4 ms·

I tried the same test. Google got the translation right first try, and the first result, which returned in less than a second, had "over $20 billion in damage"

I tried the same test. Google got the translation right first try, and the first result, which returned in less than a second, had "over $20 billion in damage" visible. Siri took ~8 seconds to return "Ok sports fans, the Hurricanes appear to be in first place in the Southeast right now" followed by AHL team standings. Apple has a lot of catching up to do here. They're going to have to start translating client-side, which Google has obviously figured out, and they're going to need a data source as rich as Google. It think the first part will get done at some point, but how will they match Google on the data side?

cloudwalking 14y ago
They won't. They can't. It's important to remember that Apple is a hardware company with a software habit. Google is a software company. While I understand why Apple hates Google so much, I think breaking with Google is a mistake. Nobody can beat Google at software; Apple hardware + Google software is a wonderful combination, and if the two companies worked together we'd really see the apex of user experience.
- czhiddy 14y ago
  The hardware/software split is too simplistic a view. The companies have their various strengths and weaknesses. For example, the graphics stack on iOS embarrasses Android's. It took how many years and how many hardware advances before flagship Android got scrolling as smooth as the first iPhone? Another example: Google released Renderscript in early 2011 (http://android-developers.blogspot.com/2011/02/introducing-renderscript.html http://android-developers.blogspot.com/2011/02/introducing-r...) only to deprecate it a little over a year later (https://developer.android.com/about/versions/android-4.1.html#Renderscript https://developer.android.com/about/versions/android-4.1.htm...). We can cherry pick examples all day long, but the bottom line is that each company excels at certain things. It's interesting how Samsung is basically stuck to Google at this point. I'm sure they'd love to switch to their own Bada or Android fork and capture more of the profit, but Samsung is absolutely abysmal at software.
  - RyanMcGreal 14y ago
    Google is a data company and its design approach is data-driven; whereas Apple is a design company and its data approach is design-driven.
- spullara 14y ago
  If only Google hadn't stuck it to them with Android ALL users would be better off. We'd have Google apps on iPhone hardware and UIs. It hurts to think about how much better it could be.
  - cheald 14y ago
    It's incredibly myopic to argue that the mobile landscape would be better off without Android providing a compelling competitive force.
  - commandar 14y ago
    We'd be better off in a world with no Android, where RIM still hasn't shipped a modern smartphone OS, and with a Windows Mobile/Phone environment that has broken application compatibility twice in the past two years?
  - sandGorgon 14y ago
    I'll see your iPhone hardware and raise you Nokia.
  - nathan_long 14y ago
    What makes you think that iPhone would be as good as it is if it wasn't fighting for customers who can get other smartphones?
  - kbutler 14y ago
    I'm 90% sure this is an example of Poe's Law (that it is impossible to tell the difference between sincere extremism and a parody of extremism - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poes_law http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poes_law). But it is worth remembering the various ideas that iOS "borrowed" from Android (or the improvements Android forced iOS to make) - including decent notifications, wireless syncing, multitasking, etc. Google for more. Apple (and everyone) improves more rapidly with a viable competitor.
- acchow 14y ago
  False. Apple is a software company. If you've ever had to develop any non-trivial smartphone application, you would see how the iOS SDK is lightyears ahead of Android's. Apple is a software company (who also fuses design and software really well). Google is a computer science company.
Tyrannosaurs 14y ago
Interesting that Apple - the device company - opted to do the recognition on the server and Google - the cloud company - chose to do it on the device.
- pkulak 14y ago
  I'm pretty sure Google is doing most of it on the server as well. Why do you think otherwise?
  - DominikR 14y ago
    Because you can do a local search offline. (at least on the Android version)
    - onemoreanimal 14y ago
      On Android, voice recognition is built-in to the OS. On iPhone, they don't have this luxury and the app is relatively small, so I'm thinking almost all of it is done on the server. A link to a Google source verifying this would be nice though.
  - Tyrannosaurs 14y ago
    The sheer speed of it. Maybe I'm wrong but I'm getting near instant voice recognition off a poor wifi connection linking to a slow internet connection.
    - ZeroGravitas 14y ago
      They do both, so it'll work totally offline, but it's better online and can utilise the two together seamlessly.
    - StavrosK 14y ago
      It is, indeed, on the server (at least on my Galaxy Nexus). It won't work if you turn the connection off. Maybe they have some sort of hybrid, though, because it does have offline recognition that can call people without a net connection.
rustynails77 14y ago
This was exactly my experience. My iPhone struggled to understand me at times (albeit only 2 out of 20 times) - but the Nexus S (a fairly old phone) understood me 20 out of 20 times. It really whipped the pants off Apple - I was quite surprised. To see so many posts above say that Google Voice was far below par of Apple was a surprise to me. Note: I haven't tested IOS6 yet, so things may be different.
onemoreanimal 14y ago
How do we know that Google is translating client-side? Is there a link to a Google source to verify this? The app is only 10 MB, so it would be very impressive if they actually accomplished this, but I can't find verification anywhere.

