Apple's New Data Center Focus of Nuance Voice Recognition Partnership?

iOS5's killer feature: Real time conversational voice recognition

voice recognition is so useless and dumb, can u imagine all those ppl talking to their gadget on the tram

Short sighted people are always amusing to point at when everybody's adopted the new technology they said was useless and dumb just months prior to it becoming a hit.

Voice recognition hasn't taken off for a couple of reasons:

1 - It's not quite accurate enough so you have to speak at an unnatural speed and tone.

2 - Current technology is mostly one way so you still have to view the screen to communicate properly because you can't yet trust that the system will be correct within an acceptable ratio.

Apple's acquisition of Siri solves both of these.

Imagine having a conversation with your iPhone without thinking in pre-determined commands and being confident that it understands you and will act appropriately.

Instead of:

- Click and hold a button
- Wait for prompt
- "Play Song 'Beat it' "
- Verify that it got it right

- Begin next command...

You'll be able to do this:

"iPhone, play 'Beat it', make an appointment for lunch with Wendy on Tuesday at noon. Oh, also I need to get groceries today. I need potatoes, pasta, steaks and apples and send this to my wife too."

iPhone replies: Playing 'Beat It' by Michael Jackson. I've created an iCal appointment for 12pm this Tuesday for 'Lunch with Wendy'. I've set up a Task named "Groceries" and listed "potatoes, pasta, steaks and apples" and have shared it with Debbie.

This kind of real time interpretation requires a lot of power and constant refinement not possible in a battery powered mobile device. Instead, a small file containing a mono audio snipit can be sent to Apple's servers, interpreted and commands sent back within a few seconds, making this possible.

Look to iOS5 as being the beginning of a true personal assistant that you can speak to but that is also able to speak with you in a natural conversation.

Apple was indeed years ahead of the competition with the introduction of the iPhone and I doubt they've been sitting on their hands waiting for Android to catch up.

They've been working on the next killer feature that will once again push the boundaries and propel Apple way ahead of the pack. This type of conversational speech recognition definitely has the ability to do this.

Hello, Computer?

If this helps in Phone Sex, I'm in bitch.

Based on all the rumors, what DOESN'T the NC data center do?

Kirk: "Mr. Spock, full sensor scan of object".

Spock: "Computer, structural analysis, and make up of object to port of Enterprise".

Computer: "Computing".

Computer: "Object appears to contain early 21st century remains of Humanoids."
"There appears to be a digital recording encoded on silicone." "Mossberg, our friend, is no longer writing good things about us."

Spock: Looks at Kirk, and raises 1 eyebrow. :apple:

Yeah, I couldn't even imagine people talking to their PHONE in public.... :rolleyes:

:D

Hopefully my phone will only respond to my voice, or if I walk past ipedro on the street my phone might start playing Michael Jackson's Beat It.