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Vlingo in 2012: What’s Next for the Virtual Assistant

TJ — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 16:47:07 +0000

Like most people in the New Year, we here at Vlingo have been thinking about all the promise that 2012 holds. We wanted to share a video that offers a sneak peek into some of what’s to come, as well as offer our thoughts on trends we think will emerge for voice-activated assistants. One things for sure – it is going to be an another exciting year at Vlingo.

Trends to Watch in 2012

#1 – Mobile Voice Goes (Really) Mainstream

What? You say this happened last year with Siri? Sure, it is certainly true that Siri caused an inflection point in the industry. However, the real mainstream moment will hit when Google releases its Siri-rival (with some reports suggesting that launch is only weeks away), and Microsoft improves its own native voice technology. More and more device makers will also look to differentiate their own products by closely integrating voice. No question Apple fired a shot across the bow in 2011, and 2012 will be the year the major players in mobile let Apple know they are prepared to fire back.

#2 – To the Cloud!

Historically, a lot of the voice-enabled features on smartphones have lived on the phone. That’s to say that a good portion of the “thinking” has been done right on the device. Certain simple functionality will continue to remain on your handset, but more and more of the heavy lifting will be done in the cloud. What does this mean for everyone? It means more breadth and depth in terms of content. It means faster processing. It means improved accuracy. It means better, more natural dialog between the Assistant and you.

But perhaps most importantly it will…

#3 – Enable Cross-Device and Cross-Platform

With more of the work being done in the cloud, it means it will be easier to synch and send information across devices and platforms. Wouldn’t it be amazing if you could ask your tablet a question and have the answer show up on your TV? Or if you could send directions you found on your phone directly to an in-vehicle navigation system? The possibilities are nearly endless, and the day when this type of functionality appears on all sorts of connected devices is rapidly approaching.

As you can see, there is plenty to look forward to in 2012. What do you think of Vlingo’s vision? Did we miss any key trends?

With social, 3rd party app controls Vlingo goes beyond simply “Siri for Android”

TJ — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 16:16:44 +0000

Thus far we’ve looked at how Vlingo and Siri are largely comparable across many core functions. Today we’ll start to take a look at some ways where the two Assistants handle your requests differently.

The Vlingo Virtual Assistant on Android can help you open popular third party services like Spotify, Pandora and YouTube. Siri, unfortunately, cannot. This illustrates one of the key differences between Vlingo and Siri – Vlingo wants to remain open, allowing you to choose what content is important, while Siri prefers a much more tightly controlled experience. You see this again when we look at social networking. Vlingo allows you to update Facebook or Twitter, and check in with foursquare. No such luck on Siri. Check out the video below. We think after watching you’re realize that Vlingo is much more than just Siri for Android. It’s a more open, social Assistant.

What do you think? Any other questions for us about how Vlingo and Siri differ?

Thanks,

Vlingo Delivers Better Handsfree Controls Than Siri For Your Android Phone

TJ — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 15:19:10 +0000

Hello everyone and welcome back to our video series where we’ll be showing side-by-side comparisons between Vlingo and Siri. In this video we take a closer look at how helpful your Assistant is when you can’t touch or look at your phone. What we found may surprise some folks – Vlingo’s Virtual Assistant for Android phones actually offers superior handsfree controls. While Siri and your iPhone 4S need regular management, when Vlingo is in InCar mode your Assistant springs to life with a simple wake up word and you never need to touch your phone to send texts, get directions or make a call.

Don’t take our word for it, though. Check out the video and let us know what you think.

Be sure to check back again next week for another video where we compare how Vlingo and Siri work with 3rd party apps and social networks. In the meantime please let us know in the comments if there are any other comparisons you like to see.

Thanks,

The Best Alternative to Siri on Android

TJ — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 17:26:09 +0000

Siri, the new voice activated assistant on the iPhone 4S, has taken the world by storm the last two months. What many people don’t know is that the Vlingo Virtual Assistant has been around for many years, and offers much of the same assistant-like functionality. This is the first video in a series in which we’ll take a look at Vlingo and Siri in a side-by-side comparison. I think what the video will show you is that Vlingo is the original, and still the best alternative to Siri.

