Speech For Mobile Is Sputnik Moment For Apple

I've been writing about battery life since I started blogging.  But I think while that is one major aspect of mobile experience and this power issue has been show by Apple that we are nearing a time when worrying about finding and outlet will be a thing of the past, there is another battle front for the Cupertino company. And it is one that it's losing badly

That's voice control.  Google has demonstrated a natural integration of voice commands it balled "Voice Actions" into Android.  However, the iPhone's more rudimentary voice control is no where near what we have come to expect from Apple.  When Apple bought Siri last year, it was heralded as an important mobile moment where an intelligent voice system will be integrated into a mobile OS, not just simply voice commands.

However, even with iOS 5 this late in development, there is hardly any new information that showed a deep level Siri integration or anything that might have come of the Nuance rumors.  As a matter of fact, Nuance released its own Siri competitor, Dragon Go!, this July.  And yes, Siri is powered by Nuance as well.

If not from Apple, I like to see Dragon Go! improve upon what is already there.  Lack of innovation from Apple for such a long time could mean it has found no solution that is workable at the moment.  However, in the year since Apple bought Siri, there could have been a lot of work that we don't know about.  

Perhaps, Apple will surprise us next month.  Or at the very least, show us that it's trying by upgrading Siri.

Google's Flipboard Killer Will Be Popular For Those Who Live In Google Sphere

Google is working on their own version of Flipboard.  And from what we can tell based on its past work on the news and media apps, I think it'll be a winner to a certain extent.  First, let me say that there is not a whole lot of details about this.

One aspect about this app that I can pretty much be sure about is its tablet aspect.  And we might see this once Android 4 is out.  It could be a selling point of a new breed of Android tablets.  And you can bet that it'll be very sociable.  You can bet that Google Plus will be a part of any sharing that is related to the articles.  And Google News as well as Reader will both play big roles.

Will this make people want to switch from Flipboard to Google's new app, currently being dubbed the Propeller?  Well, I'm all for competition.  Keep in mind that CNN also has its own reader coming out.  And let's not forget Pulse News that is working on all mobile platforms.

At the end of the day, Propeller will have a big advantage over other readers because I'm sure Google will make it a default magazine styled app on all its Android devices.  And I'm sure over time, Google will not miss the opportunity to make it available on the iPhone and iPad.

Now, we'll just sit back and see if Google has a trick or two up its sleeves that might make its reader more appealing.  Simply copying what Flipboard is doing won't work.  Flipboard is very entrenched on the iPad now.  Google will have to really dazzle me if it wants to make me switch.

For Google, such an app could only have an appeal if the user already swears by all things Google.  

Lawsuits Could Force Google To Change Android Business Model - Might Be A Good For Google

According to FOSS Patents, Google maybe forced to change how the Android business works and it could mean that Google could do better because of it.  However, it would change how Android is perceived in the market place and make it less appealing to device makers.  

According to the lawsuit taking place between Google and Oracle, a win by Oracle could mean that anyone who activates an Android device, whether its sanctioned by Google or just a Chinese device maker going into business for itself with its own Android variant, Amazon and Barnes and Noble activating millions of Android based devices, or Baidu using it to create its own mobile ecosystem, Google may be on the hooks to pay Oracle a per device fee if Oracle wins.

The only option at that time is for Google to prevent Android form being used in the manners I described above.  After all, why should Google pay for someone else's mobile success in which it doesn't make money from them.

This will radically change how mobile devices view Android, and, in turn, case us mobile warriors to change our buying habits.  Google may be forced to charge its partners to pay Oracle.  And while this is no different than if HTC, Samsung, or anyone else licensing Windows Phone from Microsoft, Microsoft did not just buy a mobile device maker but Google did.

Google will no doubt give Motorola preferential treatments.  And what we may see is that Google will owning both the OS and hardware, not very different from the way Apple owns its OS and hardware.  

But I assure you that when it happens, it would be entirely coincidental.  This would not have been the route that Google anticipated.  

