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Nuance is working, not so quietly it turns out, on a challenger to Siri and Google Now. Codenamed Project Wintermute, the voice recognition pioneer’s latest effort focuses on building a cross-platform, cloud-based virtual assistant. Nuance VP Matt Revis told The Next Web, that the company “want[s] to be completely platform agnostic.” Rather than locking people into Android or iOS, it wants people to be able to tap into Wintermute from any computer, handset or tablet. Even TVs are being targeted — in one demo a Nuance rep asked a television to “put the game on” and it tuned into to the Notre Dame game. It automatically made an educated guess about which “game” the rep wanted to watch. The cloud-based nature makes it easier for Wintermute to be ported from platform to platform, but it will pose an obstacle since a strong data connection will be necessary and there will be some inherent lag between speaking commands and receiving a reply. Some of the details have yet to be sussed out, but perhaps Nuance CTO Vlad Sejnoha will have some more detail for us when he swings by our CES stage this afternoon.

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Nuance, maker of the popular voice dictation software Dragon Naturally Speaking, has been making itself known today, first announcing this morning at CES that it has bestowed Swype with some new features. The company has followed this up with an announcement that it has entered into a partnership with ZTE, bringing its voice features to the Chinese company’s smartphones.

The exact length of the partnership is unknown, with the announcement simply stating that it is a “multi-year” agreement. Nuance will bring its voice software to ZTE’s portfolio of upcoming handsets starting this year. The voice features will encompass 25 languages, although it didn’t state which languages those are.

There’s not much info in terms of what apps will be gaining Nuance’s voice functionality features, with the exception of one: Car Mode. This app is said to include voice control via Nuance and allow users to do hands-free activities, such as making calls and sending texts. The app is optimized to work in the loud environment of a car, and does not require any sort of broadband connection.

It also offers some other features that could arguably be utilized just as effectively outside of the vehicle as during a trip. Do No Disturb mode is present, which allows the driver to disable incoming calls and notifications until the drive is over. The app can be awoken hands-free with voice commands, and will provide verbal notifications about texts and incoming calls.

[via Android Community]

ZTE joins up with Nuance, voice integrated devices will roll out this year is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
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For all of Ford’s emphasis on Sync, it’s hard to deny that Fiesta drivers usually sit on the bottom rung of the automaker’s technology ladder when they’re denied MyFord Touch and the related perks of larger vehicles. Pick up the keys to a higher-spec 2014 Fiesta, however, and you’ll be in for a treat. The compact will stuff a 6.5-inch touchscreen and MyFord Touch into the center stack, with a few software upgrades over what we’ve already seen in cars like the Focus and Fusion. The highlight is undoubtedly the more direct voice command system — the Nuance-driven recognition no longer demands that we specify music categories or radio formats to start playing tunes. Bluetooth smartphone pairing and navigation by address should be streamlined at the same time. Motorists will have to wait until 2013 to reap the rewards, but it could be worth the wait to drive away with Ford’s better electronics in an affordable ride.

Continue reading 2014 Ford Fiesta gets MyFord Touch, smarter Sync voice commands

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Source: TechCrunch

Dragon Go! has been given the elbow, with the slightly more professional sounding Dragon Mobile Assistant taking its place. Nuance has expanded on its predecessor’s verbal commands, with new functionality for maps (you’ll be able to bark direction requests at the new app and it’ll plan the route), alongside a hands-free wake-up feature activated by saying “Hi Dragon” — we hope you have a high embarrassment threshold. Other Siri-esque features include weather updates and dictated SMS and email responses. The beta app can be downloaded from today, although compatibility is limited to Android Ice Cream Sandwich and above for now. Nuance is promising more features and increased availability later this year.

Continue reading Nuance Dragon Mobile Assistant launches on Android, but only on ICS for now

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Nuance Dragon Mobile Assistant launches on Android, but only on ICS for now originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 24 Oct 2012 08:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Intel at CES promised a partnership with Nuance to give Ultrabooks a taste of ready-made voice recognition, and we’re finally seeing the results at IDF in San Francisco through the launch of Nuance’s Dragon Assistant Beta. As the name implies, this isn’t just a voice dictation engine like that in Naturally Speaking: chatty users can delegate common tasks like playing music, reading social network updates and searching the web. The beta isn’t immediately available as of this writing, but it should go live soon and will be a core part of of Ultrabook software bundles in the near future, starting with the Dell XPS 13 this fall. We’re wondering why Intel is focusing its Dragon Assistant efforts solely on thin-and-lights — the company still makes money from portlier PCs, after all — but we won’t mind as much given the simultaneous launch of a Perceptual Computing SDK 2013 Beta, which lets developers work Dragon recognition into their own apps. More details await after the break.

Continue reading Nuance and Intel team on Dragon Assistant Beta for Ultrabooks, Dell XPS 13 to lead the charge

Filed under: Laptops, Software

Nuance and Intel team on Dragon Assistant Beta for Ultrabooks, Dell XPS 13 to lead the charge originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 12 Sep 2012 07:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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