Here is a video of Siri and TellMe in use side-by-side

[Vice]

Ignoring the actual recognition problems with TellMe, the test left out many of the features that WP7 offers such as the ability to launch applications.

The other problem I have with Siri is that it's just too wordy and makes me feel as frustrated as I feel when I call a company and get stuck having to listen to all the options in the automated system. It would be faster to just type the calendar appointment in the first example than to sit and wait for Siri to finish prattling on. It's this wordiness that lets Siri down IMO.

At the end of the day though, Microsoft have to improve TellMe's recognition capabilities. I speak very clearly with good pronunciation and find that TellMe only works accurately about 70% of the time. It's generally better with single words or very short phrases rather than entire sentences but it can still be frustratingly inaccurate. Hopefully Microsoft are working hard to improve the service.

You can stop Siri talking at any time by just touching the screen. For example when it shows you the Calender but is still talking you can just tape yes and it will make it instead of waiting for Siri to stop talking and ask you to say yes.

Also if you prefer you can turn off Siri's backchat entirely and then it will just do what you want without talking aloud what you told it to do. In this case you can still edit or remove something you told it to do using the Siri interface that is still shown to you as it is performing actions.

Text <some name> works fine with WP7, wonder why he had to say "Send text to XYZ"?

He didn't have to say it that way, that is just the power of Siris natural language system. You can just say 'Text <name> <content of message>' and Siri will do it. You can also say "Message <name> <content of message>"

[Hardcore Til I Die]

Settings -> General -> Siri -> set Voice Feedback to Hands-free Only

There you go then, seems perfect. :D

I don't own an iPhone so was unaware.

[shifts]

Agreed. In fact, I've just run a few tests and it looks like TellMe failed precisely because he used the wrong syntax. You can argue whether you should have to use syntax or not but he should at least have used TellMe the way it's meant to be used.

I think the point that was that Siri can use natural language and Microsoft were telling people that TellME will do the same. Out of the box you don't need to use any real syntax I suppose it's pitched at being "free flowing" as much as it can be.

Would be very interesting to see TellME syntax used on Siri to see what happens.

[Vice]

There you go then, seems perfect. :D

I don't own an iPhone so was unaware.

It really is next to perfect. I'd say 98% of what I tell it, it understands. Sometimes I have to pronunciate a little better on words that sound very similar but most of the time it gets exactly what I want to do. It's an excellent feature. I came from a 3GS which had Voice Commands and it was rubbish compared to Siri I never used it because it barely ever got anything right not to mention it was quite basic in what it could do. Siri I use it upwards of 10 times a day for all kinds of tasks. I can't wait for them to add more services to it.

[Hardcore Til I Die]

Agreed. In fact, I've just run a few tests and it looks like TellMe failed precisely because he used the wrong syntax. You can argue whether you should have to use syntax or not but he should at least have used TellMe the way it's meant to be used.

Forgive me if I'm wrong, but shouldnt the device recognise what is being said even if the wrong syntax is used? It didn't even recognise what was said...

That's certainly how things work on my Android, a little pop up comes up telling me what I said, and if it doesn't recognise a command it defaults back to performing a google search which is a kind of "catch all" feature.

It really is next to perfect. I'd say 98% of what I tell it, it understands. Sometimes I have to pronunciate a little better on words that sound very similar but most of the time it gets exactly what I want to do. It's an excellent feature. I came from a 3GS which had Voice Commands and it was rubbish compared to Siri I never used it because it barely ever got anything right not to mention it was quite basic in what it could do. Siri I use it upwards of 10 times a day for all kinds of tasks. I can't wait for them to add more services to it.

That's why I kinda want an iPhone now. My SGS2 uses Vlingo and it's pretty rubbish at voice recognition. I end up calling people because it doesn't recognise what I want to say in texts. A simple "call mum" is fine, but "text mum I'll be home in ten minutes" .. takes about 10 attempts to get it right, and I have to speak like a robot. Any attempt at speaking naturally is just a trainwreck. Voice Actions is better, but I can't replace Vlingo.. for some reason Samsung decided it would be a good idea to force Vlingo on people. :(

[HyBry]

An interesting comparison.

