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Google butts heads with Apple in voice assistant arena


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With Apple Inc. reportedly planning to expand Siri - its voice-activated assistant - to its other devices, search giant and mobile rival Google is now planning its own potential artificial intelligence (AI)-based competitor.
 
A report on TechCrunch said the Google product, initially dubbed "Assistant," can even potentially go beyond Siri and let app developers in on the action.
 
"Unlike Apple with Siri, Google is planning on extending this service to developers so they can build novel things. Imagine the possibilities for apps, websites, etc interested in hooking into ‘Assistant’?" it said.
 
Citing one source, TechCrunch said Google higher-ups plan on unveiling the "Assistant" product by the fourth quarter of 2012, though they themselves are uncertain.
 
"Because our details are sparse for now, the fact that we might be missing a huge piece of this puzzle is also a possibility," it said.
 
On the other hand, it said Google will retain complete control of all the layers involved.
 
It also noted Google has had the in-house voice technology for ages and it hired Mike Cohen, who started Nuance.
 
Project components
 
TechCrunch cited sources as saying that the project, helmed by the Android team with the involvement of search engineer Amit Singhal, will have three parts:
 
  • Get the world’s knowledge into a format a computer can understand.
  • Create a personalization layer — Experiments like Google +1 and Google+ are Google’s way of gathering data on precisely how people interact with content.
  • Build a mobile, voice-centered “Do engine” (‘Assistant’) that’s less about returning search results and more about accomplishing real-life goals.
 
TechCrunch said Google has now set its ambitions beyond social and is focused wholeheartedly on building this “Do engine,” or goal oriented search.
 
It said that while 2011 was the year of social for Google, 2012 is the year of "Assistant."
 
Siri expansion?
 
TechCrunch also noted Google's latest project came amid reports of an Apple TV, as Apple works to solidify deals with content providers.
 
The report also cited earlier information that Apple is going to integrate Siri into Apple TV as well as other iOS devices. — TJD, GMA News
Tags: google, googleandroid, apple, appleiphone, applesiri
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