Here we compare how the Vlingo Virtual Assistant on Android handles some tasks that Apple has featured prominently in its advertising. Please check back in with our blog or on our YouTube channel for the next installment – coming very soon.

Let us know what you think about this video, and if you have any other ideas for comparisons. We’re all ears!

Vlingo: Android’s Answer to the Siri Assistant

TJ — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 16:30:21 +0000

There has been a lot of buzz about the iPhone 4S and its Siri Assistant. But what many don’t realize is that the Android platform has had a Siri-like Assistant for a year and a half . In the wake of the 4S launch, there have been many “me-too” apps that have tried to mimic some of what Siri does, but we think the original Virtual Assistant for Android – Vlingo – still separates itself from the pack. And we also believe it compares favorably to much of the functionality recently launched by Apple.

You can download Vlingo on Android Market here.

Much like Siri, Vlingo can do all of the following tasks with a simple, natural voice command:

Send messages (SMS or Email)
Voice dial
Find information on restaurants and other local businesses
Search the web
Get directions
Listen to incoming messages
Look for answers to your questions

But Vlingo doesn’t stop there. It can help you do many things that Siri currently cannot:

Send a message, make a call or get directions without ever having to touch your phone using a “Wake Up word”
Update your Facebook or Twitter status
Check in with foursquare
Book a reservation through OpenTable
Buy movie tickets with Fandango
Search and book travel on KAYAK

Vlingo has a rating of 4.3 Stars on Android Market, and has earned the prestigious designation of Top Developer. If you’re interested in a Siri alternative for your Android device, you should give Vlingo a try. We have more information and a demo video on our Android Market page.

You can learn more about Vlingo on Android Market here.

Voice Talk = “A Must Have”

Erin — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 18:14:51 +0000

Tired of your old phone? Time to upgrade? We’ve got a great reason for you to make a trip to your mobile carrier’s store today. Vlingo proudly partnered with Samsung to develop Voice Talk, a native feature on Samsung’s flagship device, the Galaxy SII. Check out the video below to see for yourself how it works. We think its a must have.

Use Vlingo to Call Your Contacts!

Erin — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 18:00:45 +0000

It has been reported that the average person makes or receives 8 mobile phone calls per day. That is roughly 2.4 billion phone calls across the 300 million mobile phone user in the U.S. The average mobile phone user in the U.S makes 250 phone calls per month or 3,000 phone calls per year. With 300 million mobile phone users in the U.S., the number of mobile phone calls made per year is a staggering 900 billion!

Feature phones and smartphones fill the pockets and purses of men & women everywhere looking to connect with friends, family members or co-workers while on the go. Would you like an easy way to quickly make a phone call without having to filter through hundreds of names and numbers in your address book? How about a virtual personal assistant?

Using voice recognition to call your contacts has never been easier (or safer!) when using Vlingo’s Virtual Assistant. Whether you are using an Android, BlackBerry, iPhone or Nokia device you can simply say “Call mom”, call Tommy mobile” or “call pizza” to instantly place a call to anyone in your address book or Vlingo’s infinite cloud-based address book.

Take a minute to download Vlingo and have your virtual assistant start calling!

Samsung Unveils the Galaxy SII – Voice Talk is now Prime Time!

Erin — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 15:08:35 +0000

Excitement has been brewing for MONTHS here in the Vlingo offices. We’ve been crossing days off on our calendars waiting for the launch of the much anticipated Samsung Galaxy SII. It was set to be launched in the US on Monday but due to severe conditions on the east coast from Hurricane Irene, Samsung had to postpone the launch until yesterday. Despite the 1 day delay, the launch went off yesterday without a hitch. The device is the thinnest 4G smartphone on the market, has a powerful (and colorful!) screen, allows users to multi-task and comes complete with awesome features designed to give Android smartphone users an incredible experience!

There is a reason for Vlingo’s excitement! Back in February, you may remember, Samsung announced a partnership with Vlingo to power Voice Talk on the SII.

