“Google has predicted its dominant web search engine will mean it will beat Apple in the race to turn the smartphone and other devices into intelligent, voice-controlled personal assistants,” Christopher Williams reports for The Telegraph.
“The rival technology giants are investing hundreds of millions of dollars in their competing services, Google Now and Siri, and the field is expected to be a major battleground for their mobile operating systems, Android and iOS,” Williams reports. “Both have teams of engineers working to crack the problems of making machines understand complex spoken questions and answer them in natural sentences. Google has said its goal is to create a service comparable to the computer of the Starship Enterprise in Star Trek that will become a new way to interact with the web and myriad other apps.”
“Scott Huffman, the Google engineering director leading the effort, said the company had a headstart on its competition because the way it calculates the rankings of search results gives its systems an understanding of the meaning of how language is used in the real world,” Williams reports. “Apple has apparently recognised Google’s advantage. This month it paid more than US$200 million ($245 million) to acquire Topsy, a start-up focused on finding patterns in the 500 million tweets posted on Twitter every day. Observers, including Nick Halstead, chief executive of Topsy’s British rival DataSift, have speculated that Apple will use the language analysis technology to improve Siri’s understanding of queries before it processes them or delegates them to third-party web services.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: It’s good to have goals.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “James Wigg” for the heads up.]
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Apple’s $200 million for Topsy buys a lot of interesting things – December 4, 2013
With Topsy Labs acquisition, Apple gets rich Twitter data – December 3, 2013
Apple buys Twitter analytics startup Topsy Labs for $200 million – December 2, 2013
I think I hate Google more with each passing day.
That statement was predicted by google’s spliff smoking poodle while doodling a google woofle
I am the same. I do use their search engine, but only because sometimes Yahoo irritates me.
I’m no fan of Google and I can agree which that sympathy, but what in particular in this article evoked that statement?
Well, I disliked them for ripping off the iPhone and because of that I won’t ever trust them as a company again, especially handling any of my personal information.
Now they’re beating their chests and saying they have to “beat Apple.”
Clearly they’re miles behind Apple. Nexus 5 only runs 70% faster, 100% more RAM than a 5S at half the price. Awful rip off.
I wish Apple would allow users to enter the URL of their search engine of choice to be the default. I NEVER use Google because its searches are biased and inaccurate because of what it knows about you (combined with the browsing of anyone else who happens to use your computer). Years of data mining and attempting to monetize everything Google knows about you inherently biases the search results. That is why I use http://www.DuckDuckGo.com for the vast majority of my searches. They do not data mine or track your every move like most other search engines. You will find that you will be seeing fewer ads, phone solicitations, and junk emails from companies that are pursuing you based information that Google has sold to them about your Google Searches, Gmail, etc.
Sorry about my typo in the last sentence of the my post, above. It should read “. . . based on information that Google has sold them . . .”
If the way Google calculates the rankings of search results is any indication, this will be a one horse race. (And the stables are in Cupertino.)
Didn’t gaggle pay 12.5 billion dollars for freaking Moto? At least Apple will get their monies worth.
Yeah, they paid that much money in hopes of being able to have the patents to sue Apple. If you can’t beat them: cheat, lie, steal, or sue them to win. That is Google/Samsung’s business model, also called being evil.
Well, with Eric T Mole in their board and his twisted perception of the right and wrong, I’m pretty sure they think building dumb devices with android is so smart. So what is their concept of intelligent device? putting stupidity into a device? yes sure they will beat apple at that..
“By the summer of 2012, the majority of the televisions you see in stores will have Google TV embedded.” – Eric Schmidt, December, 2011.
Folks, I think you are underestimating the enemy. Google has very smart folks. In fact they are recruiting Apple smart folks at a pretty good clip. There is a different mentality at Google, they do not mind making beta projects and hobby projects. Already I hear the new GoogleGlass app for iOS works better than the Android software. Google is not a one trick pony, it has real imagination. The speech race will be interesting.
They’re just an ethically bankrupt company that lies at turn, so if you’re okay with that, I guess you can be excited about them being “smart folks.”
He didn’t say he was ok with that, and he didn’t say he was excited. He stated what he thinks is happening. Google does have smart people. Google does not mind beta and hobby projects. Those are not the problems with Google, those are its assets. The problems at Google exist at the top.
I hear you man. I don’t care for the android platform but no one can deny they are leaving their mark and a lot at apples expense. And they don’t mind putting new things out there. Cars that drive themselves, glasses or search recognition: these guys will try new things put beta on it and see where it goes. They got the money and talent there to make apple have to work extra hard to keep pace.
I can see search engines becoming less and less relevant. A lot of the time the stuff I search for I know will pretty much be found on wikipedia, or imdb, or on a shop like amazon – at least on a general basis. If I’m looking for something very specific or want to widen my search then I go to a search engine, but day to day I could honestly live without one.
Apple has never rushed anything to market. Google thinks it is a race. Samsung also thinks first to market means something. We’ll guess what, it doesn’t. If you bring crap first to market it will sell like crap! Apple did not bring the iPod, iPhone, or iPad before other devices were already out for at least 2 years or more.
Being first does not mean anything.
They did bring Apple maps to market too soon, but Google’s refusal to produce a high quality product for iOS forced them to do it. Expect Google was also trying a little black mail. In turn Apple forced Google’s hand to produce a good product by doing it. Since most user now like Apple maps Google lost.
