Google Search App Brings Siri-Competitor to iPhone

[wjdav2]

That awkward moment when you realize that some Apple users will get this before some Android users

I think Android users have had it for a while.

 

[bozzykid]

What happened to the google people saying they did not want people talking to their phone, but talking to people

Since this app is only a small subset of Google Now on Android, you may not understand how voice plays only a small role on Google Now on Android. Sure voice search is cool, but unlike Siri, Google Now is a much more comprehensive suite that isn't solely voice. No one thinks voice has no role, but Siri adoption is not as high as Apple wants not just because it isn't very accurate but because people want more than just voice (there are many places where it just isn't possible).

 

[kas23]

That awkward moment when you realize that some Apple users will get this before some Android users

Back before the iPhone 3GS it used to be like this all the time. Google was providing me with more function on my iPhone 3G than Apple was. Then it slowly started to go away. I'm glad we still get thrown a bone.

 

[Kwill]

Better than expected (still not Siri but nice)

Very nice on iPad2. Too bad Google doesn't know how to interpret "ePatient poster."

 

[kas23]

I think Android users have had it for a while.

Android users have had a lot of stuff for a while. Sigh.

 

[KdParker]

Makes since. Hasn't this been on the google page forever?

 

[hamkor04]

Take that Forstall for not giving iphone 4 Siri!

Apple backed up its "Beta" marketing with "a" Forstall.

 

[kas23]

Very nice on iPad2. Too bad Google doesn't know how to interpret "ePatient poster."

Oh my gosh, I've never heard of an epatient poster. Seems like a very cool idea.

 

[TVreporter]

Works great on my 3GS! Love it! Will be handy and I expect I'll use it a lot.

 

[mewolyp]

It's not speaking the answers back to me like in the video.

Seems Apple may have forced them to remove that functionality.

EDIT: I am mistaken. Spoken answers only work for English (US) and not English (UK) or French. I can't confirm if spoken responses work for any other languages, though.

Voice feedback only works for US English. Tried Australian English, Japanese and Chinese, it doesn't work.

 

[ITS ME DAVID]

I find google search better then Siri and so I deactivated Siri too also save battery life.

 

[iGrip]

Spoken like a true fanboy. Have you tried researching Google's voice search team online? There are actually quite a few articles and videos showing a lot of the innovation they are bringing. Apple didn't create Siri. They just bought it. And since they have bought it, it is questionable whether they have improved it or made it worse (Woz seems to think they ruined it).

It doesn't matter what Woz says. I like Steve better.

 

[Man9z0r]

Siri is not just a search tool.

How many of these things can Google Search do?

Image

Of course it can't do that stuff on an iPhone. I am sure Apple wouldn't of let it through if it could. It can do all of those things on an Android device and prob faster then Siri!

 

[sneaky butcher]

Well it's clearly happening locally, in the app. Apple for some reason needs to bounce the recorded voice data against their servers, resulting in Siri sometimes taking her sweet time.

hmm i doubt it is local. Google are introducing offline dictation in jellybean 4.2 which comes out soon.

Googles system is an open mic to the server and it translates each word as you say it. Siri waits for your whole sentence or question - records it and sends it to the server. Google voice dication used to be like that before they upgraded to the open mic in android 4.0 (ICS).

but yeah offline dictation is next for android.

 

[Webb2Go]

One issue regarding privacy, I have not allowed the application to use information about my current location yet the response to the question "where am I" brings up a map of the town I live in.

In Settings under location, the app also shows that it cannot use my current location data. Is this atypical of an app working around the location, contact, privacy, etc?

 

[bozzykid]

hmm i doubt it is local. Google are introducing offline dictation in jellybean 4.2 which comes out soon.

Offline dictation is in Android 4.1 which has been out for quite a while.

 

[linuxcooldude]

While I agree Siri can do some iOS specific things that Google simply cannot access. I terms of speed and performance for anything search related, this app blows Siri out of the water. The speed in which the Google app translates, and how accurate it is vs Siri in it's speech recognition is very, very good.

It is quite fast for a speech to text. But it only is useful for internet searches. But it still does not interpet & understand what you are saying.

I don't see it as a direct competitor to Siri. In order to do what Siri does would probably be too taxing to the phone and the size of the software too large.

Now if it could do what Siri does at the same speed it does on Google searches, Apple would have something to seriously worry about.

 

[frayne182]

Which is a bloody shame BTW...

It really is. What a joke that they claim it can't work on the iphone4, yet you can jailbreak and get it.

Or the iPad Mini can run it, but the iPad 2 can't yet they both have the same internals

You are the one who clearly doesn't fully understand the two. You used Google Voice Search to try to text your wife, and got angry that it did a search.

Just downloaded it. For any of you thinking Siri is better, quit drinking the kool aid and download it. We all know you haven't yet.

I can do all but one on my galaxy nexus with google now. Let me fix that. After more testing I can do all those.

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LOL that's the lamest excuse I have heard in a long time. Man you are pathetic.

LOL agreed

 

[rdlink]

Please, it's a forgone fact that Siri is an embarrassment. It's clunky and can take forever, even on LTE.

Just not true. Sorry.

 

[irDigital0l]

I will now use Google search over Chrome and Safari...

 

[frayne182]

Always thought Google's voice function was better then Siri.


But in the end I find them both stupid and useless for the most part.


Only time I have used Siri was while driving and to text someone.... and even then it was ****ked. Some of my words were messed or it would just cut off my message and ask me if I want to send it.

 

[rdej47]

Wow apple should take notes. The speed of this is incredible. Yes obviously it's not built into ios so it's Functionality is limited but hopefully with Forstall gone this is what Siri could be.

 

[kenfused]

I like how it just brings up information. On Siri I say things like "what is unsupervised clustering?" I get a response saying "would you like me to search the web for unsupervised clustering?" You have to then say "yes" or hit a button. I asked for information, if Siri doesn't automatically have that information, shouldn't she automatically do something else to give it to me? Why ask me if I then want to search the web?

That said, I still cannot get Google Search to accurately give me an answer for "what is unsupervised clustering?" It gets stuck on the "unsupervised" word.

that's cause Google is only for search, it doesn't do anything else...

 

[lunaoso]

It works better then I thought it would. Gotta give credit to google on that one. Although I probably won't use it much because of it not being very accessible quickly... Pretty cool though.

 

[mewolyp]

GS2? Man pick up a GS3 or Galaxy nexus then come back. I have a galaxy nexus and it's smooths as hell.

Oh, so we need new phones such as GS3 or Galaxy nexus to run the app smoothly??