Siri vs Google Voice Actions
The Woz says his favourite Android phone at the moment is not the Galaxy Nexus but the Motorola DROID RAZR. That was probably what inspired Motorola to do this video comparing Siri with Google Voice Actions.
Biased, maybe, but sill worth a look.
What’s also worth a look is this article from The Daily Beast about what Steve (Wozniak) thinks about Android. Here’s an excerpt about what he thinks about Siri.
Then there’s Siri, Apple’s new voice-recognition software. Woz says he’s been using Siri for a long time and used to love it when it was an independent application created for the iPhone.
But ever since Apple bought Siri and built the software into the iPhone 4S, it doesn’t work as well as it used to.
“I used to ask Siri, ‘What are the five biggest lakes in California?’ and it would come back with the answer. Now it just misses. It gives me real estate listings. I used to ask, ‘What are the prime numbers greater than 87?’ and it would answer. Now instead of getting prime numbers, I get listings for prime rib, or prime real estate,” Woz says.
Worse, a lot of the time Siri says it can’t make a connection to the back-end servers that power the system. “With the iPhone 4 I could press a button and call my wife. Now on the 4S I can only do that when Siri can connect over the Internet. But many times it can’t connect. I’ve never had Android come back and say, ‘I can’t connect over the Internet.’”
The Android system also delivers better results, he says. “I have a lower success rate with Siri than I do with the voice built into the Android, and that bothers me,” Woz says. “I’ll be saying, over and over again in my car, ‘Call the Lark Creek Steak House,’ and I can’t get it done. Then I pick up my Android, say the same thing, and it’s done. Plus I get navigation. Android is way ahead on that.”
Full article here.
Galaxy S III to Be Unveiled at Mobile World Congress? Samsung Still Vague
A couple of days back, rumours claim that Samsung is looking to delay the debut of the Galaxy S III. Many anticipated that Samsung’s new flagship smartphone will be unveiled at the Mobile World Congress this year just as the Galaxy S II made its debut at the 2011 MWC.
Speculators speculate that the reason behind the delay is that Samsung didn’t want such a long lead time between the unveiling of the device and it’s slated US launch which is said to happen sometime in June. This sounds legit as Samsung sees the US as a key market where it hopes to break Apple’s stranglehold in the smartphone segment but as far as the delay is concerned, it’s still very much a rumour.
Seeking clarification on the matter, Samsung was asked in a conference call earlier today on whether its next flagship device will be revealed at MWC. Officially, Samsung says that they’re “still reviewing several options when to launch” the Galaxy S III. You can listen to the audio clipping of the official answer from Samsung right after the jump.
While the response is vague, it does open up the possibility of a Galaxy S III debut at MWC and the possible availability of the device in Malaysia before June.
So are the delay rumours just rumours? We have a feeling that they are. In any case we’ll see a lot more information about the Galaxy S III presenting itself in the coming weeks. That should give a better picture on what Samsung is up to.
Sony Tablet S pre-orders start now. Available before Valentine’s Day
Sony has revealed more details of its Tablet S Android tablet with pre-order package details. The pre-ordering info on their website is still quite sketchy at this point but the Tablet S models and pricing are revealed as follows:
- Sony Tablet S (16GB WiFi) – RM1,499
- Sony Tablet S (32GB WiFi) – RM1,799
For those that pre-order, they will get an exclusive ST Slip Case worth RM139. At the bottom, it is stated that estimated shipping time for Sony Tablet S pre-order package will begin tomorrow 28th January 2012 but no ideas what does that mean right now.
According to a tip from Fizie, My Sony & Sony Store members are being notified that they can get a Tablet S at Sony Store KLCC and at The Curve on 12-13 February 2012 with their exclusive booking numbers. That’s just couple of days before Valentine’s Day which falls on the 14th February.
Just a little recap on the Tablet S, the 9.4″ tablet runs on dual-core 1GHz Tegra 2 processor, comes with 1GB of RAM and weighs 598g. In terms of thickness, it is between 10.1mm at the thinnest point to 20.6mm at the thickest. When announced, it was running on Android 3.1 but it is upgradable to Android 3.2. For imaging, it comes with a 5MP camera at the back and a 0.3MP VGA camera in the front.
For more information, head over to the Sony Tablet S page.
Thanks to @fizie76 for the alert!