At certain situations very helpful I would imagine, unless you do not want anal :D

[jakem1]

Forgive me if I'm wrong, but shouldnt the device recognise what is being said even if the wrong syntax is used? It didn't even recognise what was said...

That's certainly how things work on my Android, a little pop up comes up telling me what I said, and if it doesn't recognise a command it defaults back to performing a google search which is a kind of "catch all" feature.

No, TellMe doesn't work like that. It seems to assume that you want to execute a phone-related command unless you prefix your request with "Find" or are using it within the Bing app. In this instance it assumed that the guy wanted to call or text a contact but got confused about the name which is why it said it couldn't find the person he was looking for. (I don't really use it so I'm basing this on the short time I've played around with TellMe. Perhaps someone with a bit more experience could add some more detail if I've got this wrong.)

I don't know whether that is "right" or not but I guess you could argue that it's best not to use a data connection unless you really have to which is why using search as a default option might be the wrong thing to do.

[LittleNeutrino Veteran]

wow that is horrible lol.

[jakem1]

I think the point that was that Siri can use natural language and Microsoft were telling people that TellME will do the same. Out of the box you don't need to use any real syntax I suppose it's pitched at being "free flowing" as much as it can be.

Would be very interesting to see TellME syntax used on Siri to see what happens.

Well I don't remember Microsoft going into any detail about the natural language capabilities of their product and I don't think there's anything particularly unnatural about saying "Text shifts" rather than "Send a text to shifts". Windows Phone users will remember the command pretty quickly, especially since it's fairly natural and easy anyway, so I don't think it's a big deal to require that syntax. My point (and Dhan's point) was that both phones probably would have composed a message if he'd simply used the simple syntax that Microsoft currently require.

Microsoft said that their offering is capable of voice control and didn't argue about the details of their implementation versus Apple's. Siri may be better at some things and TellMe is better at others but this video didn't compare the features of both, it just showed TellMe failing when expected to do things the Siri way. He could just as easily have said "Open Angry Birds" and then we could all laugh at how Siri can't launch an application.

Whether natural language is essential on a little-used feature like voice recognition is up to you but at this stage it's just one aspect of the implementation, not the defining one. I think the accuracy of Siri's recognition is more impressive then its natural language capabilities which have been common in various systems including Encarta Online from years ago.

[ajua]

The comparison is totally biased because TellMe doesn't understand natural language sentences. It is command driven, like using Text SOMEONE. Call SOMEONE, Open SOMEAPP or Find SOMETHING.

The guy in this video is using natural sentences and the WP device doesn't have a chance. A comparison should be made using commands for WP and natural language for iOS. They can't be compared because they work differently.

I'm not saying which is better, but they are not the same. I'm very pleased with the way WP voice commands work. I have yet to try an iPhone 4S but if you can't disable (guys above said that you can) the Siri responses/feedback, that is a bummer. Other than that, I really can't say much about it until I try it and hear from someone using it a daily basis, not just for fun.

[Hardcore Til I Die]

No, TellMe doesn't work like that. It seems to assume that you want to execute a phone-related command unless you prefix your request with "Find" or are using it within the Bing app. In this instance it assumed that the guy wanted to call or text a contact but got confused about the name which is why it said it couldn't find the person he was looking for. (I don't really use it so I'm basing this on the short time I've played around with TellMe. Perhaps someone with a bit more experience could add some more detail if I've got this wrong.)

I don't know whether that is "right" or not but I guess you could argue that it's best not to use a data connection unless you really have to which is why using search as a default option might be the wrong thing to do.

