Siri

For Hire: Good Virtual Assistant for Android

Bonnie Cha in Product Reviews on May 24 at 6:01 am PT

Vlingo quietly gets the work done, while Speaktoit likes to have a little fun.

Being John Malkovich Means You’re Bored, and You’re Monkeying Around With an iPhone

Peter Kafka in Mobile on May 23 at 8:11 pm PT

Two new Siri ads, featuring the same iconic actor. The takeaway: He’s got a lot of time on his hands.

News Byte

Nuance, Will You Turn On the TV for Me?

Lauren Goode in News on May 9 at 8:05 am PT

Nuance, which makes voice-recognition technology, said today that it is powering the voice-control features in Samsung’s 2012 line of Internet-connected TVs. At the Consumer Electronics Show in January, Samsung showed off how its “smart” TV’s respond to voice commands to power-on, change channels, browse the Web and talk on Skype. Nuance has gotten a boost over the past year due to hype surrounding the iPhone 4S’s Siri, though it reported disappointing first-quarter earnings due to complex mobile relationships and delayed revenue.

Voices

There’s a Robot in Your Pocket

Amit Kapur, CEO & co-founder, Gravity in Voices on May 2 at 2:38 pm PT

When I was a kid, I dreamed of someday having my own robot. Today, I’m very excited to see my dream come true because, in fact, there is a robot in each of our pockets.