Siri on HomePod Correctly Answered 52.3% of Queries in New AI Test

[Jaywalk3r]

There is no suchthing as 7.1 stereo. Stereo is 2.0.

That's incorrect. While 2-channel stereo is certainly the most common, stereo only implies multiple channels:

"stereophonic
(of sound recording and reproduction) using two or more channels of transmission and reproduction so that the reproduced sound seems to surround the listener and to come from more than one source."

 

[cardfan]

I mean, yes? My Echo dot was $30 and I can plug it into whatever speaker or sound system I'll be using for the forseeable future. Software updates to Alexa happen all the time, and I can add and remove and update any third party skills too.

Yep, pretty much. I wouldn't mind a great Apple solution later, especially something that is very integrated with apple tv, but this isn't it.

 

[peterApinto]

With the HomePod comes a lot of focus on voice assistants. The upside is that the journalists are getting better at testing and compairing these devices.

The part most consumers and commenters forget is this: If you are outside the US and Canada, possibly UK as well, very few of these voice assistants work at all! But Siri works in more countries than the others. Siri is in fact LIGHTYEARS ahead of the others, when you look at the number of compatible languages. Google is close in that you can use voice to querie and dictate, while other voice assistant services are not available in fx Danish.

Most of the stuff Siri can do is in fact available out of the box, even in a language as niche as Danish. And Apple does this without sharing our data like Google and Amazon do.

So, this is my prediction: Siri is going to beat the other voice assistants with a clear margin in less than 24 months. When 2020 comes around, we are going to look at Amazon’s voice assistant devices and wonder why we bought them. We are also going to wonder if we want to keep them in our homes, because the convenience of their voice assistance has waned, while their security risks dominate the conversation around these products. Google’s voice assistants will fare better, but they will also be dwarfed by Apple and Siri.

Why will it go like this? Because Siri will mature into a true Voice Assistant - you know, an entity able to actually help. And not a function primarily there to help you buy stuff on Amazon or to collect information on you.

 

[Heineken]

With the HomePod comes a lot of focus on voice assistants. The upside is that the journalists are getting better at testing and compairing these devices.

The part most consumers and commenters forget is this: If you are outside the US and Canada, possibly UK as well, very few of these voice assistants work at all! But Siri works in more countries than the others. Siri is in fact LIGHTYEARS ahead of the others, when you look at the number of compatible languages. Google is close in that you can use voice to querie and dictate, while other voice assistant services are not available in fx Danish.

Most of the stuff Siri can do is in fact available out of the box, even in a language as niche as Danish. And Apple does this without sharing our data like Google and Amazon do.

So, this is my prediction: Siri is going to beat the other voice assistants with a clear margin in less than 24 months. When 2020 comes around, we are going to look at Amazon’s voice assistant devices and wonder why we bought them. We are also going to wonder if we want to keep them in our homes, because the convenience of their voice assistance has waned, while their security risks dominate the conversation around these products. Google’s voice assistants will fare better, but they will also be dwarfed by Apple and Siri.

Why will it go like this? Because Siri will mature into a true Voice Assistant - you know, an entity able to actually help. And not a function primarily there to help you buy stuff on Amazon or to collect information on you.

Well the screamers ignore this even though if you count that in when Alexa for example is not available for me 52% is way more than 0%.

 

[Guy Clark]

By definition, Bluetooth transmission is lossy. There isn't enough bandwidth to do what Airplay does, which is to transmit and receive a CD-quality signal, 16 bits times 2 channels times 44.1Khz.

The CD-quality signal argument surfaced years ago when the mp3 audio format took centre stage. Even though there is sufficient evidence that CD is superior to mp3 it was not the most superior that has been successful.

A lower percentage of the world population possess a highly trained ear therefore many would not have the ability to differentiate between Bluetooth and Airplay as was with CD and mp3.

 

[Heineken]

The CD-quality signal argument surfaced years ago when the mp3 audio format took centre stage. Even though there is sufficient evidence that CD is superior to mp3 it was not the most superior that has been successful.

A lower percentage of the world population possess a highly trained ear therefore many would not have the ability to differentiate between Bluetooth and Airplay as was with CD and mp3.