Even if it shouldn't default to search it should at least pick up what the person is saying, and it doesn't. Voice recognition software that can't recognise voice kinda fails :p

The comparison is totally biased because TellMe doesn't understand natural language sentences. It is command driven, like using Text SOMEONE. Call SOMEONE, Open SOMEAPP or Find SOMETHING.

The guy in this video is using natural sentences and the WP device doesn't have a chance. A comparison should be made using commands for WP and natural language for iOS. They can't be compared because they work differently.

I'm not saying which is better, but they are not the same. I'm very pleased with the way WP voice commands work. I have yet to try an iPhone 4S but if you can't disable (guys above said that you can) the Siri responses/feedback, that is a bummer. Other than that, I really can't say much about it until I try it and hear from someone using it a daily basis, not just for fun.

Tellme may be command based but it should still pick up what's being said...even if the command is invalid!

[Vice]

but this video didn't compare the features of both, it just showed TellMe failing when expected to do things the Siri way. He could just as easily have said "Open Angry Birds" and then we could all laugh at how Siri can't launch an application.

Actually the video showed Windows Phone 7 simply unable to even decipher the actual words he was speaking.

Replacing the words he said with things that sounded vaguely similar. Siri on the other hand deciphered every word he said perfectly. Regardless of enacting commands or how things should be said being able to turn the words in to their written forms is paramount and the Windows Phone couldn't even do that, so it wouldn't of mattered what syntax he used to ask the questions it still would have failed.

[Eric Veteran]

Doesn't Siri have to process your request on a server? TellMe is on the phone itself. (Not apologizing for it, but they do work differently.)

[Hardcore Til I Die]

Doesn't Siri have to process your request on a server? TellMe is on the phone itself. (Not apologizing for it, but they do work differently.)

Does it work with no data connection?? Some sites say tellme uses a server too while others say it doesn't.

[ccuk]

Well I don't remember Microsoft going into any detail about the natural language capabilities of their product and I don't think there's anything particularly unnatural about saying "Text shifts" rather than "Send a text to shifts". Windows Phone users will remember the command pretty quickly, especially since it's fairly natural and easy anyway, so I don't think it's a big deal to require that syntax. My point (and Dhan's point) was that both phones probably would have composed a message if he'd simply used the simple syntax that Microsoft currently require.

Microsoft said that their offering is capable of voice control and didn't argue about the details of their implementation versus Apple's. Siri may be better at some things and TellMe is better at others but this video didn't compare the features of both, it just showed TellMe failing when expected to do things the Siri way. He could just as easily have said "Open Angry Birds" and then we could all laugh at how Siri can't launch an application.

Whether natural language is essential on a little-used feature like voice recognition is up to you but at this stage it's just one aspect of the implementation, not the defining one. I think the accuracy of Siri's recognition is more impressive then its natural language capabilities which have been common in various systems including Encarta Online from years ago.

Why are you apologizing for a feature that doesn't work as well as that on the iPhone? Regardless of you saying "but TellMe can do x where Siri can't" how is that any use when it clearly cannot decipher what the guy was saying? He would say "Open Angry Birds" and it would probably think he said "Ogle Augmented Boobs".

[Eric Veteran]

Does it work with no data connection?? Some sites say tellme uses a server too while others say it doesn't.

I'm not sure. TellMe is an entire technology set. There are servers, standalone and web-based features for it.

[Vice]

Doesn't Siri have to process your request on a server? TellMe is on the phone itself. (Not apologizing for it, but they do work differently.)

TellMe, Siri and Android all require a data connection as they use servers over the internet for processing your voice. It's better to do it this way because as more people use it they get lots more voices recorded which will help them develop better speech recognition for everyone.

[Hardcore Til I Die]

TellMe, Siri and Android all require a data connection as they use servers over the internet for processing your voice. It's better to do it this way because as more people use it they get lots more voices recorded which will help them develop better speech recognition for everyone.

It also means they can add more features and update the recognition without updating the software itself :)

[jakem1]

Actually the video showed Windows Phone 7 just unable to even decipher the actual words he was speaking.

