public screaming at your phone.

Does it? I see/hear people yelling into their phones in public all the time.

 

[RalfTheDog]

Funny you should mention that. Apparently when Arthur C Clarke wrote "2001: A Space Odysey" the only human technology in the book/movie that he thought wouldn't be technologically possible by 2001 was the lipreading (the scene where the two crew go into the pod and switch off the sound so that they can discuss disabling Hal but the computer still "hears" the conversation by reading their lips through the window). Sadly it turned out that pretty much none of the computer technology that he predicted is possible even today and a lot of it is as far beyond us now as it was in the 1960s.

If it makes you feel any better, at least we have giant rotating space stations at L5, A big moon base and manned missions to Jupiter.

You guys do realise the iPhone already has direct speech-to-soundwave technology built in, which allows the other person to actually hear your voice. It's quite amazing.

Voice chat is a fad. I hope they take it out of the next iPhone.

Or you know :

3) You're holding a god damn phone in your hand. Call the person and talk to them on handsfree by using the already existing voice control of the iPhone and actually talk to them.

Seriously, texting is so dumb. Are people that afraid of actually talking in 2011 ? Now they want to talk out their text messages ? Think about this : Talk out your text message so the device can write it for you, send it to another person who'll what, use the phone's ability to turn the text messages into a synthesized voice ?

People you're holding a god damn phone.

That is why SMS is blocked at the carrier on my phone. I don't want none of this non-sense. You want to tell me something, call me.

Voice chat is for emergencies when you need to get your message to the person right now. If your message is short and not critical, just use a SMS. If it is long but not critical, use an email. Interupting a person for non time sensitive issues by voice is rude.

Nuance has a $6 billion market cap? What the heck do they do? Dictation software can't be that big of a business...

If you say that, I know you don't work in the medical industry.

 

[Bilbo63]

Personally, I think that acquiring Nuance would be a good move.

 

[KnightWRX]

Voice chat is for emergencies when you need to get your message to the person right now. If your message is short and not critical, just use a SMS. If it is long but not critical, use an email. Interupting a person for non time sensitive issues by voice is rude.

What the hell ?

So now it's rude to call people and talk directly ? I have news for you, if your SMS is so short and un-critical, how about you wait until you get a chance to convey it in person then. I don't find it rude to call someone. If they are too busy and I would be interrupting them, guess what : They have the option of not answering.

I swear people these days want less and less contact with others. Self-absorption is the name of the game.

 

[MorphingDragon]

What the hell ?

So now it's rude to call people and talk directly ? I have news for you, if your SMS is so short and un-critical, how about you wait until you get a chance to convey it in person then. I don't find it rude to call someone. If they are too busy and I would be interrupting them, guess what : They have the option of not answering.

I swear people these days want less and less contact with others. Self-absorption is the name of the game.

I constantly go into areas where cell reception is blocked (University, Movie theaters etc). It all depends on the lifestyle of the person which is more convenient or rude.

What I find rude though is when people from work ring me during classes even though they all have access to a timetable of when I'm free. What really pisses me off is when it is an issue of Windows just being Windows and failing somehow. God damnit restart the computer, it usually fixes everything.

 

[Dillenger]

clear lee is the best soft where is I am using drag on dick take sun right now.new line.hollow view people need nugget a life and stop criticizing the awesome hour of this soft where. I do everything with drag on.new line.
moose people only want dimple tasks and feel that it will bee helpful.

Apparently you went through the training session with some marbles in your mouth. Oh, and I just dictated this message without any issues at all.

 

[Mr. Gates]

Apparently you went through the training session with some marbles in your mouth. Oh, and I just dictated this message without any issues at all.

What you talk about ? I Chines

JK/ Apparently you have no sense of humor.

 

[DocNYz]

How bout speech recognition for FCP X..

HAHA you seriously made me just laugh out loud.

 

[DocNYz]

During most part of the last 10 years, in my experience with various systems, voice recognition has been frustration due to high error rates and not to forget the higher processing power needed ensure great accuracy — I am not surprised that Apple deliberately treaded slowly in this market. I have a feeling now the technology has matured enough for a wider implementation in the OS, but as usual, all will rest on how well it is integrated, in addition to its speed and accuracy.

Seriously, why is it so hard to understand that a) Apple waits till something meets their standards before they release it in full form and b) they do it in ways that haven't been seen before, not "like android" or "like a computer" when it's something as big as this that they're delaying and purchasing companies for (obviously i'm not talking about simple obvious stuff like being delayed on copy paste, but larger interface changes in general).

If you think they're "late," clearly you don't know what your mac has been capable of for dozens, if not more, years (speech commands/input) and haven't seen this post and video:

https://www.macrumors.com/2010/04/2...ch-closer-to-the-knowledge-navigator-concept/

 

[Roller]

What the hell ?

So now it's rude to call people and talk directly ? I have news for you, if your SMS is so short and un-critical, how about you wait until you get a chance to convey it in person then. I don't find it rude to call someone. If they are too busy and I would be interrupting them, guess what : They have the option of not answering.

