Google to Launch Siri Competitor Called Majel

Apple is currently leading the smartphone market with Android. But Apple is in a more beneficial condition as its latest generation smartphone, the iPhone 4S has its own voice control assistant called Siri. Of course, it can’t be a revolutionary feature, as Google has been working on such a system for a long time, but at the moment Siri ensures high sales for the iPhone 4S. The truth is Android users envy iOS users and it can’t be ignored. Well, at the moment I have good news for all non-iPhone 4S users — Google’s version of Siri is in works and most likely will be called Majel.

Siri is a result of long years of work. It was not designed especially for the iPhone 4S, but the latter was in the right place at the right time. On the other hand, other giant tech companies have been working on a similar software simultaneously with Apple. For example, earlier Nokia announced it would use voice texting technology in its Windows Phone smartphones, and though at the moment the Nokia Lumia 710 and the Lumia 800 don’t offer anything like Siri, there is Nokia Drive — the first voice navigation software in the globe.

Moreover, we have already talked about Iris, the twin of Siri, which is designed by third party developers and is meant for especially Android devices. But Google can’t leave things as they are and probably as you know it has been collecting voice samples for a long time now through its Voice Search app. During these years Google learned how people used to make their voice-based commands and looks like the company has discovered the key of creating “natural language” recognition.

Google X Team is currently working on Majel. Its beta version is expected to be launched before the beginning of 2012. If you wonder what Majel means, according to Android and me, it comes from Majel Barrett-Roddenberry, better known as the voice of the Federation Computer from Star Trek.