Voice

Microsoft mulls porting Cortana assistant to iOS

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 13, 2014

Microsoft has wont to arrive late to parties: following Siri's introduction nearly three years ago, Redmond in April of this year has finally gotten around to unveiling a personal assistant of its own, Cortana, at the Build Developer Conference in San Francisco.

Originally conceived as a Windows Phone 8.1 exclusive, the Windows giant is now reportedly considering bringing the virtual assistant to rival platforms, namely to iOS and Android.

Let me get this straight. Beats updates Android app. Microsoft launches Office for iPad before even releasing a touch-optimized version for Windows 8 tablet. Apple reportedly mulling iTunes for Android...

What a difference a few years make, eh?

Microsoft demos real-time voice translation feature for Skype

Cody Lee ∙ Updated January 2, 2017

Last night at Recode's inaugural Code Conference, Microsoft announced a new real-time voice translation feature for its Skype VoIP service. The company says it's currently in beta form, but it plans to eventually roll it out to all devices.

The goal of the feature is to allow users to hold a conversation with someone speaking a foreign language, with Skype providing near-instant voice translations for both parties. And judging by the initial demonstration, it works fairly well...

T-Mobile starts rolling out VoLTE in select markets, starting with Seattle

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated May 15, 2017

Deutsche Telekom-owned T-Mobile USA, the nation's fourth largest wireless carrier, on Thursday announced it's started gradual deployment of Voice Over LTE (VoLTE) technology, starting with Seattle.

The move comes just as rival AT&T last Friday brought both VoLTE and HD Voice technologies to select markets and as Verizon Wireless pledged to roll out VoLTE later this year.

That major U.S. telcos are racing to have VoLTE ready at this particular moment in time may have something to do with Apple's expected launch of the iPhone 6 this Fall, alongside iOS 8 which is said to support making voice calls over high-speed LTE networks out of the box...

Meet Cortana, Microsoft’s answer to Siri

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 3, 2014

The Windows giant Microsoft will be introducing its upcoming Windows Phone 8.1 update at the Build conference next month.

With it comes Cortana, a Microsoft-branded personal digital assistant that includes functionality provided by Apple's Siri and Google's Google Now voice-activated assistants.

It also has a few nice features not provided by Apple so perhaps competition from Microsoft (and Google) will prompt the iPhone maker to roll out new Siri features sooner than later. The Verge has an exclusive look at Cortana's interface and some of its features, here are the highlights...

Yahoo buys Donna virtual assistant maker Incredible Labs, will shut down app

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 24, 2018

Yahoo's shopping spree continues as the company announced Thursday its newest acqui-hire: San Francisco based Incredible Labs, the team behind a rather compelling virtual assistant app named Donna.

Incredible launched Donna on iOS last summer. Named after Donna Moss, the popular assistant from the TV show The West Wing, the software is basically a cross between Google Now and Siri.

The application strives to manage your day with features like smart notifications, an anticipatory calendar and in-app directions, to mention but a few. Donna would proactively tell you about upcoming appointments, dial into conference calls for you, let others know when to expect you by analyzing traffic conditions and your frequent locations - even taking into account the little things like the current parking situation.

In November, Donna got updated with Lock screen calling, smarter meeting scheduling and other features. Nothing indicated at the time that Incredible would slow the pace of Donna development, let alone sell out to Yahoo.

Unfortunately, there is some bad news for Donna fans out there: the Internet giant will be shutting down the application following the acquisition...

iOS 7.1 to bring Siri gender option for UK, Australian English, possibly other languages

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

As Apple gears up to unleash the fourth beta of the upcoming iOS 7.1 firmware update, possibly as early as tomorrow (carriers are already testing it), we've been tipped off about a nice improvement in the current iOS 7.1 Beta 3 release which has apparently escaped our and pretty much everyone else's attention.