You can train your ears? Seriously? Since when?

 

[Bawstun]

They should release a lower-priced, “Beats” branded smart-speaker as well. Millennials who live by the Beats brand would be all over it. They already drop $150 for headphones.

 

[falainber]

That's incorrect. While 2-channel stereo is certainly the most common, stereo only implies multiple channels:

"stereophonic
(of sound recording and reproduction) using two or more channels of transmission and reproduction so that the reproduced sound seems to surround the listener and to come from more than one source."

That may be a scientific definition but it's not the one used in real life when it comes to consumer electronics. In this domain the following definition applies:

Etymology
Shortened form of stereotype, stereoscope or stereophonic, all originally derived from Ancient Greek στερεός (stereós, “solid”).

Noun
stereo (plural stereos)

1. A system of recording or reproducing sound that uses two channels, each playing a portion of the original sound in such a way as to create the illusion of locating the sound at a particular position, each offset from the other, thereby more accurately imitating the location of the original sound when the recorded or reproduced sound is heard.

 

[BaltimoreMediaBlog]

I cannot wait for the advertisement...

HomePod, it's 2.3% more accurate than a coin toss.

 

[ersan191]

Starting the move away from Apple.
I have had Apple products since the Mac Plus, so I have been a customers for a long time.

However I have things like working Airport base stations that are effectively dead because Apples software no longer supports them, and they can ONLY be configured with Apples proprietary software. ALL of my other gear can be configured using a web browser, safari, Firefox, Internet Explorer , doesn't matter. And Apple has the gall to sell old hardware at premium prices.

My Mac mini server, well thats been languishing in the mud fo years, no updates from Apple. My older Mac mini server, support for that has gone too now, it still works as a print server, dns server, backup server and so on, but again Apples proprietary software gets in the way and it ca not be updated.

So it is with the iPhone and iPad, iPod, Apples proprietary software, when Apple dumps support they become effectively dead. Buy a new laptop, yea the old versions of iTunes, Airport software, Server software don't support your old hardware.

The new TVos sucks dogs balls, its truely a horrid interface.

Aperture, well the photographers out there who used that can tell you what happened to that product.

HomePod, proprietary , grossly expensive to fix, only works with Apples stuff which excludes my iTunes home sharing server apparently.

So, my oldest Mac mini is getting converted to Linux, iTunes server will get converted to Kodi or some other open source software. That will allows a Raspberry Pi or other small development board to link into the network and play all my music on the server through my existing Stereo.

I already have one Kodi box in the spare bedroom, sure the interface sucks, but is is far more flexible than the ATV and costs about 1/6th the price.

My next phone is likely to be an Android, and yes I am aware of their ****, but a phone costing 1/3 the price of an iPhone will be "good enough".

I have just stepped off the bus...... sorry Tim, but enough is enough.
[doublepost=1518381054][/doublepost]

Well I am still waiting for Siri to arrive on the ATV in New Zealand.
Its there on the iPhone, iPad, Mac, just not on the ATV.

So if "waiting" is your thing, go for it, but expect to be disappointed.

Sorry it seems you’ve grown to hate Apple, but it’s worth mentioning you can (and I do) run Kodi on Apple TV.

 

[markgpearse]

In a new test shared today by Loup Ventures, Apple's HomePod was put through its paces in categories including Siri, sound quality, and ease of use. For Siri, Loup Ventures' Gene Munster reported that while the AI assistant understood 99.4 percent of queries asked of it, it answered only 52.3 percent of them correctly. Loup Ventures tested three separate HomePods and asked 782 queries total.

Compared to previous tests of rival speakers, HomePod is "at the bottom of the totem pole" in the AI assistant performance category. Google Home answered 81 percent correctly, Amazon's Alexa answered 64 percent correctly, and Microsoft's Cortana answered 57 percent correctly.

Munster broke this information down further, stating that Siri is good for "local" and "commerce" queries, like asking about nearby coffee shops or assisting in buying new shoes. In this area, Siri beats Alexa and Cortana but still falls behind Google Assistant on Google Home.

Despite the low percentage of correctly answering the 782 total queries asked of it, Munster said Siri's overall performance rose above expectations "given the limited scope of HomePod's music focus."

