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Sophisticated Voice Commands the Next Big Step For Smartphones, Says Woz

Posted by Soulskill on from the tea-earl-grey-hot dept.

splitenz writes "Sophisticated voice commands will be the next big step for the development of smartphones, according to Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak. 'We have gotten down to such tiny devices with amazing computers inside with all the human senses; vision, hearing, touch, location acceleration and movement. I don't want to click buttons anymore and I just want to do things without having to think about which buttons to click.' He was speaking at the Australian Chamber Business Congress. Wozniak also sees a continuing place for touchpads."

18 of 93 comments (clear)

  1. I don't want to have to yell at my phone in public by h4rr4r · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I don't want to have to yell at my phone in public, I don't want to have to remember which keywords to say.

    I have google voice search and other the other crap it does, I never use it. It is far easier, faster and less annoying to myself and others to type in what I want.

  2. Yeah sure by nitehawk214 · · Score: 4, Funny

    We can have more people yelling into their phones. "Call Frank. No, not Balls Sank! CALL FRANK!"

    --
    I'm a good cook. I'm a fantastic eater. - Steven Brust
    1. Re:Yeah sure by spongman · · Score: 2

      we just need voice recognition so we can speak the text of a message instead of typing it. on the receiver's phone they can have it read back to them by a voice synth.

  3. Yes and no. by LWATCDR · · Score: 2

    There are things I would love to do with voice on a mobile device. Play lists, nav, texting, dialing. What I do want is to live a world full fo people talking to their phones or themselves. Can you imagine a mall full of people using voice to text?
    Or more simply hell.

    --
    See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
  4. Re:I don't want to have to yell at my phone in pub by somersault · · Score: 3, Informative

    +1 concur.

    My Mac had voice commands in the 90s, but it didn't include useful stuff like being able to choose which file was selected etc, despite being able to open and close files/windows with it. Even if it could do everything that your mouse and keyboard can do, it's still faster to just use your hands for the most part. Voice command is great for people with disabilities, but on a smartphone in a busy environment, what's the point? It's either not going to work because of ambient noise, or you're just going to piss everyone off.

    Bonus clip.

    --
    which is totally what she said
  5. Re:I don't want to have to yell at my phone in pub by blahbooboo · · Score: 2

    Exactly my experience as well. Some limited voice commands I have found useful (play song, call this person, etc) but the others are often too much broadcasting of my activities

  6. Re:I don't want to have to yell at my phone in pub by Rei · · Score: 3, Funny

    Shut up friends. My internet browser heard us saying the word Fry and it found a movie about Philip J. Fry for us. It also opened my calendar to Friday and ordered me some french fries.

    --
    I just invaded Grammar Czechoslovakia and duped Grammar Neville Chamberlain; now it's on to Grammar Poland.
  7. Re:I want better.... by lxs · · Score: 3, Insightful

    That's nature's way of telling you to concentrate on the road.

  8. Re:I don't want to have to yell at my phone in pub by kinnell · · Score: 2

    This pretty much sums up my experiences with voice recognition technology.

    --
    If I seem short sighted, it is because I stand on the shoulders of midgets
  9. Re:I don't want to have to yell at my phone in pub by gnick · · Score: 2

    Some of the basics are just fine - Like when I'm driving it's convenient to say "Call ***** mobile" and have it ring my girlfriend. But for most other applications (games, calendar, movies), I'm going to have to interact with my phone anyway just because of the nature of the activity. What use is it to say "Play Fight Club" if I'm not going to be holding and viewing the device?

    --
    He's getting rather old, but he's a good mouse.
  10. Re:I don't want to have to yell at my phone in pub by bsharp8256 · · Score: 4, Funny

    I call my girlfriend ***** too.

  11. All I can see now by ebh · · Score: 2

    is Scotty talking into the Mac's mouse.

    1. Re:All I can see now by h4rr4r · · Score: 2

      And even in star trek they had to say "Computer" before they spoke. Yet, PADDS still took touch input since no one wants to say out loud, "Computer, interspecies gangbang porn with at least 3 sexes and a midget".

  12. Dilbert has discussed this... by idontgno · · Score: 2

    http://dilbert.com/strips/comic/1994-04-24/

    --
    Welcome to the Panopticon. Used to be a prison, now it's your home.
  13. Re:I don't want to have to yell at my phone in pub by wiedzmin · · Score: 3, Funny

    FORMAT C ENTER!

    --
    Bow before me, for I am root.
  14. Re:I want better.... by sed+quid+in+infernos · · Score: 3, Informative

    Only complete retards drive at 120-150mph on public roads.

    You missed a couple of important words: "relative speed." If you drive 60 MPH and oncoming traffic drives 60, then an accident with an oncoming car will be at 120 MPH relative speed.

  15. Re:I don't want to have to yell at my phone in pub by SiChemist · · Score: 3, Informative

    Android's voice commands do three of those:

    send text to
    directions to
    send email to

    --
    God is imaginary
  16. use speech to do complex stuff and it makes sense by schlachter · · Score: 2

    The idea is to use speech to do complex stuff or answer questions that would take multiple screen based input steps....

    "order me a pizza" (phone leverages location data, payment data, etc to order)
    "how long will it take me to drive to Frank's house from here?" (phone responds with time/mileage/cost)
    "When was the last time Mike called? (phone responds with date/time/call length etc.)
    "play me some Jay-Z music"
    "add an appointment for next Wednesday to see the doctor at 8am, alert me the day before"

    This is the kind of stuff that Apple is hopefully aiming for.

    --
    My God can beat up your God. Just kidding...don't take offense. I know there's no God.