Google Glass is the new head-mounted computer being released by Google later this year. The device uses a clever prism design to project an unobtrusive, translucent image over your vision. Users control Glass with voice commands similar to Apple’s Siri. By uttering the words “ok, glass…” followed by a command, users can order Glass to record videos with the built in camera, search Google for information, check the local weather, and much more. All this information is delivered to you through the amazing prism in front of your eye or through the headphone in your ear. You don’t have…

Remember the days when drivers did nothing but drive. Sure, they could talk, maybe listen to the radio, have a Big Mac in one hand, but today there are people texting, talking on their phone, surfing the web, or playing an instrument while driving. Now, Honda is going to have your car listening and talking to you with the familiar Apple Siri interface. The 2013 Honda Accord will join the Chevrolet Spark and Sonic as Siri-integrated vehicles. They will (thankfully) be in “eyes free” mode when the car is in motion, meaning that drivers won’t have to fumble with a touchscreen while blazing down the highway…

The Apple versus Google battle has been waging since well before anyone even knew there was a rift between the tech giants. Their relationship seemed fine to outsiders for years who saw no legal battles between them and integration of Google products as default on the iPhone, including Google Maps. What was brewing behind the scenes between the last two CEOs at each company was a heated enmity. Today, the smartphone market itself is the battleground but the individual battle that intrigues most is the battle between the voice-recognizing software that turns iOS and Android into virtual assistants…

There’s something particularly creepy about Google Now that not only makes it superior to Siri and other voice- and location-based digital personal assistants, it makes it worrisome to those who take their privacy seriously. For the first time, we get to see the full breadth of how much Google really knows about us as individuals. It knows us from our Gmail accounts. It tracks our activities online. It knows where we are at any given moment. It’s aware of our real-world activities. In essence, it knows more about us than many of our significant others. That should be a little disconcerting. Strangely,…

Former CEO, Jeremy Stoppelman, has always been in Apple’s guest list as it sends out all its invitations for the major events. Although the chief executive officer of Yelp Inc, the consumer review website, has never been invited at these gatherings, his business has turned out to be a crucial weapon in Apple’s system as the company starts its battle over Google Inc. With other big consumer websites including OpenTable, a restaurant booking service, Rotten Tomatoes, a movie review website, Yelp Inc will be assisting in Apple’s Siri project in the new iOS6. The connection between Apple and Yelp…

Celebrities are often called on by companies to promote their products by inserting their use into their “real” lives, demonstrating to their fans that they use this product or that one. Apple has never really had to do that. Verizon has, and they are doing so again on behalf of Apple’s Siri personal assistant product. In the videos below (which unfortunately have not been released to the Verizon YouTube channel yet), you can see the two movie stars using Siri to make their lives easier. …

Amongst the “big 4″ tech companies that get most of the attention today, Google and Apple are two of the most bitter rivals. Before dying, Steve Jobs expressed an utter contempt for Google that has pretty much boiled over lately into an all-out war. Just because the companies do not get along doesn’t mean that there can’t be a little magic between their products. In this video by Comediva, the “Gmale” and “Siri” characters see through the differences of their kings to form a relationship that would make their human masters (servants?) happy if they weren’t spending so much time making pottery. …

Google’s competitor for Apple’s Siri is codenamed “Majel” and could be launched before the end of the year according to AndroidandMe. Geeks are aware that Majel is a reference to Majel Barrett-Roddenberry, wife of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry and the voice of the computer on Starships as well as various roles on several of the Star Trek shows. Google’s Voice Actions is currently in use on most Android phones. While Siri functions primarily from natural speech, Google’s VA operates through direct and specific commands. Majel is intended to change that. While December is possible, that…

Apple has often been noted as having the uncanny ability to see into their future. It isn’t simply having products that are ahead of their time. It’s about having a vision that can come true. On today, the day that Steve Jobs died, let’s take a look at one of the most profound examples of Apple’s predictive abilities. In 1987, Apple produced a video that described the “Knowledge Navigator”, a virtual personal assistant that worked through voice commands to perform many different tasks such as scheduling, searching for things, and contacting people. Siri, previewed yesterday by Apple as part of…

Recently two Silicon Valley giants made big investments in their future. But while HP’s purchase of Palm got all the headlines and page views, Apple’s acquisition of Siri, an iPhone “personal assistant”, is the real story. Palm Meet HP After pioneering the PDA market with fantastic products like the Pilot, Palm allowed itself to be lapped first by Handspring, a company formed by former Palm employees, and then by practically everyone else. RIM outpaced them on smartphones, then Apple revolutionized the entire industry with the iPhone. The Palm Pre was a decent enough phone, but the…