Apple’s Siri, Google Voice Actions, the past and the future of voice control

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  • October 16, 2011 at 6:57 am

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iOS 5 Siri and Google Voice Actions for Android

Controlling a device with your voice is certainly nothing new. It’s been implemented time and time again and the execution has ranged from terrible, to gimmicky, to just ok, but it has never taken off. It’s been the sort of thing that you show off at family gatherings to impress older relatives but you never end up using.

It has existed on mobile devices for a while but with very limited capabilities. Feature phones could only do things like call up a number. Then, Google brought it on Android with Voice Search and Voice Actions expanding its capabilities. Now, Apple has officially taken a big step into voice control with iOS 5, the iPhone 4S and its personal assistant Siri. Could this mean that we will soon start using our devices in a different way?

Apple didn’t invent the artificial intelligence (AI) and voice recognition technology that makes Siri happen. In fact, Siri on iOS is the result of Apple’s purchase of same named company, Siri, and the use of third-party voice recognition technology (probably Nuance). But Apple has an incredibly successful history of doing exactly this, taking an existing but flailing technology, ironing out the quirks and making it the norm. The Macintosh made the mouse popular, the iPhone revolutionized touch-screen technology and Siri could be the beginning of a new way to interact with our devices.
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Samsung Galaxy Nexus and HTC Rezound find their way on Verizon MAP with November release date

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  • October 15, 2011 at 5:06 am

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Verizon MAP listing the Samsung Galaxy Nexus and HTC Rezound

Two hotly anticipated Android smartphones have found their way on a Verizon Minimum Advertised Price (MAP) table. This means two things, first a release date is getting near, and second, they will of course be carried by Verizon.

The first handset is the Samsung Galaxy Nexus (a.k.a. Nexus Prime), which we are expecting to be announced on October 19 (evening of October 18 in the U.S.). The second is the HTC Rezound (a.k.a. Vigor or DROID Incredible HD).
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Panasonic GH2 MFT camera hacked to record video at an insane 176Mbps

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  • October 14, 2011 at 8:35 am

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Panasonic GH2 MFT digital camera

Panasonic designed the GH2 Micro Four Thirds camera to also shoot great video and the digital camera has received a warm embrace by the amateur video community. Out of the box the GH2 can shoot full HD 1080i video at the maximum AVCHD bitrate of 24 Mbit/s (Mbps).

Leave it to the hacking community to achieve what even Panasonic’s engineers would not have though possible. Not too long ago the GH2 received the hacking treatment with a custom firmware courtesy of user ‘Vitaliy’ which unlocked the GH2 to new possibilities. Well, testers have been pushing the envelope since then and a recent contribution by user ‘Driftwood’ has pushed the GH2 to record video at a whopping 176Mbps in a format titled AVCHD Intra.

What’s incredible is that the GH2 can actually manage such a high bitrate, this is by far the highest for any mirrorless or DSLR camera out there. You can catch two videos recorded at this setting after break, showing off the amazing picture quality.
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The universal translator is one step closer, Google Translate for Android can now do speech-to-speech translations in 14 languages

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  • October 13, 2011 at 4:53 pm

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Star Trek universal translator - Google Translate

Although it can’t yet translate any alien languages (we’ll have to find some aliens first), Google Translate for Android can now do speech-to-speech translations in 14 languages. That’s right, you can talk to your Android phone, it works in the background and in turn speaks out the translation in the desired language.

The function, called Conversation Mode, had been available in English and Spanish and has now expanded to Brazilian Portuguese, Czech, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin Chinese, Polish, Russian and Turkish.

The technology is still in alpha, so performance can be sketchy; at least you can’t unintentionally start an intergalactic war, yet. The accuracy of the translations will improve as more people use the software and provide feedback.
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Google and Samsung Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich event on October 19 in Hong Kong

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  • October 13, 2011 at 3:08 pm

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Google and Samsung Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich event invite

The original event on October 11th was cancelled, which certainly created a lot of disappointment and anxiety to all those who can’t wait to get the official word on Google’s latest and greatest Android release, Android 4.0, code-named Ice Cream Sandwich.

Google and Samsung have just sent invites to a joint event to take place in Hong Kong on October 19 (October 18 in the US).

