Voice Control

LG’s New Robotic Vacuum Can Be Controlled By Your iPhone

Oliver Haslam ∙ Updated January 24, 2016

Robots might be set to take over the world, but if they're anything at all like LG's new robotic vacuum, we'll be able to control them using our iPhones.

The Roboking VR680VMNC, or "Rob" as his friends call him, is a robotic vacuum that packs three cameras and connects to your home's WiFi network, enabling iPhone users to control the device from the comfort of their handsets.

The on-board cameras stream video back to the iPhone app, too, turning the Roboking into an exceptionally mobile security camera...

Patent Suggests User Profiles Coming to iOS, Complete With Voice-Enabled Switching

Oliver Haslam ∙ August 25, 2011

A newly discovered patent filing by Apple points to a move away from single-user devices for the Cupertino outfit, with voice detection and recognition adding a little extra spice to proceedings.

The patent application, discovered by AppleInsider, details a new feature that would allow iDevices to select and change system preferences based on a user's voice, effectively making devices work with more than one person's account settings...

iOS 5’s Voice-to-Text Feature Finally Revealed

Cody Lee ∙ August 6, 2011

In the weeks building up to this year's WWDC, there was a lot of speculation that Apple and Nuance were planning a major partnership to bring system-wide voice-to-text to iOS 5. The 2 companies were expected to make a big announcement at the Summer event.

But the developer's conference came and went with no mention of the new feature. Then we started to see code trickle in. Found deep inside Apple's new firmware, the evidence suggested that the company was still working on bringing voice-to-text to its customers this Fall.

Now we don't just have bits of code, we have actual proof. Hit the jump for the full screenshot...

New Voice Command Assistant Feature Uncovered in iOS 5 Beta 4

Cody Lee ∙ Updated January 24, 2016

In what is probably the biggest find since Apple unveiled iOS 5 to the world last month, 9to5Mac unveiled a major hidden feature in the new firmware last night. Remember when Apple purchased that little voice recognition app named "Siri" last year?

Well, it looks like their work is finally going to start showing up in iOS, as an OS-level feature called Assistant now exists in Beta 4. If you've been wondering what happened to all of that talk about Apple implementing a native voice-command system in iOS 5, you're going to love this...

Nuance Voice Recognition is in iOS 5 After All

Cody Lee ∙ June 12, 2011

The entire tech industry watched as Scott Forstall outlined Apple's 10 most prized (or most ready) new features in iOS 5 last Monday. To everyone's surprise, the entire presentation went on without any mention of the rumored Apple/Nuance partnership.

TechCrunch and other media outlets reported multiple times last month on sources claiming that Apple and Nuance had struck a deal to bring legitimate voice recognition technology to iOS. But WWDC came and went without a word from either company...

Nuance Voice Integration Not Currently in iOS 5, But There’s Still Hope

Alex Heath ∙ June 8, 2011

Apple unveiled a truckload of iOS 5 features at WWDC on Monday, but one major thing was missing: Nuance voice integration. There was a strong series of rumors leading right up to the keynote that claimed iOS 5 would boast huge improvements in voice integration.

Unfortunately, no voice-related features were previewed during Monday's keynote, and the first iOS 5 developer beta has no voice additions to speak of.

Has Apple abandoned their partnership with Nuance in iOS? Or will we still see deeper voice integration in iOS 5 before it's released to the public in the next few months?

Here’s How iOS 5’s Speech Recognition Might Work

Jeff Benjamin ∙ May 16, 2011

Speech recognition is a hot topic right now, and for good reason. It's evident that iOS 5 is going to feature a heavy mix of speech recognition tech, and this is the way that mobile phones are headed as a whole.

But how exactly will speech recognition integrate with iOS? For instance, how will we go about transcribing an SMS message using only our voice?

Jan-Michael Cart, creator of quite a few iOS 5 mockups, has envisioned his rendition of iOS 5's speech recognition tech, and has shared it with the rest of the Apple community...

Nuance Voices in New Mac OS X Update, Partnership Confirmed?

Cody Lee ∙ Updated January 24, 2016

If you have been getting really excited about all of the rumors concerning the Apple and Nuance partnership, you'll love this. For those that don't own Mac computers, a really big software update called Mac OS X Lion is on the horizon.

In fact, Apple is slated to talk about the new release at their developer's conference next month along with the new iOS 5. OS X Lion is currently in preview mode, where developers are allowed to tinker with the new OS and its new features. One thing developers have noticed so far are the new voice samples...

Speech-to-Text Conversion Coming to iOS 5?

Alex Heath ∙ May 15, 2011

Following our report that iOS 5 will have voicemail transcription, a new patent has surfaced that details even more voice integration possibilities. Namely, it appears that Apple is looking into a native text-to-speech and speech-to-text converter for the iPhone.

This patent reveals some very interesting applications that could result from such a technology in iOS. Beyond the basic voice and text transcription, this patented converter could allow for a more unified experience between speech and text communication...

iOS 5 Will Transcribe Your Voicemail to Text

Alex Heath ∙ May 11, 2011

Following the news that Apple is partnering with Naunce for voice integration in iOS 5, we've heard from an inside source at Apple that iOS 5 will allow you to read your voicemails. Google Voice has offered voicemail transcription for quite some time, and, according to our anonymous source, Apple is hard at work to implement this type of service into iOS 5.

More cloud-based features are rumored to debut in Apple's next major release of iOS when the software is previewed at WWDC this June. A more Google-esque approach to cloud services makes sense if Apple wants to stay competitive in the cloud space. Voicemail transcription would be one more feature to beef up Apple's cloud offerings...

Apple to Announce Nuance Partnership at WWDC, Expect Big Things

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 25, 2017

Most of you have heard by now that Apple and Nuance have been meeting behind closed doors. They have reportedly been discussing the possibility of serious integration with Nuance's voice recognition technology in iOS 5.

Hot on the heels of their report that Apple was in serious negotiations with speech-recognition software giant, TechCrunch revealed more details surrounding the deal. Apparently, the tech blog has some reliable sources with knowledge of the relationship between the 2 tech companies...

Apple in Talks with Nuance to Upgrade Voice Control in iOS 5?

Cody Lee ∙ Updated February 18, 2018

It's no secret that iOS is lacking some serious voice command options. Hopefully, Apple is looking at giving the pathetic Voice Control feature a serious overhaul in iOS 5. At least give iPhone users voice to text to compete with our Android counterparts.

We reported on an interesting job listing back in early March that suggested Apple had heard our cries for a revamped Voice Control system. Today we've got more fuel to add to the fire, as the word on the street is Apple is in talks with Nuance Communications...