Microsoft is saying sayonara to Siri by letting you control apps with your voice. In Windows Phone 8, the next generation of Microsoft software for mobile phones, you can launch and control apps with your voice and have a conversation with your phone.
Siri is Apple's voice-controlled personal assistant, which answers requests for information from the web and controls certain core functions, like sending texts or setting reminders. But Microsoft's voice feature will be open to app builders so you could control any app by flapping your lips.
At the launch of Windows 8, a Microsoft bod demonstrated the speech function by asking the phone to play an episode of Game of Thrones, which it duly did. Another example is in a sat nav app that tells you as you're driving that you're going to be late -- the nag! -- and asks if you want the app to send a text informing the person you're meeting.
If app developers take on the speech function, it could be used to launch and control apps, send tweets and other social network updates, go straight to a particular song or video without hunting around for it, or even play games. Microsoft reckons apps can vocally prompt you too, like the sat-nav app mentioned above, creating a conversation as you repond with commands.
Precise details of the speech function are yet to be outlined, but I understand it's part of the TellMe platform that's integrated into the operating system. TellMe is also part of other Microsoft software and hardware, and is the same technology that lets you order your Xbox around.
Can Windows Phone 8 scupper Siri? Is voice control all it's cracked up to be or a waste of breath? Tell me your thoughts in the comments or on our Facebook page. They're not voice-controlled, I'm afraid, so you'll have to type your thoughts with your fingers. Sorry.
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anonymous 21 June, 2012 09:42
I've never heard anyone who actually uses Siri say that it's any good, it seems to be a myth perpetuated by some journalists, especially the part about Google's services not being in the same park as Siri or that Siri is the only real option, or that Siri was anything revolutionary. You can argue that it is a better service than the current competitors and it probably is, but you cannot seriously say that it is a vital service, a selling point of an iPhone 4s or iPad, or revolutionary.
What is though, is desperately marketed.
anonymous 21 June, 2012 09:59
Love the idea of voice control. I have the iPhone 4S. Siri is pretty cool, can get boring sometimes but still i rather have a phone with Siri then without it. This voice control for Windows phone sounds great. Got to keep trying new things and moving forward with new ideas. Everyone keeps going on and on about which phone is better between the iPhone 4s, HTC one, Samsung S3 .. i mean they all the same, with minor differences. It just depends on your taste of which phone is better designed and has a better layout... This voice control is something a bit different, so it sounds good.
George Bailey 21 June, 2012 12:24
Windows phone already has tell me and the third party application ask ziggy which are all on part with siri,this new approach is an advancement on that,by the way tell me is integrated into winphone 7on nokia lumia 800 and 900.go try it out at any store
Peter Hudson 21 June, 2012 13:38
Well hear me anonymous. I use Siri every day. In simple tasks like cooking I automatically use Siri to set timers. I use it to set reminders all the time. I use it for messaging. An I love it.
There is really only one thing that annoys me about it. It requires an internet connection even when doing local tasks. When I'm in the car, I use it to control the music. Problem is, I ask it to play something and it takes ages to send the request up when im on a slower internet connection. Can take up to a minute to start playing after I've asked for something.
I'm glad we are finally getting local listings. All that's left now is for apple to give developers the ability to let siri interact with their apps.
anonymous 4 October, 2012 17:03
The days of conversation as a mode for control are here. The future must bring better ways to interface with computing technology. Fast is key to productivity and has long been recognized but never capitalized on. "Remember the days of Scotty speaking to the Computer in old Star Trek shows." Just as touch has been out for a logn time at the local gas station and Grocery store. Touch and Speech can get the job done faster than a keyboard and mouse. Finally we have this capability. But it is infantile staged now and must improve. I expect Microsoft, Google and Apple will have a battle in the comming years to win the OS supremacy game and win the hearts of consumers. I am excited for all of us as this is only the beginning of another technology revolution that will ultimately propel us to new discoveries yet again. "Go ManKind!"