Microsoft‘s recent 2019 Voice Report shows that usage of Google Assistant and Siri are tied at 36%, while 41% of survey respondents are concerned about privacy.
Search: Google Assistant
Google Assistant Can Read Your Kids a Bedtime Story
If you have Google Assistant and the latest version of Google Play Books on your iOS device, it can now read your kids a bedtime story.
Ahead of National Tell a Story Day taking place on Saturday, youngsters now have more ways to hear a bedtime tale. As of today, the feature will be available on iOS and Android phones in English in the US, UK, Canada, Australia and India.
Sounds like a great feature. When I asked Siri to read me a bedtime story, she said: “Next you’ll be asking me for a glass of milk. And a dark matter cookie.” Damnit Siri, that doesn’t even make sense.
Google Duplex Rolling Out to Google Assistant on iOS
Google Duplex is a feature that lets the Google Assistant make reservations on your behalf. The company is starting to roll out the feature to iPhones and other non-Pixel phones.
The support site for Duplex lists the iPhone as being part of this rollout, with Android phones simply requiring Android 5.0 or higher to use the automated calling service. iOS users simply need to have the Google Assistant installed to get started.
Macaulay Culkin is Home Alone with the Google Assistant
Macaulay Culkin recreated scenes from the classic Christmas movie Home Alone in Google’s latest advert. Reprising his role as Kevin McCallister, the clip showed Mr. Culkin adding aftershave to a shopping list, setting reminders, and fighting intruders with the help of the Google Assistant.
Siri Improves in Loup Ventures AI Showdown, Still Trails Google Assistant
Loup Ventures conducted its annual test to see how popular voice assistants perform, and Apple’s Siri came in second behind Google Assistant.
The Voice Assistant War: Alexa and Google Assistant Versus Siri
We’re still in the early stages of voice assistant technology so we can’t declare a winner yet, regardless of which you prefer. Based on what we’re seeing, however, Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant are putting Apple’s Siri in a serious catch up position.
Google Duplex, Voice Assistants, and AI - TMO Daily Observations 2018-05-10
Kelly Guimont, John Martellaro, and Bryan Chaffin join Jeff Gamet to share their thoughts on Google Duplex and what human-like voice assistants will have on our conversations.
The Alexa Assistant, OK Google, and Lots More in one Full-Featured Speaker
Say hello to the first standalone device to give you the Alexa assistant, OK Google, and plenty more. The folks at Indiegogo have more than funded the Clarity Speaker. Still, you can preorder yours until the end of April 2017. One great thing about Clarity is you get a portable Bluetooth and Wi-FI speaker with a seven-inch fully-featured touchscreen. Additionally, Clarity includes a built-in Alexa assistant and “OK Google” functionality. It’s also a fully functional Android tablet, running Android 6.0 Marshmallow. Clarity Speaker is extremely portable, weighing less than two pounds. The device is powered by a quad-core processor. Clarity includes two 5-watt speakers and a 2MP camera. Internally, you’ll have access to 16GB of memory. You can expand storage with a micro SD card. The speaker is available for preorder at US $149 until April 30, 2017. The regular retail price is $199, and the device begins shipping in June.
Google TV App Arrives for iOS to the Apple App Store
Google TV is now available for iOS users. The new Google TV app replaces Google Play Movies & TV, much like it did on Android.
Apple TV+ Becomes Available on Chromecast with Google TV
The Apple TV app and TV+ streaming service, are now available on Chromecast with Google TV, with more devices to be added in the future.
Apple Music is Now Available on Google Nest Speakers
Google announced on Monday that Apple Music is now available on its Nest product line of speakers, like Nest Audio, Nest Hub Max, and Nest Mini.
Siri and Google Seek to Address ‘All Lives Matter’ Queries
Both Google and Apple have updated voice results responding to queries around the phrase “all lives matter.” The Google Assistant provides a better answer, reported 9to5Mac, but Siri does still point users to the Black Lives Matter website.
Siri’s response is accurate, but Google provides a far better explanation of why ‘all lives matter’ is tone-deaf. Siri does, though, go on to point people to blacklivesmatter.com. ‘All lives matter’ is a response often given by overt racists, but is also used by some who simply fail to understand that there are issues which affect black people more than others. There have been many attempts to reach the latter through tweets, essays, Reddit posts, videos, and cartoons. A few of these can be found below.