With Voice Talk you can access the voice commands menu by pressing the home button twice, no matter what application you’re in. From the menu, you can activate voice actions by saying, “Hi Galaxy,” and you’ll be asked what you’d like to do – make a call, send a text, get driving directions, or write a memo right with your voice. Pretty cool right?

For the grand unveiling, Samsung hosted a press event and invited top notch reporters to check out the new phone and all of its features! Check out a few pieces on Vlingo Voice Talk!

GigaOM: Samsung’s Galaxy S II debuts stateside for iPhone rumble
The company has partnered with Vlingo for robust voice-activated actions.

PC Magazine: Samsung Galaxy S II for AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile: Hands On, Benchmarked
Samsung added Vlingo’s voice command system, which lets you dictate voice messages, and—a huge boon for reviewers like myself—an easy way to take screen shots on the phones.

Android Central: Samsung lets us know the Galaxy S II is ready for its US arrival, and gives us a look at some accessories
The dock is windshield or dashboard mountable and includes the sophisticated Vlingo Voice Talk, allowing users to enjoy hands-free control of their Galaxy S II.

The Samsung Galaxy SII is one of the highest selling smartphones in the world today. Be sure to get your Samsung Galaxy SII as soon as it hits your carrier stores!

Are you an Android user on the go? Use Vlingo For Social Updates

Erin — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 20:18:48 +0000

Let’s face it…most of us use Facebook, Twitter or foursquare when we are out and about, at the beach, walking to the office or at the out and about on a summer afternoon. We like checking into restaurants, uploading photos or tweeting the latest.

There is an overwhelming number of options on Android Market today, and you may have all sorts of games, books, comics, entertainment, navigation, health & fitness, lifestyle, news & music (and more!) apps on your phone. Having so many choices makes it hard for users to quickly find their favorites. This can create a frustrating experience when you really need to find that one or two social apps that you use all the time.

Wouldn’t it be awesome to have one, easy, simple way to access favorites like Facebook, Twitter and foursquare?

Well then you need to check out Vlingo’s Virtual Assistant. It allows you to conveniently update your social status by just saying “social update” and speaking the update.

“Social update – is in San Francisco for a conference!”. I can then select my social outlet(s) to alert all of my friends what I am up to. Simple right?

Click here to see how Vlingo’s one step social status update works. Better yet, take a minute to download Vlingo and see how easy it is yourself.

Vlingo for Android 1×1 Widget Restored, Other Performance Improvements

TJ — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 12:48:40 +0000

You spoke and we listened!

We just dropped an update on Android Market that restores the 1×1 microphone widget. Thanks for letting us know how important it is to you. We try to balance a lot of considerations whenever we make a change, but we don’t always get it right. So our apologies for any inconvenience we caused the last couple weeks. You are now free to enjoy your widget again!

In addition to restoring the 1×1 widget, we also fixed a number of issues, including:

Added the SafeReader icon to the home screen (top left)
Improvements to auto-listen (app exits upon completion of your action)
Improvements to direct dial-by-number (reduced delay)
Fixed microphone compatibility issues with Swype, Moto Atrix, and others
Faster, more responsive contact searches
Greatly reduced initial start time, no more time outs on older devices
Recognition tones can now be turned off in settings
Restored “Shake to skip” functionality on SafeReader
Various crashes fixed. Thanks for reporting error logs!

As many of you have also noticed, the Vlingo Keyboard was taken out of a recent version. We hate to say it, but we will not be bringing it back. To be totally honest, it was just an old version of the stock Android keyboard (from December 2009) with a Vlingo mic on it. And it was taking up valuable memory and resources to keep it updated.

Good news is that you can easily replicate the functionality if you have Android 2.2 or higher:

1. Go to Settings
2. Select Voice input & output
3. Select Vlingo under the Voice Recognizer drop down

Then you can access Vlingo via the microphone button on whatever keyboard you use. Hope that helps you out.

Thanks to all for your continued support and loyalty.

Best,