Courtesy of the latest iOS 7.1 beta, male and female Siri voice with British English accent are now available on iOS 7.1 Beta 3 device. As the currently available non betas don't offer updated voices for Siri in the UK, this signals Apple is looking to enable Siri's gender option in more languages as the company continues to fine-tune its digital personal assistant...

Check out Google Now integration on your Mac in latest Chrome Canary release

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 16, 2014

CNET reported last summer that Google Now cards were heading to Google’s Chrome browser for the Mac. Six months later, Google releases a brand new Google Canary build with Google Now cards functionality nested right inside the browser's notification center which sits in your Mac's status bar.

Although not all Google Now cards are available in this alpha release of Chrome, the search company has integrated a few of the most popular ones like sports scores, real-time weather updates, and travel information...

Hands-free ‘OK Google’ search comes to your Mac

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 27, 2013

Yours truly is a huge fan of Google Now so it goes without saying I've long been yearning for that kind of hands-free voice searching on my Mac desktops and notebooks. Available via Google's free Search app for the iPhone and iPad since November 5, the cool feature dutifully listens to the 'OK Google' keyword which initiates a voice search. It's severely crippled, too, as 'OK Google' only works if the Search app is running, as opposed to the always-on implementation on the Nexus 5 and Moto X.

Blame it on Apple's strict policy that prohibits third-parties from listening to the microphone input in the background. Well, there are no such restrictions on Macs (yet) and Google has taken advantage of the fact and released a nice little extension for its browser allowing you to talk to Google (when you're using Chrome) hands-free, no typing required...

Samsung lambasts Siri dictation in weirdest Galaxy S4 ad yet

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 5, 2013

I appreciate memorable, creative advertising as much as the next guy, but I just don't get a new Galaxy S4 commercial Samsung is airing in Iceland.

Instead of focusing on the handset's features or the usual iPhone bashing, this time around Samsung's creative agency has gone over the top in depicting a guy trying to make a phone call on a real apple.

Realizing swiping across fruit makes no sense, the ad then switches to a happy scene where our hero operates a Galaxy S4. The not-so-subtle jab at Apple is plain weird, to put it mildly. I know ads are supposed to take into account the often vast cultural differences across markets, but I'm not sure Samsung did itself a favor with this particular commercial...

Voice Memos app returns in iOS 7 beta 2

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 14, 2018

A few moments ago, Apple released the second beta of its next-generation mobile operating system, iOS 7, to developers. The first beta, which was released two weeks ago today, featured a number of UI changes and new features. And today's update adds to that.

One of the bigger changes we've noticed in beta 2 is that Apple has re-added the stock Voice Memos app. The utility was missing from the original iOS 7 release, leaving some folks to speculate that Apple was getting rid of it all together. But that's not the case...

DirecTV app now supports voice navigation

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 15, 2013

DirecTV has a decent iOS app on the App Store which streams live television programming, supports DVR functionality and lets you browse and access on-demand streams of past television shows and movies.

The company previously promised to activate voice-enabled features and today it made good on that promise by updating DirectTV software to version 2.5.

The new version uses voice-activated navigation to enable users to find whatever they want to watch on their telly. It's just like Siri: simply speak to the app just as you would to a person in order to find something to watch. In fact, DirectTV's software gives us a good indication how a rumored Siri-enabled Apple television set could enhance the experience...

How to assign voice memos to an Activator gesture

Jeff Benjamin ∙ April 12, 2013

Whenever you have Ryan Petrich's beta repo added to your Cydia sources, you're bound to run into a new surprise from time to time. That's because the prolific Cydia developer likes to test out some of his new creations on his personal repo before adding them to Cydia.

One of his latest creations is called Voice Memo Toggle for Activator. As its name states, it simply adds the ability to toggle voice memos on or off using an Activator gesture. The memos are taken using the iPhone's stock Voice Memos app, which makes it only available for the iPhone or iPod touch users. Take a look inside for a few additional details.