“Apple has just introduced voice as a major user interface and that its use of voice coupled with AI on a consumer product like the iPhone is going to change the way consumers think about man-machine interfaces in the future,” Tim Bajarin writes for Tech.pinions. “I have two theories about [Google]s and Microsoft’s] response[s] [downplaying Apple's Siri]. One is based on jealously and one that is future driven, based on what Siri really will become very soon and its ultimate threat to their businesses.”

“The first has to do with the fact that both companies have had major voice UI technology in the works in their labs for a long time. In the case of Microsoft I was first shown some of their voice research back in 1992. In Google’s case people in the know have told me that they have had a similar project in development for over 7 years. And in both cases they are way–way behind Apple–especially in Siri’s AI capabilities and speech comprehension technology,” Bajarin writes. “You can bet that if they were the one’s announcing a breakthrough voice technology they would be touting it as loud as possible. Instead they are downplaying it and to be honest, making real fools of themselves and their companies in the process.”

“But the real reason these two companies hate Siri is because of what it will become in the very near future,” Bajarin writes. “Siri is actually on track to become the first point of entrance to ‘search’ engines of all types tied to major databases throughout the world. And it will become the gatekeeper to all types of searches and in the end control what search engine it goes to for its answers. When it grows up, it will be the front end to all types of searches conducted on iPhones, iPads, Mac’s [sic] and even Apple TV. And, if I were Google or Microsoft, perhaps I too would be playing down the impact of Siri since they know full well that it is not just a threat to their product platforms, but to their core businesses of search as well. In fact, they should be quaking in their boots since Apple is taking aim at their cash cow search businesses with their technology and could very well impact their fortunes dramatically in the future.”

Read more in the full article here.

Roger Kay writes for Forbes, “If Siri takes a user straight to OpenTable, why ask Google anything about where to eat? It turns out that the major databases people really care about are pretty finite: weather, food, maps, entertainment content, and a few other things.”

“With Apple’s platform taking yet another leap ahead of the pack, not only will Google’s and Microsoft’s empires suffer, but content owners, whose databases Apple would like to tap, may also find themselves forced to do business on Apple’s terms,” Kay writes. “All this raises one big question. At what point will the U.S. government begin to perceive Apple as a black hole, which, in sucking in the rest of the industry, has become a detriment to consumer choice? If the federal authorities deem Apple anticompetitive, it will have to beat the rap or change. Meanwhile, look out everyone else!”

Read more in the full article here.

[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader "David E." for the heads up.]

MacDailyNews Take: As we wrote last week: The Siri-less are scared shitless. And rightly so.

[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader "Karla S." for the heads up.]

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