Software Technology Area

If there’s one area in which Apple is comprehensively trouncing the opposition right now (and no, it’s not the courtroom), it’s with Siri. Both Windows Phone 7.5 and Android phones offer voice recognition software, but Siri is streets ahead in terms of functionality and versatility. It’s a classic example of the Apple “it just works” motto: you can get Siri to call the nearest locksmith not just by saying, “Call the nearest locksmith” (quite impressive in itself), but also, “Help! I’ve locked myself out of my house!” Google is well aware of that Apple superiority, and is working frantically to close the gap. Android will launch Majel, probably early next year, its own natural-language voice recognition personal assistant.

Named for the late actress Majel Barrett-Roddenberry, the voice of “Computer” in Star Trek, Majel has come out of long-standing work into artificial intelligence by Google’s top secret Google X lab. Majel will make great use of Google’s search engine technology, providing fast, accurate answers to a variety of questions, but with that Siri-like AI to keep things running smoothly. One former insider claims that the AI research that led to Majel came out of a successful Google X project to design a robotic AI that could pass for human in conversation (that is, pass the Turing test). If true, this could mean that Majel is not just as good as Siri, but better still.

The Star Trek theming should prove a hit with tech fans, too. At present, the plan is for Majel to function much like Star Trek’s “Computer”, as might be expected: it won’t be designed to seem to have a separate personality, like Siri, but will simply be the phone responding directly to your queries and commands.

iPhone users can rejoice – for around £21.99 a year, you can now synch up your iTunes with Apple’s iCloud service, allowing you to store any music you own in the cloud, and listen to it anywhere, on any iTunes-enabled device. The new service, iTunes Match, launched in the USA earlier this year, but is now available in the UK too. Get it via the iTunes store.

Though the final assembly of most Apple products is done in the Far East, it’s just been revealed that the main processor, the A5, is currently being made in Austin, Texas, on Apple’s behalf, by their arch-rival Samsung. Although Samsung has worked closely with Apple in the past, supplying many components, the recent court battles between the two companies would probably put an end to their financial relationship – in any other industry. Clearly both companies are pragmatic enough to just carry on with business as usual, though, and let the lawyers sort things out while they each sell their phone deals in the hopes of outperforming the other.