Beyond just the command use it was unable to decipher the actual words he used. Replacing them with things that sounded vaguely similar. Siri on the other hand deciphered every word he said perfectly. Regardless of enacting commands or how things should be said actually able to turn the words in to their written forms is paramount and the Windows Phone couldn't even do that, so it wouldn't of mattered what syntax he used to ask the questions it still would have failed.

Why are you apologizing for a feature that doesn't work as well as that on the iPhone? Regardless of you saying "but TellMe can do x where Siri can't" how is that any use when it clearly cannot decipher what the guy was saying? He would say "Open Angry Birds" and it would probably think he said "Ogle Augmented Boobs".

I'm not apologising for anything. If the two of you had read my other comments you would see that I have said that I think TellMe's recognition capabilities are far poorer than Siri's. I don't think TellMe does a good enough job of recognising what I say but I also don't think it's as bad as it appears in this video where it failed 100% of the time. I think the recognition would have been better if he had used the correct syntax. He's not using TellMe properly so it's bound to fail more than it should.

[ccuk]

I'm not apologising for anything. If the two of you had read my other comments you would see that I have said that I think TellMe's recognition capabilities are far poorer than Siri's. I don't think TellMe does a good enough job of recognising what I say but I also don't think it's as bad as it appears in this video where it failed 100% of the time. I think the recognition would have been better if he had used the correct syntax. He's not using TellMe properly so it's bound to fail more than it should.

Why should I have to adjust everything I know in order to use a tool? Surely a tool and its subset of features should be designed around the way we speak?

[jakem1]

TellMe, Siri and Android all require a data connection as they use servers over the internet for processing your voice. It's better to do it this way because as more people use it they get lots more voices recorded which will help them develop better speech recognition for everyone.

TellMe performs at least some of its voice recognition on the phone. I've just turned off all data connections on my phone and TellMe can launch applications, call and text contacts. The only thing it can't do is search using Bing.

[Vice]

Whether natural language is essential on a little-used feature like voice recognition is up to you but at this stage it's just one aspect of the implementation, not the defining one. I think the accuracy of Siri's recognition is more impressive then its natural language capabilities which have been common in various systems including Encarta Online from years ago.

I guess that's the great thing about Siri, it supports both. You can speak to it like it's a human or you can bark commands at it like it's a robot. I can say Call Mum, Text Mum, or I can say Call my mum, send a message to my mum. It just works regardless of what the user is doing or knows. Windows Phone however doesn't support both it requires the user to talk to it like it's a machine. I think I prefer the Siri approach that supports both ways instead of picking a choice for me.

[Hardcore Til I Die]

I'm not apologising for anything. If the two of you had read my other comments you would see that I have said that I think TellMe's recognition capabilities are far poorer than Siri's. I don't think TellMe does a good enough job of recognising what I say but I also don't think it's as bad as it appears in this video where it failed 100% of the time. I think the recognition would have been better if he had used the correct syntax. He's not using TellMe properly so it's bound to fail more than it should.

If it can't recognise what he says then the syntactic commands won't work either though.

if "Ten am" = "teen anal" then "open" could be "coping" or something.

I know you've already conceeded that the recognition isn't as good but that is exactly the reason for the failure in this video, it's not because he used invalid commands.

[tsupersonic]

My WP7 works much better than that. Holy ****, I mean it's no Siri, but that guy was just terrible. Still funny though! Even on my android phone, all the voice detection gets picked up, however, it just ends up on a google search lol.

[Dinggus]

I did notice Siri had the same Australian acccent (I believe that is the accent, I could be wrong) as the creator of the video, so it did make me wonder if the Windows 7 phone was set to English as the main language and not Australian. Nevertheless, real interesting video, and really an effective yet incredibly simple way of showing the two services.

At 1:34 when he asks what time it is, you can hear the WP7 device having the same accent.