Yes, I think that’s right. Apple called Google’s bluff and Google had to capitulate and do what Apple had wanted all along, without Apple giving in to Google’s unreasonable demands.
reminds me of early adoption of osX when adobe very quickly ported iDesign to osX but Quark who was super-king of the hill and waited and waited and waited and then lost big, big.
You mean like how MSFT beat Apple to tablets?
Personally,I think that apple should develop a search engine not based on violating your privacy and put a Google out of business
How hard can that be after all Microsoft put out a decent search engine
Vaporbrag
Nice coinage, may it enter the vernacular
I truly believe Apple doesn’t want to release something until it’s as close to perfect as possible. Apple got burned on a few things for releasing products too soon. Apple Maps is a good example. Scott Forestall got fired, that was a big thing. It’s a shame they had to lose Scott and the talent and expertise he brought to Apple.
Tim Cook is a very astute leader. I feel that he’s not so full of himself to believe he’s perfect. I’m sure he did a lot of self reflection, and accordingly, rethought his strategy.
I think Apple is sitting on a plethora of new devices, software, and products that are being tested and perfected as we speak. When all this is revealed, the naysayers are going to be put in their place big time.
Nobody wants to know more what Apple has up its sleeve more so than Apple’s competitors. We really have to be real here. Without Apple, their competition doesn’t have a clue. There is not one single company that can come out with something totally new, and have it be a huge success the way Apple has shown time after time. Surface RT, Google Glass, Microsoft’s Touch technology, Google watch, are all struggling products. Notice, none of these products were copied technology from Apple.
The reason being, all these products were released far before they’re ready. People don’t have a clue what to do with these products when they get them. There’s a reason we haven’t seen the iWatch, it’s not ready. Until it’s as near perfect as possible, with some really useful cool features and a way to develop for the device, Apple isn’t going to release it.
Apple makes devices people want, while others release products for the sake of being first. That’s a bad strategy. I’m looking forward to 2014, and I don’t have a clue what Apple is going to release and debut. Whatever it is, it’ll be very cool. Especially compared to the offerings from their competitors. The haters can say what they will. Truth be told, without Apple leading the way, we’d all be living in an abyss of mediocrity in regards to electronics and technology.
Apple became a success when Jobs came back and cut the number of products Apple was selling. He concentrated on 4 things that Apple was good at. I would not like to see Apple become like Samsung or Sony. Getting into search would be as big a mistake as was maps. And search engine without harvesting user’s data would not make any money. Phones, iPads, Macs and software that supports them. That is enough, that is plenty for success.
If you look at the back door, you’ll see a little something sneaking in, and it’s called SIRI.
There’s only one problem with that logic: Yamaha makes a wide range of products, from drums to bikes. Many, many others seem to do just fine at diversifying, but for whatever reason Apple can’t do more than three things well.
Wait! What was that Google said after they heard about Siri?
First thing they said was, “Oh shit!”. Then they said, “It’s a gimmick!”.
Now all of a sudden it’s a RACE to a better SIRI?
Right, because you left out the time lapse between responses.
Between “It’s a gimmick” and the race was that time period where use of their search engine went way down on iOS devices, and advertising revenue from mobile placement went way down.
“Google has said its goal is to create a service comparable to the computer of the Starship Enterprise in Star Trek”
I see Google has found someone else to copy.
Small error, let me fix that for you:
“I see Google has found someone else whose ideas it wants to rip off.”
There. Much better 🙂
Skynet…
Use DuckDuckGo.com for your searches. It works quite well for most typical searches. You can avoid the Empire with a little conscious effort. Why give Google business when you don’t have to?
Or, for those times when you find Google to be the most useful search engine: Use a tracking cookie removal tool (among other privacy tools) to stop Google from surveilling you around the Internet. I do! Then you can LEACH off Google whenever you like with zero repercussions and zero buck benefits to their frequently evil corporation. It’s fun! 😉
One smells fear. Google is afraid of something.
You are right. Android is a mess. Google and Samsung are losing patent lawsuits all over the world and it will be very difficult to copy anything new Apple does without an instant lawsuit in response. If Samsung and others (some Android vendors already are) are forced to pay royalties to Microsoft, Oracle and others the cost advantage disappears.
By stealing the IP of others, Google has built an empire on crumbling foundations and therefore liable to collapse.
In the meantime Google has lost much of the advertising business for the highest spending mobile users. It surely won’t be long before Apple finds a way to wean iOS users entirely away from The Evil Empire.
Apple didn’t make the first MP3 player, they didn’t make the first tablet computer. Nor did they make the first phone. But strangely enough, when people think of each of those device categories, they always remember Apple’s products!
Apple invented the Newton, what is considered The First Tablet Computer. Name a tablet computer that came before the Newton please.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Newton
My old phrase: Competition is the father of innovation.
I’m glad for this competition. But calling these expert systems “intelligent” is quite a stretch. They’re not going to pass any Turing Test. What we’ve been calling ‘intelligent’ for decades is incredibly meagre.
Then add to that the constantly questionable level of ‘intelligence’ of the human species, we creatures who can’t figure out how to stop our self-destructive wars and rampant over-population. We think we can create an ‘artificial intelligence’ when we haven’t even reached an actual level of ‘intelligence’ ourselves. Artificial insanity is about all we’re capable of at this point in our evolution.
Expert Systems: Those we can handle.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expert_system
Doesn’t matter who’s first out of the starting gate in the product race, what matters is who has the best horse at the finish line. So far Apple has produced all the champion horses everyone wants to breed to so they can duplicate it.
Sure Google can achieve artificial intelligence quicker. Then Apple will leap frog them and deliver real intelligence.