Even Google seems to be ramping up their efforts to making Project Majel a reality with what will likely become Google Assistant. If sources to the Wall Street Journal are correct, even mighty Google "has accelerated plans to launch its own Siri competitor that would work on Android-powered devices."
The question that comes to mind is... does Android really need a Siri competitor? Hell, does Apple really need Siri? Three months ago, WSJ released a study that claimed 87% of iPhone 4S users used Siri at least once a month. Which might sound remotely impressive except for the fact that the usage details weren't particularly impressive nor dynamic.
But users aren’t proving adventurous with their usage. Making phone calls and sending text-messages are the most popular activities, according to the report, a sign that Siri usage is mirroring how people use their phones more generally. Roughly a third of 4S owners use Siri to place phone calls, send text messages, or look up information daily or almost daily.Many other Siri services are getting little pickup, however. They include playing music and scheduling meetings. Thirty-two and 35% of 4S users, respectively, said they had never used Siri to perform those actions. Those categories also had some of the lowest percentage of users that did either daily or almost daily.
Email usage is pretty split, with 30% saying they have never used Siri to send an email while 26% say they use it to send email daily or almost daily.
- WSJ
So again, do Android users really benefit from Google, Samsung, and LG utilizing the developers at their disposal to make a program that only 35% of users will take advantage of to do anything more than save a few keystrokes on a Google search or text information that would be mildly inconvenient with an on-screen keyboard? Aren't their more pressing needs on our operating system then voice activation, or has Android evolved to a level of polish that voice-interaction is all that is left for it to be perfect?
Do you use Voice Search already and are ready for a fully functional upgrade, or do you feel like whatever Google, Samsung, and/or LG come up with be an amusing toy at best? Hit up the comments with your thoughts.