As with all previous big Android releases, we’re expecting a new Nexus device to be the first to carry the new operating system, and well, Samsung is the lucky manufacturer this time around. The Nexus Prime (or Galaxy Nexus) is expected to be a killer device, with a 4.65-inch Super AMOLED display sporting an HD 1280×720 resolution.

You can get a good look of both the Nexus Prime and Ice Cream Sandwich right here.

On the launch day, you will be able to get a taste of Ice Cream Sandwich directly from Google as the event will be streaming live at youtube.com/android. The event starts at 10am HKT, 3am London time on the 19th, and 10pm on the 18th EST.

When a smartphone becomes art: the making of the HTC EVO 3D mural (video)

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  • October 13, 2011 at 12:54 pm

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HTC EVO 3D mural

HTC decided to take a more original approach in promoting the EVO 3D in Poland. The smartphone company commissioned a huge ‘promotional’ graffiti on a wall in the capital Warsaw.

Curious onlookers watched as the mural of an EVO 3D with buildings popping out of the screen — to remind us of its 3D abilities — slowly took shape. What can we say, great looking phone, and great looking street art. Definitely a 10 for HTC on creativity.

HTC EVO 3D mural video

The video of the full escapade is after the break.
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Stuff-Review giveaway: win a B&N Nook Color, leather case and 4GB microSD card

FeaturedNews

  • October 12, 2011 at 4:55 pm

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Nook Color and leather cover Stuff-Review giveaway

We’ve decided it’s about time for another giveaway and what would be a better gift for a tech (and book) loving Stuff-Review follower than Barnes & Noble’s e-Reader/tablet, the Nook Color.

We’ve covered the NC extensively in our original review, and our overall opinion was quite positive. You can also check how it holds up to the one year younger Kindle Fire. We’re giving away our trusted review unit, running the official version 1.3, together with a B&N leather cover to protect your loot and a SanDisk 4GB microSD card to store all your extra media.

The competition is a simple tweet/retweet and follow until we reach 2,000 followers. To win, simply retweet or tweet about this competition (including @stuffreview and of course the link to the competition in your tweet) and follow us on Twitter. We will pick a winner as soon as we reach 2,000 followers and notify the lucky one, both on this page, and via Twitter.

Full rules can be found after the break.
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PSA: AmazonWireless has all Verizon phones up for a penny

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  • October 12, 2011 at 2:06 pm

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AmazonWireless Verizon penny sale

AmazonWireless is running a sale on all available Verizon phones. All phones can be had for only a penny, including free two-day shipping, for a new line of service. The offer is valid until October 17 and while supplies last.

Phones on sale include the Motorola DROID BIONIC 4G, Motorola DROID 3 and the HTC Rhyme. Of-course there is no iPhone in sight, as AmazonWireless is not currently offering it.
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iOS 5 and Mac OS X Lion 10.7.2 now available for download

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  • October 12, 2011 at 12:49 pm

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Apple iOS 5 released

We’ve been expecting this day to come and you can now finally update your iOS devices — iPhone 3G, iPhone 4, all iPads, 3rd and 4th generation iPod Touch — to iOS 5. This is a major update to iOS with over 200 new features, including Notifications (at last), iMessage, Newsstand, Reminder and of course iCloud integration.

As we warned you yesterday, you will need to be running iTunes 10.5 to update your devices. So if you haven’t done already, check out our coverage.
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Motorola ATRIX 2 announced, gets a bigger screen, to be released Oct 16 on AT&T

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  • October 12, 2011 at 7:24 am

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Motorola ATRIX 2

Why mess with a good thing, that’s what Motorola must have though when it was designing the ATRIX 2. The update to the ATRIX Android handset maintains the same recipe as its predecessor, running on a dual-core 1GHz processor with 1GB of RAM, 8GB of built-in storage and the same candy-bar design. The biggest update in the ATRIX 2 is its bigger 4.3-inch (from 4.0-inches) screen with a qHD 960×540 resolution. The latest handset is also being released with Android 2.3 Gingerbread (although its older brother, is still stuck on Android 2.2). The ATRIX 2 has an 8MP back and VGA front cameras and can capture 1080p HD video.