Voice Commands Could Put Us Closer To Star Trek Like Computer Commands

I always like how characters in science fiction novels and books are able to interact with their computers in ways that seem beyond the reach of anything we have here.  Computers that can interact with us as holograms or through auditory inputs and outputs.

Google's Voice Actions are pretty good and second to none in the mobile market.  Apple's Siri is impressive but nothing close.

However, third party solutions are paving the way for innovation in this field.  Couple with voice commands and better AI, we have Star Trek like interactions with our computers and mobile sooner rather than later.

So meet the Voice Chat Robot app that is leaps and bounds beyond what's on the market.

More at Greenjava.

I'm hoping that Apple will update Siri beyond what we already see.  Siri is pretty cool to use but it doesn't make us want to use it very much.  I've also used Dragon Dictation on the iPad and I hope that'll improve with iOS 5 as well.

Reading on A Mobile - We Aren't Doing It Enough

I had to go bring something to my dad this morning at his temple. I took advantage of the down time and decided to use it to write, game, and read.

So I decided to just read for a while. An ebook. Deadline by Mira Grant. Feeds was on the Nook and Deadline on the Kindle. I know, why mix the format? I have no idea why I did that.

I sat in one of the lectures but with language barrier keeping me from knowing that was being discussed, I decided to amuse myself a bit.

I read about 30 minutes. You know? It's one of those things that we don't do enough.

I started off on this with the original ebook reader, the Palm III.

I have so much distractions on the Anroid and iOS devices that reading ebooks hasn't really been an activity I do enough of.

According to a study commissioned by Intel and Microsoft, computer power efficiency has doubled every 18 months.

It has an additive effect. As components become smaller and faster, or through other innovations like faster memory, graphics card, and efficient screens, the system as a whole becomes more efficient.

Interestingly, no mention of how more efficient programming or better coding could also make the system become even more efficient.

Source: Greenjava.

iPhone: Rumors, Conjectures, Wishful Thinking, and Clandestine Sources

It's been a slow news week for Apple. Certainly, Steve Jobs' resignation as CEO of Apple still has people buzzing some what but that was fine for a while. Now, I think the blogs that report on the Apple world wants to move on. And it really shows. Take this post from the NY Times. It basically summarizes all the rumors and minute details about the next iPhone that we have already read about on the blogs. It claims that the iPhone is only weeks ago. Heck, that's what I've been saying as well. And I didn't need the NY Times to tell me that. It just seems that mainstream media has been quite behind on this. It's likely that the Times, WSJ, Bloomberg, and others are just being used to spread information, mostly disinformation. And their willingness to participate is just shows that they're no different from blogs. In fact, I think most blogs have better sources and information than anything one else. That the NY Times would just take information from all the blogs out there and summarize them and claim that they came from sources is just, well, you fill in the blank. You've noticed that I haven't included a link to them. The reason is obviously. I won't perpetuate what they are doing. But it doesn't mean that just because the NY Times have not been able to develop their own information that the Apple related blogs are not moving forward. It's nothing that is going to tell us what the specs of the next iPhone will have or when we'll finally get them on the market. But the cycle of news coming out shows that something we are closer than ever. For instance, we've seen screen protectors, cases, and chatters from carriers and even Apple itself about iOS 5. While they don't tell us anything else about the next iPhone, we can expect Apple to dazzle us. After all, the mobile war is heating. From what I'm seeing, Android devices coming out in the next month or two will be sporting some pretty impressive specs. Apple would be wise to have been prepared for that. For months now, top Android devices have been powered by dual core mobile processors while the iPhone is still using the A4 chip, the original chip that came with the iPad last year. If Apple does upgrade the chip in the next iPhone, that leaves the screen, camera, battery life, and the design. Personally, I like to see an 8 to 10MP camera capable of 1080p recording, larger screen even if we just leave the resolution as it is, and, most important of all, battery life like the iPad 2. As for the design, I'm happy with the iPhone 4 design but if Apple does somehow make the next iPhone lighter and thinner, I could go for that as well. Now, see how I've written this post. It's not rumors. It's not information left by mysterious sources at the foot of my front door. Rather, they are conjectures and wishful thinking on my part.