Google vs Apple over voice-controlled personal assistants
Algorithms are no longer enough to provide the best results
In terms of operating systems, there’s no surprise that Android and iOS hold the main event spotlight as the last surveys confirmed their domination in the mobile world. The two rivals Google and Apple are already preparing for their next death match and this time they are about to climb a different stage of virtual personal assistants rather than the usual operating systems or mobile devices battles.
As it usually happens, Apple gets the head start as its Siri has already made its name and it’s easily associated with a voice control personal assistant. On the other hand, the Cupertino based company has knowledge of its Siri being limited in terms of capabilities and that immediately lead to actions of acquiring Topsy that is specially designed to analyse Twitter posts. No matter how it looks like, Apple doesn’t hold any interest regarding Twitter; instead the company centres on Topsy’s signature natural language tech and believes that would significantly improve Siri’s understanding of its users’ commands. That should happen before Apple hand over everything needed for other services to do their work.
On the other side of the ring, Google has also developed its fighting strategy. Google’s experience in the search business will easily allow the company to return search results that are more relevant with a new system that can differentiate idioms and common phrases from queries. In addition, Google has more experience and information when it comes to the user’s life and that would enable it to present relevant information to a user’s location when scouring emails and calendars for clues. With that being said, Google will face the challenge of acclimating its database in order to make the use of its personal assistance services more natural.
Algorithms are no longer enough to provide the best results and that’s why Google has employed human minds in order to ensure that Google Now will be able to give the best single result rather than laying on a whole list of possible ones. The whole idea is to get closer to a personal assistant with the intelligence of a Star Trek computer.
Source: Telegraph