It’s rumored that the ATRIX 2 carries a faster TI OMAP processor, ditching the NVidia Tegra 2 processor of the original ATRIX. Motorola has taken a step back with the battery, donning the new phone with a 1785mAh compared to 1930mAh for the ATRIX.

The ATRIX 2 will be available in the US on AT&T on October 16th for $99.99 with a two-year commitment. The phone touts AT&T’s HSPA+ for theoretical download speeds of up to 21Mbps. It shouldn’t take too long for the handset to travel to European shores as well.
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iTunes 10.5 up for download, becomes part of iCloud, paves the way for iOS 5 and iTunes Match

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  • October 11, 2011 at 2:53 pm

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iTunes 10.5 becomes part of iCloud

The latest update for iTunes is now available for download, and it should make iTunes fans very happy, especially those anxious to update their iOS device(s) (iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch) to iOS 5 tomorrow.

Version 10.5 brings Wi-Fi syncing for all iOS devices and iTunes in the Cloud, which means that all your Apple Store music and video purchases will be available on all your computers running iTunes. Most importantly the latest update paves the way for iOS 5; if you want to update your device starting tomorrow, you must be running the latest version of iTunes to do so, so our advice is to get downloading.

Finally the update should allow you future access to Apple’s $25 a year iTunes Match service, coming by the end of the month. iTunes will scan your library and give you access to high quality copies of your local music stored in Apple’s servers, accessible anywhere.

If you already have iTunes installed, click on “Check for Updates” within iTunes or the ‘Apple’ logo and “Software Update” on a Mac. You can also get it from this link.

Just a heads-up, that tomorrow is a big day for Apple related services and software with the, as mentioned, release of iOS 5, iCloud and an update to OS X Lion 10.7.2.
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Apple iPhone 4S tops over 1 million pre-orders in first 24 hours

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  • October 10, 2011 at 8:27 am

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iPhone 4S - HD video recording

Despite the lackluster reception by the tech community, the iPhone 4S has managed to break all previous pre-order records at Apple. The new smartphone has exceeded 1 million pre-orders in the first 24 hours since it went on sale. The record trumps the previous record set by the iPhone 4, which recorded 600,000 pre-orders in a single day. Though bear in mind that the iPhone 4 was carried only by AT&T on release, while the iPhone 4S now has AT&T, Verizon Wireless, and Sprint on-board.

The iPhone 4S will be available at Apple stores starting 8:00 a.m. on October 14, but based on previous experience, expect huge lines and stock to run-out quickly. Best to order it online, in our opinion, though this now entails a 1-2 weeks delay. You might want to spend that time constructively by reading on the iPhone 4S’ new features, like Bluetooth 4.0.

Full Apple press release after the break.
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The Zune HD portable media player is no more

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  • October 10, 2011 at 6:42 am

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Zune HD

We first reported that Microsoft would stop development of new Zune devices, although it would continue producing existing devices, back in March, together with our thoughts.

Well, after a bit of a roller-coaster ride, with Microsoft pulling the Zune HD from its website but then reinstating it, official word has come from the “Windows Phone Radio” podcast, that Microsoft will stop making the Zune HD. At around the 12:35 mark of episode 45, the comment made is: “we have the announcement that we’re not going to be making the Zune HD anymore”. We agree with the rest of the comment, it’s a bummer as there are a lot of fans out there.
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iPhone 4S to be the first smartphone with Bluetooth 4.0, opening the doors to a host of new applications

EditorialsNews

  • October 9, 2011 at 8:13 am

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iPhone 4S supports Bluetooth 4.0

You can count the number of devices supporting the Bluetooth 4.0 standard right now on the fingers of one hand. These include the 2011 Mac Mini and the MacBook Air, while the iPhone 4S is the first phone to support the standard. So what does Bluetooth 4.0 offer over the earlier versions.

Bluetooth 4.0 has two major advantages over earlier standards, first is BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy), a low-energy and low-latency mode, second is that it can wake up other Bluetooth 4.0 devices and do no-code pairing. Nevertheless, it remains backwards compatible with all earlier standards, so you can still connect all your legacy devices.
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