“Google is now known to have applied for a patent that could give Google TV natural language voice commands of its own,” Electronista reports.
“The method would use a smartphone or tablet as a voice remote, optionally using a technique similar to Google Translate or Apple’s Siri where the commands are uploaded to a server and then deciphered,” Electronista reports. “It could be used for searching both TV and local content, and could send information to more than one computer or device on the network.”
Electronista reports, “The patent has seen an uncharacteristically quick application process and has gone from an initial filing on September 29 to a published, though not granted, listing just late last week. While it’s unlikely Google was directly aware, its application came just days before Apple unveiled the iPhone 4S and helped take voice commands mainstream. Multiple rumors have suggested that Apple was working on a Siri-powered TV set that would go one step further than Google’s proposal and let TV owners talk directly instead of through a proxy device.”
Read more in the full article here.
Jack Purcher reports for Patenly Apple, “The new remote will use voice controls associated with Google’s own cloud services. The user will be able to use their Android Phone as the remote to make inquiries about TV shows and the TV will list what’s available.”
“Apple has had a similar feature under Remote for several years now, but it doesn’t relate to live TV as Google’s will,” Purcher reports. “Google’s real competitor on this particular front will come from Samsung who just announced their latest TV remote with voice controls and a touch pad.”
Much more in the full article, including Google’s patent application illustrations, here.