cloudwalking 14y ago

They won't. They can't. It's important to remember that Apple is a hardware company with a software habit. Google is a software company. While I understand why Apple hates Google so much, I think breaking with Google is a mistake. Nobody can beat Google at software; Apple hardware + Google software is a wonderful combination, and if the two companies worked together we'd really see the apex of user experience.

czhiddy 14y ago
The hardware/software split is too simplistic a view. The companies have their various strengths and weaknesses. For example, the graphics stack on iOS embarrasses Android's. It took how many years and how many hardware advances before flagship Android got scrolling as smooth as the first iPhone? Another example: Google released Renderscript in early 2011 (http://android-developers.blogspot.com/2011/02/introducing-renderscript.html http://android-developers.blogspot.com/2011/02/introducing-r...) only to deprecate it a little over a year later (https://developer.android.com/about/versions/android-4.1.html#Renderscript https://developer.android.com/about/versions/android-4.1.htm...). We can cherry pick examples all day long, but the bottom line is that each company excels at certain things. It's interesting how Samsung is basically stuck to Google at this point. I'm sure they'd love to switch to their own Bada or Android fork and capture more of the profit, but Samsung is absolutely abysmal at software.
- RyanMcGreal 14y ago
  Google is a data company and its design approach is data-driven; whereas Apple is a design company and its data approach is design-driven.
spullara 14y ago
If only Google hadn't stuck it to them with Android ALL users would be better off. We'd have Google apps on iPhone hardware and UIs. It hurts to think about how much better it could be.
- cheald 14y ago
  It's incredibly myopic to argue that the mobile landscape would be better off without Android providing a compelling competitive force.
- commandar 14y ago
  We'd be better off in a world with no Android, where RIM still hasn't shipped a modern smartphone OS, and with a Windows Mobile/Phone environment that has broken application compatibility twice in the past two years?
- sandGorgon 14y ago
  I'll see your iPhone hardware and raise you Nokia.
- nathan_long 14y ago
  What makes you think that iPhone would be as good as it is if it wasn't fighting for customers who can get other smartphones?
- kbutler 14y ago
  I'm 90% sure this is an example of Poe's Law (that it is impossible to tell the difference between sincere extremism and a parody of extremism - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poes_law http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poes_law). But it is worth remembering the various ideas that iOS "borrowed" from Android (or the improvements Android forced iOS to make) - including decent notifications, wireless syncing, multitasking, etc. Google for more. Apple (and everyone) improves more rapidly with a viable competitor.
acchow 14y ago
False. Apple is a software company. If you've ever had to develop any non-trivial smartphone application, you would see how the iOS SDK is lightyears ahead of Android's. Apple is a software company (who also fuses design and software really well). Google is a computer science company.

Tyrannosaurs 14y ago

Interesting that Apple - the device company - opted to do the recognition on the server and Google - the cloud company - chose to do it on the device.

pkulak 14y ago
I'm pretty sure Google is doing most of it on the server as well. Why do you think otherwise?
- DominikR 14y ago
  Because you can do a local search offline. (at least on the Android version)
  - onemoreanimal 14y ago
    On Android, voice recognition is built-in to the OS. On iPhone, they don't have this luxury and the app is relatively small, so I'm thinking almost all of it is done on the server. A link to a Google source verifying this would be nice though.
- Tyrannosaurs 14y ago
  The sheer speed of it. Maybe I'm wrong but I'm getting near instant voice recognition off a poor wifi connection linking to a slow internet connection.
  - ZeroGravitas 14y ago
    They do both, so it'll work totally offline, but it's better online and can utilise the two together seamlessly.
  - StavrosK 14y ago
    It is, indeed, on the server (at least on my Galaxy Nexus). It won't work if you turn the connection off. Maybe they have some sort of hybrid, though, because it does have offline recognition that can call people without a net connection.

rustynails77 14y ago

This was exactly my experience. My iPhone struggled to understand me at times (albeit only 2 out of 20 times) - but the Nexus S (a fairly old phone) understood me 20 out of 20 times. It really whipped the pants off Apple - I was quite surprised. To see so many posts above say that Google Voice was far below par of Apple was a surprise to me. Note: I haven't tested IOS6 yet, so things may be different.

onemoreanimal 14y ago

How do we know that Google is translating client-side? Is there a link to a Google source to verify this? The app is only 10 MB, so it would be very impressive if they actually accomplished this, but I can't find verification anywhere.