Sonos Suing Google Over Alleged Patent Infringemenets
Sonos launched legal action against Google, alleging that the search giant stole its multiroom speaker technology.
Sonos Move: Portable, Weatherproof, Water Resistant, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Voice-Assistant Speaker
In a move that simultaneously felt like a very natural evolution of their product line as well as (finally?) answering every unrequited request ever made of the company, Sonos today announced Sonos Move, a portable, battery-powered, water resistant, weatherproof, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi speaker.
Germany Orders Google to Stop Human Review of Voice Recordings
On the same day that Apple pauses Siri grading, a Germany privacy watchdog ordered Google to stop its human review of voice snippets.
Google Contractor That Leaked Audio Data Investigated
After a report found a Google contractor accessed and leaked Google Home recordings, the company says it will investigate.
Former Siri Chief Bill Stasior Talks Virtual Assistants
Bill Stasior previously led Siri development at Apple. He sat down to discuss virtual assistants and how they can improve in the next 3-5 years.
Jumbo Privacy Assistant Can Manage Your Social Media
Jumbo is a privacy assistant that can manage your social media. It can delete your old tweets, manage your Facebook privacy settings, delete your Google search history, and delete your Alexa voice recordings. Jumbo has no servers, so your data doesn’t leave your iPhone. When it comes to deleting tweets, there are several options to choose from, like tweets from the past day, week, month, and year. Due to Twitter’s API limitations, Jumbo can only clean 3,200 tweets at a time. Instagram and Tinder are coming soon to the app, so you can clean your Instagram photos and videos, and delete Tinder matches and messages. Personally, I also hope support for deleting Reddit posts and comments will come in the future. App Store: Free
Google Turns Down Volume on Apple Music for Google Home Rumours
It looks like Google Home users are not going to be able to get Apple Music on their device, despite recent rumours.
Cortana no Longer an Alexa or Google Home Competitor
Microsoft no longer sees its Cortana digital assistant as a competitor to the more popular Alexa and Google Home. The company’s CEO, Satya Nadella, said that it should be further integrated with its rivals’ platforms instead, The Verge reported. Microsoft and Amazon already partnered for some Cortana/Alexa integration, and this is clearly where Microsoft intends to take the product next – more of an app or service across multiple platforms, not hardware to be sold.
CEO Satya Nadella revealed that Microsoft no longer sees Cortana as a competitor to Alexa or Google Assistant. “Cortana needs to be that skill for anybody who’s a Microsoft 365 subscriber,” explains Nadella, referencing Microsoft’s new consumer subscription push. “You should be able to use it on Google Assistant, you should be able to use it on Alexa, just like how you use our apps on Android and iOS so that’s at least how we want to think about where it’ll go.”
HomePod Getting Smarter but Still Trails Google Home
Apple’s HomePod is getting smarter, according to a new report by analysts at Loup Ventures, but it still trails Google Home.
Apple Hires Google's AI Chief, Tim Cook Touts His Commitment to Privacy
In a letter to employees, Tim Cook said that John Giannandrea shared Apple’s commitment to privacy and “our thoughtful approach” to machine learning.
Tech Spec Showdown: Apple HomePod vs Amazon Echo vs Google Home
Apple HomePod, Amazon Echo, and Google Home can all stream music, but how do they stack up against each other?
CES – TiVo Demos Alexa, Google, and IFTTT Integrations, Coming in February
LAS VEGAS – TiVo has been making a lot of changes to its user interface lately, and it’s not all just on the surface. Under-the-hood they’ve added some hooks and been hard at work putting all the pieces together for some pretty impressive third-party integrations. Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant integrations are pretty far along, and TiVo is close to getting certifications for both of those, likely being available before the end of February. More than just turning TiVo on and off, these voice assistant integrations allow for fairly granular controls, including channel changing, play/pause, rewind, and even commercial skip. IFTTT integrations take this one step further, allowing bidirectional communications. This means TiVo could tell IFTTT that the “press D to Skip” icon is on the screen, and that could trigger an IFTTT skill to send the “skip” message back to TiVo. Yep, auto-skip is available and I’ve seen it in action! Even better news: IFTTT integration will work all the way back to Series 4 (Premier) units and doesn’t require the new Hydra UI (except auto-skip actually will require Hydra, at least at launch). Look for more from TiVo soon.