Chart via Loup Ventures​

The researchers explained that over time HomePod and Siri should grow to match, or surpass, rival assistants by simply adding query domains like calendar, email, calling, and navigation.
As discovered in the research, where HomePod excelled was its "superior" listening skills. The HomePod allows users to speak at a normal volume, even when music from the speaker is particularly loud, and Siri will pick up on the voice and hear the user. "This was HomePod's most stellar feature," according to Munster.

Loup Ventures also favored HomePod's sound quality, saying that "it sounds incredible." Like other reviews and impressions of the device, Munster's enjoyment of the HomePod's audio quality was countered with the speaker's lackluster Siri performance, which he thinks will be changing fairly soon.
Visit Loup Ventures to read more of the information gathered from the HomePod "smart speaker gauntlet," including the publication's prediction for demand and market share of HomePod through the rest of 2018.

Article Link: Siri on HomePod Correctly Answered 52.3% of Queries in New AI Test

[doublepost=1518393365][/doublepost]I guess they've made Siri as smart as Tim Cook.

 

[AppleScruff1]

With the HomePod comes a lot of focus on voice assistants. The upside is that the journalists are getting better at testing and compairing these devices.

The part most consumers and commenters forget is this: If you are outside the US and Canada, possibly UK as well, very few of these voice assistants work at all! But Siri works in more countries than the others. Siri is in fact LIGHTYEARS ahead of the others, when you look at the number of compatible languages. Google is close in that you can use voice to querie and dictate, while other voice assistant services are not available in fx Danish.

Most of the stuff Siri can do is in fact available out of the box, even in a language as niche as Danish. And Apple does this without sharing our data like Google and Amazon do.

So, this is my prediction: Siri is going to beat the other voice assistants with a clear margin in less than 24 months. When 2020 comes around, we are going to look at Amazon’s voice assistant devices and wonder why we bought them. We are also going to wonder if we want to keep them in our homes, because the convenience of their voice assistance has waned, while their security risks dominate the conversation around these products. Google’s voice assistants will fare better, but they will also be dwarfed by Apple and Siri.

Why will it go like this? Because Siri will mature into a true Voice Assistant - you know, an entity able to actually help. And not a function primarily there to help you buy stuff on Amazon or to collect information on you.

Siri was released in 2011. What do you think is a reasonable timeframe for Siri to mature? Seven years isn't enough?

 

[Guy Clark]

You can train your ears? Seriously? Since when?

There are those out there with highly trained ears when listening to musical pieces mostly classical and they are capable of telling the difference between CD and mp3 or in the case of this discussion Bluetooth and Airplay.

Those with highly trained ears do not measure in bits, channels and KHz but in the personal involvement of the musical experience.

When CD replaced the Vinyl LP the sound was pronounced by those with highly trained ears to be too clinical due to the Digital source however for the masses CD was the better of the two.

The point I am making the majority would not be able to differentiate between Bluetooth and Airplay which makes the argument moot.

 

[Heineken]

There are those out there with highly trained ears when listening to musical pieces mostly classical and they are capable of telling the difference between CD and mp3 or in the case of this discussion Bluetooth and Airplay.

Those with highly trained ears do not measure in bits, channels and KHz but in the personal involvement of the musical experience.

When CD replaced the Vinyl LP the sound was pronounced by those with highly trained ears to be too clinical due to the Digital source however for the masses CD was the better of the two.

The point I am making the majority would not be able to differentiate between Bluetooth and Airplay which makes the argument moot.

How can you train it if you biology doesn't allow you to hear that frequency either any more or at all? It's not ears they are training, but their brain.

 

[Bawstun]

How can you train it if you biology doesn't allow you to hear that frequency either any more or at all? It's not ears they are training, but their brain.

To suggest that you can’t train your ears to do something extra (as you can other areas of your body and limbs/senses) is just silly.

 

[Heineken]

To suggest that you can’t train your ears to do something extra (as you can other areas of your body and limbs/senses) is just silly.

Yes it is, because saying you can train your ears is like saying you can train your eyes which you cannot do brain does the seeing not eyes.

