voice recognition

13 Stories

Mom's Voice Really Fires Up a Kid's Brain
Mom's Voice Really
Fires Up a Kid's Brain
NEW STUDY

Mom's Voice Really Fires Up a Kid's Brain

Researchers use MRI scans to observe the impact a mother's voice has

(Newser) - Newborns can pick out their mother's voice in their first days of life, and while the stimulating sound of mom's voice has long been connected to the early emotional and social development of children, little is understood neurologically. Now researchers report in the Proceedings of the National Academy ...

In-Car Infotainment Distracts You for Up to 27 Seconds

Research finds issuing voice commands can be distracting, deadly

(Newser) - Think it's safe to use a voice-activated in-car system to call your friend Dave or play the new Taylor Swift single? Think again. In two studies published Thursday, researchers found it can take nearly half a minute to regain full focus on the road after giving voice commands to...

Samsung: Watch What You Say in Front of Our TVs

Company's smart TVs record, share everything you say

(Newser) - Own a Samsung smart TV? Then take note: Your television is not only listening, it's sending your data to a third party, the Independent reports. The TV's voice-recognition software lets you give it orders, but the product's privacy policy warns that "personal or other sensitive information...

Audio Experts Differ on Trayvon Martin 911 Call

One report thinks teen is screaming, but another is inconclusive

(Newser) - Don't expect the George Zimmerman trial to hinge on a 911 recording that includes screams for help along with the gunshot that killed Trayvon Martin. Two separate analyses of the call's audio have been completed, and they disagree with each other, reports the Orlando Sentinel . One analyst thinks...

Lost the Remote? 84-Inch TV Has Voice Control

'Ultra-resolution' screen uses motion control, too

(Newser) - Perhaps the days of searching for remotes are coming to a close: LG's latest TV operates using voice- and 3D motion-control. The 84-inch HDTV, shown off at the Consumer Electronics Show today, offers "ultra-resolution" and a bezel of just a millimeter, Mashable reports. It also has a plasma...

Could Google's Alfred Rival Siri?

After criticizing Siri, Android looks to follow

(Newser) - Less than two months after Google's mobile chief panned Siri and said Google had no interest in adding a Siri-like assistant to Android , the company yesterday announced that it has bought the tech company that makes Alfred, a personal assistant smartphone app. In a look at the move, Reuters...

Amazon Secretly Buys Voice Company

Could acquisition of Yap herald Siri competitor?

(Newser) - Is Amazon trying to dig deeper into gadget land? The company appears to have clandestinely purchased Yap, a company specializing in voice recognition technology. In a never-announced deal on Sept. 8, Yap was acquired by a company called Yarmuth Dion Inc. The merged company was then immediately renamed Yap. But...

New iPhone's Siri Shows Real Promise

 New iPhone's 
 Siri Shows 
 Real Promise
OPINIONs

New iPhone's Siri Shows Real Promise

Bloggers seem to like the voice-recognition feature

(Newser) - Much of the buzz around the iPhone 4S centers on its Siri voice-recognition system that Apple says makes the phone a virtual personal assistant. Some takes today:
  • This could work: What's promising about Siri is that it addresses the long-running problems associated with voice recognition, writes Paul Miller at
...

New Russian ATMs Can Spot Liars

System will eliminate need to interact with a person to get a credit card

(Newser) - Russia’s state-owned Sberbank is about to roll out ATMs with such ridiculously strong security features that customers will be able to get a new credit card without actually speaking to a human. The machines will have the ability to read fingerprints, scan passports, and take 3D images of a...

Ballmer Points Way to Keyboard-Free World
 Ballmer Points Way to 
 Keyboard-Free World 
CES KEYNOTE SPEECH

Ballmer Points Way to Keyboard-Free World

Microsoft chief shows off gear with touch, speech interface

(Newser) - In his keynote speech at the technology super-convention in Las Vegas, Steve Ballmer pointed the way to a future in which we won’t be chained to keyboards. The Microsoft chief took to the stage with a number of devices that instead use touch or sound for user interface, like...

Your Next Cell Phone Won't Have Any of These
Your Next Cell Phone Won't Have Any of These
ANALYSIS

Your Next Cell Phone Won't Have Any of These

iPhone makes touchscreens the big thing, but voice, image recognition coming soon

(Newser) - Designers are hard at work on technologies for tomorrow’s cell phones, Priya Ganapati writes for Wired, with more functional touchscreens, developing voice recognition that learns, and typepad software with fewer typos. In 5 years, Ganapati writes, “your phone will be a smooth, sleek brick—a piece of metal...

Tech Tools Gauge Politicians' Spin

Technology analyzes speech, voice and facial expressions to help researchers read politicians' lips

(Newser) - Want to know if John McCain and Barack Obama are stretching the truth? Speech, voice, and facial recognition technology is helping researchers determine just that, New Scientist reports. Analyzing words from 150 speeches from the presidential election, one researcher found that Obama used much higher “levels of spin” than...

Computer Hard of Hearing? Try This Software
Computer Hard of Hearing? Try This Software
NEW RELEASE

Computer Hard of Hearing? Try This Software

NaturallySpeaking takes a great leap forward in voice control

(Newser) - The latest incarnation of Dragon NaturallySpeaking “takes voice control unmistakably closer to that holy grail of computing,” David Pogue writes in the New York Times—being able to talk directly to your computer. Version 10 is better than 99% effective at transcribing speech, and upgrades make correcting, italicizing,...

13 Stories