Since Apple took the curtain off its new iPhone 4S loaded with some stunning features including “Siri”, it started what can be thought of as revolution in smartphone industry. Soon after its launch, almost every other company on the block started working on duplicating the feature in its own way. Samsung too, being one of them released Galaxy SIII loaded with its own version of Siri, “S-Voice” (Read Samsung Galaxy SIII – Review, Tech Specs and Price).
It’s been almost two or three weeks since Galaxy SIII is out, it has already received rave reviews regarding its features and price. However Samsung failed to create the same buzz, which Apple created at the time of launching iPhone 4S.
So what is S-Voice? S-Voice is nothing but the Samsung’s answer to Apple’s dream-invention Siri. It’s a well-known fact that Galaxy series helped Samsung achieve the current market position and thus with Galaxy SIII, Samsung was hoping to made record sell owing to its features like, S-Voice.
But just like the last time (when Flipboard for Android was leaked), S-Voice too, has leaked out and is available on XDA Forum for downloading [Download link given below]. The leaked version will work on any Android smartphone running on Ice-cream sandwich update. That means all the Galaxy SII users will also be able to use it. The S-Voice feature was tested on Google Nexus and it’s working just the perfect. However if used continuously for more than 45 minutes, sometimes it might crash (it was observed).
It’s been almost two or three weeks since Galaxy SIII is out, it has already received rave reviews regarding its features and price. However Samsung failed to create the same buzz, which Apple created at the time of launching iPhone 4S.
So what is S-Voice? S-Voice is nothing but the Samsung’s answer to Apple’s dream-invention Siri. It’s a well-known fact that Galaxy series helped Samsung achieve the current market position and thus with Galaxy SIII, Samsung was hoping to made record sell owing to its features like, S-Voice.
But just like the last time (when Flipboard for Android was leaked), S-Voice too, has leaked out and is available on XDA Forum for downloading [Download link given below]. The leaked version will work on any Android smartphone running on Ice-cream sandwich update. That means all the Galaxy SII users will also be able to use it. The S-Voice feature was tested on Google Nexus and it’s working just the perfect. However if used continuously for more than 45 minutes, sometimes it might crash (it was observed).
Reports of S-Voice firmware leaking are sure to leave Samsung in bitter disappointment if nothing else. It’s very tough to cope with it when you work hard on duplicating some feature from other companies and then before you release it with your smartphone; it leaks out and is made available on all the other smartphone. Jokes apart, Samsung must be furious over the reported leak-out of the S-Voice and the probable dip in the expected sell figures.
S-Voice is similar to Siri and just like its Apple counterpart; it is deeply integrated with its OS to provide excellent results. It lets you do all sort of things like asking directions, checking for hotels nearby and so on. Think about it, how cool it would be to ask your phone how to go at some place and your phone smartly replying the shortest way to get there and any other additional things about that place.
However S-Voice has some serious drawbacks. First thing as said earlier, it crashes when used continuously for more than 45 minutes. Secondly S-Voice does not immitate real person, rather it feels like you are talking to machine. For example, with Siri you can ask anything and it would provide you some response with personal message attached to it. But S-Voice will just give the exact answer to your question and that’s pretty uncool. Thirdly, Samsung’s S-Voice looks pretty much similar to Siri which includes the same speaker icon for activation and so on.
To draw conclusion from whatever I said up till now, S-Voice is a good competitor for Siri but only if it gets better in next version. Ottherwise I don’t think of any company who could provide tough fight to Apple’ Siri.
Google Play gets in-app subscriptions
Google has announced that the Google Play market will now support in-app subscriptions. Previously, only a year a ago Google had introduced in-app billing, in the Android Market.
Through in-app subscriptions, Google is touting a business model for developers, especially for content publishers. The developer will be able to use in-app billing to activate in-app subscriptions from inside their apps. All subscriptions will be auto-renewing and it will be applicable to each and every app, including games.
The app will highlight subscription options of the Play store with all details like renewal and billing intervals being highlighted. The Play store will keep the user abreast with all the latest updates regarding billing, renewal and charges. This will also include sending emails after every renewal similar to iTunes.
Google says, developers can use them to monetize premium dynamic content such as journals and magazines, but they can also use them to sell access to bundled products, game levels, music and video content, value-added services, or any other digital content.
Using HTTP-based publisher APIs, subscriptions on the Play store can be carried through multiple platforms and developers can extend access to their web properties via their Android apps.
To get the ball rolling, Google has announced that Glu mobile is launching updated versions of its Android apps including Frontline Commando, which will offer subscriptions through custom VIP currency packages.
The update is being rolled out to Google Play 3.5 or higher and users can access this feature starting today, as Google rolls out the update.
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