I swear people these days want less and less contact with others. Self-absorption is the name of the game.

At work, I'm rarely in a situation where I can accept cell calls without being disruptive. But I can usually glance at my iPhone to read a text message and type a quick reply if needed. I also find that texts often go through under poor signal conditions that wouldn't allow a voice call. So while I generally prefer a live conversation to SMS, email, or voicemail, it's not always practical.

 

[KnightWRX]

At work, I'm rarely in a situation where I can accept cell calls without being disruptive. But I can usually glance at my iPhone to read a text message and type a quick reply if needed.

If you'd be disruptive answering a call, guess what, answering a SMS is probably as disruptive. I hate when in the middle of a meeting, there's a guy in the corner texting on his phone. I find that much more rude than someone excusing themselves and going out to take a call.

Anyway, I'm not going to win here. Old guard vs new guard. I just find you guys highly disconnected and annoying. Not to mention a lot more dangerous on the road.

 

[Dillenger]

What you talk about ? I Chines

JK/ Apparently you have no sense of humor.

Eye, habe a greet cence of humur, and eye tiped dis wiff my own too hanns.

 

[playdrums]

Apple is chasing someone here...

The MyTouch 4G is an android phone that is employing Nuance tech in a way iOS does not. There have been comments in this thread about how long speech-to-text has been around and that it doesn't really work.

While I am an Apple fan, I own a MyTouch 4G. The voice recog WORKS, is accurate, and is a major reason I bought it. It is truly hands-free. If you haven't experienced this, you need to understand that it isn't just dictation and speech to text. The phone also polls me about what I want to do and listens for my answers. In car mode, the MyTouch 4G notifies me of incoming texts/calls, asks to read texts to me, asks me if I want to respond, and if I do, the phone will take dictation. In completely hands-free fashion, I can dictate messages and the phone's accuracy is remarkable.

I believe Apple is aware of this phone and wants to duplicate the experience. However, if they are really going to do this, it isn't just about speech-to-text - it is also about making sure the phone procedurally prompts you for every action and listens for your responses.

There is only one downside. The speech-to-text relies on a cloud service so lack of network will keep it from working.

I have no doubt in my mind Apple knows about the MyTouch 4G and is wanting to duplicate or improve on a very much working functionality. I also think acquiring Nuance outright would be VERY smart. It would give you working tech and it would block Android from having access to that tech further. One HTC/T-Mobile Android phone has the best implementation so far.

 

[dgree03]

What the hell ?

So now it's rude to call people and talk directly ? I have news for you, if your SMS is so short and un-critical, how about you wait until you get a chance to convey it in person then. I don't find it rude to call someone. If they are too busy and I would be interrupting them, guess what : They have the option of not answering.

I swear people these days want less and less contact with others. Self-absorption is the name of the game.

I usally agree with alot of your opinions, or facts on topics, but I find the irony of you denouncing texting, while typing on a forums, a bit ridiculous.

If everyone thought they way you thought, we wouldnt have email or this very forum. Both of which have revolutionized communications from one end of the earth to the other.

 

[MorphingDragon]

If you'd be disruptive answering a call, guess what, answering a SMS is probably as disruptive. I hate when in the middle of a meeting, there's a guy in the corner texting on his phone. I find that much more rude than someone excusing themselves and going out to take a call.

Anyway, I'm not going to win here. Old guard vs new guard. I just find you guys highly disconnected and annoying. Not to mention a lot more dangerous on the road.

Texting does not turn people into general idiots. It only provides the tools.

 

[RalfTheDog]

Speech recognition can be fun. Sometimes, when I get stuck in a phone system that will not give me the options I need or connect me with someone that can help, I just bark at the phone until the system hangs up.

I know phone lines are cheep, but I like to pretend it is costing them a fortune.

 

[AidenShaw]

Sometimes, when I get stuck in a phone system that will not give me the options I need or connect me with someone that can help, I just bark at the phone until the system hangs up.

Many voice menu systems will respond at a string of expletives, f-bombs and other 4 letter words by connecting you to a human. Try it - just start cussing.

 

[teloche]

yarn, who needs speech recognition?

 

[bilby2]

About Time !

Particuarly for those with physical handicaps! My finger controll is hopeless ?

 

[Punkish]

Particuarly for those with physical handicaps! My finger controll is hopeless ?

and how can they then hold a ipad or iphone?

 

[MorphingDragon]

and how can they then hold a ipad or iphone?

How can stephen hawking type on his little computer? A Stand!

Physical Handicap/Retardation/YourTermOfChoice =/= Vegetable.

 

[u46221]

I did not read all the reply's but I think the point is being missed. Apple is trying to increase market share in the PACS realm (google PACS). Nuance has front end and back end VR (PowerScribe, eScription, etc) this is a big step in the right direction for both company's. With the health care bill forced on us this is one of the requirements. It is both cost effective and makes the turnaround better for the patient. The ROI can be realized in months not years (sorry Medical transcriptionists)