Google has been working hard on its voice recognition capabilities; now, with the latest version of Android - named Jelly Bean - users do not need to be connected to the network to use it. This saves time as well as precious data transfer dollars (since the voice files do not need to be transferred to a distant server for recognition).
So who is doing better in the voice recognition wars? Take a look at this video comparison.
(Google's voice recognition vs. Apple's Siri)
Fans of Frederik Pohl know that he predicted this idea in detail in his 1965 novel The Age of the Pussyfoot:
"Self-programming" means that the programmed software includes procedures for translating most normal variations of voice, idiom, accent, and other variable modalities into a computer-oriented sim-script and thence into the mathematical expressions on which the computers operate. As long as your personal joymaker is within reception range of your voice, you may communicate via other shared-time transponders if you wish.
(Read more about Pohl's voice-enabled smartphone)
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