Apple’s Siri, which was unleashed in October as part of iPhone 4S, was designed to be an intelligent personal assistant. Employing natural language, Siri is geared up to answer questions, set reminder alarms, offer directions and make calls.
Besides this, there are a couple of Android apps available that competes with Siri. Now, the Google team have been diligently working on a voice assistant for Android, which was known as Majel, and was said to be branded after Majel Barrett-Roddenberry, the wife of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry.
Google did not respond to a request for comment. But TechCrunch, quoting unnamed source, said that the search engine giant would control all of the layers involved in Assistant.
Apart from this, Google is also planning to allow third-party developers to exploit the system so they can create their own unique apps. This opens the door for apps, websites and other cool stuff hooked into Google Assistant, a marked contrast from Apple’s Siri, which is a closed environment and off limits to outside developers.
According to a source: Google has been working with language technology for a number of years. The new project that is divided into 3 parts, would reportedly be headed by an Android team working with Google engineer, Amit Singhal, who has a background in speech technology.
According to Rob Enderle, an analyst with the Enderle Group, mentioned that Google is smart to come out with a Siri alternative, but the company should take care to make it a strong piece of software.
“Siri is a well-advertised iPhone feature and it seems to be pulling customers to that platform,” added Enderle. “However, Siri is far from perfect and can be annoying… A Google alternative would need to be truly comparable and marketed as such.”
Initially, the project was part of the earlier leaked Majel project from Google; however, now it is being taken up by the Android team as an attempt to expand the existing Voice Actions. Assistant would follow Siri’s lead by offering a “mobile, voice-centered ‘Do engine’” to help users accomplish specific goals rather than just deliver search results, the source told TechCrunch.
The move is pretty vital since arch rival Apple is obviously going to unleash the Siri power beyond smartphone devices by integrating it into Apple TV. Google cannot just sit and watch it.
However, due to Google’s recent privacy policy changes, users can now incorporate other Google products like Gmail, Google Docs, YouTube, Google Goggles, Google Maps, and the like. And by unifying these Google products makes a more intelligent profile, and with the integration of Google Assistant, all of these products can be accessed through voice commands.