 

[Guy Clark]

How can you train it if you biology doesn't allow you to hear that frequency either any more or at all? It's not ears they are training, but their brain.

This has gone from an interesting conversation to picking holes

 

[Heineken]

This has gone from an interesting conversation to picking holes

Ears are your brain's external sensors. You can't train it to overcome your biological limits. I think its pretty interesting.

 

[jdawgnoonan]

Siri kind of does suck, but I am also not an ******* who walks through public constantly talking to my phone and so I do not care. I have an Android phone as well, and while Google Assistant it is (marginally) better than Siri, that is not enough of a deficiency to make me compromise my overall experience enough to use android as a daily driver. I can only take so much polished turd, so I use iOS despite Siri. (I always congratulate those Android guys who are so happy that they can multitask that they are willing to sacrifice half of the functionality of good apps because the iOS launcher annoys them so much that they don’t mind using an absolute kluge.) I own a Bose SmartTouch speaker and I appreciate that no (so called) AI is involved when I listen to music.

But, if I wanted AI in my music experience, I would choose the HomePod because it has superior sound quality and that is what I would prioritize in a music speaker compared to whatever Google Assistant is good for (besides cleverly exposing you to advertising).

 

[Jaywalk3r]

That may be a scientific definition but it's not the one used in real life when it comes to consumer electronics. In this domain the following definition applies …

I think I'll stick with the more accurate Oxford definition. Thanks.
[doublepost=1518396738][/doublepost]

There are those out there with highly trained ears when listening to musical pieces mostly classical and they are capable of telling the difference between CD and mp3 or in the case of this discussion Bluetooth and Airplay.

There are many times more people who claim to be able to tell the difference between lossless files and high bitrate lossy files than people who can demonstrate the ability to distinguish between the two during rigorous ABX testing.

 

[Virinprew]

The sad part is that Apple didnt even invent Siri. They bought it and have nothing done with it since.

Yep. They only bought the product. They don’t have the passion that created Siri in the first place.

 

[cicalinarrot]

Google joined the race pretty late. I was what they offered and thought Apple, not going forward, wasn't really caring a lot anymore.
Now they release a whole new product based on that pretty annoyingly inadequate technology.
Hope they have something in mind like some Siri 2.0 only available on iPhone 11 or something because if this is the best they can do, the war is lost.

 

[riverfreak]

You’d lose that bet. I’ll be using my HomePod to escape the world, not seek it out.

Or, as Simon & Garfunkel sang:

“I get the news I need on the weather report.
I can gather all the news I need on the weather report.”

Artfossil, I’m afraid you just dated yourself with that lyric from 50 years ago.

 

[artfossil]

Artfossil, I’m afraid you just dated yourself with that lyric from 50 years ago.

I think I already dated myself with my username.

 

[jingbugle]

With the HomePod comes a lot of focus on voice assistants. The upside is that the journalists are getting better at testing and comparing these devices.

The part most consumers and commenters forget is this: If you are outside the US and Canada, possibly UK as well, very few of these voice assistants work at all! But Siri works in more countries than the others. Siri is in fact LIGHTYEARS ahead of the others, when you look at the number of compatible languages. Google is close in that you can use voice to querie and dictate, while other voice assistant services are not available in fx Danish.

Most of the stuff Siri can do is in fact available out of the box, even in a language as niche as Danish. And Apple does this without sharing our data like Google and Amazon do.

So, this is my prediction: Siri is going to beat the other voice assistants with a clear margin in less than 24 months. When 2020 comes around, we are going to look at Amazon’s voice assistant devices and wonder why we bought them. We are also going to wonder if we want to keep them in our homes, because the convenience of their voice assistance has waned, while their security risks dominate the conversation around these products. Google’s voice assistants will fare better, but they will also be dwarfed by Apple and Siri.

Why will it go like this? Because Siri will mature into a true Voice Assistant - you know, an entity able to actually help. And not a function primarily there to help you buy stuff on Amazon or to collect information on you.

Apple as a company lags in AI to Google. Google is much ahead of the competition. As I look at Apple, time and again, they have an excellent hardware product with good integration with the software. The software beyond that is where their approach is not robust.