some of your examples are flawed.After putting your phone in a cradle in the car, setting off and then realising you don't know where you're going?
Slide up, hit mic, "navigate home". Then drive off.
I've been driving and then realised I'm lost, or decided to go somewhere else along the way, or have heard there's a traffic issue and so come off the main road...
Fair enough. Assuming you've put the phone in the dock.
Why would you not have put the phone in the dock, if you're listening to music through a dock?
nope. You then pick up the phone to have the conversation. Slide up, press mic "call mum".
Not on speakerphone you don't. Or if you're driving.
You're conflating what are fairly decent (but not, IMHO, alanwarwic "uncannily accurate") voice commands with the supposed additional convenience of not having to access Google Now in the conventional manner. Google Now is already easy to access. And does some nice voice activated things. Moto X makes it a little bit easier to access. Not a game changer.
Where I think it might be more useful is for home use, particularly combined with home automation. Mics in every room with a decent range. (how well will moto x actually work its in a dock and you're on the opposite side of the room ? )
They're claiming a range of many metres. It's not going to revolutionise anything - we're way beyond the point where any feature is. But it does for the first time actually make voice commands useful, because voice commands are only really useful when you're either skipping many steps on the phone, or not wanting or able to touch the phone in the first place.
I already have home automation on my Android, and being able to walk into a room and not have to fish for my phone, unlock it, open the app and set the lighting etc would be great.
some of your examples are flawed.After putting your phone in a cradle in the car, setting off and then realising you don't know where you're going?
Slide up, hit mic, "navigate home". Then drive off.
I've been driving and then realised I'm lost, or decided to go somewhere else along the way, or have heard there's a traffic issue and so come off the main road...
Fair enough. Assuming you've put the phone in the dock.
Why would you not have put the phone in the dock, if you're listening to music through a dock?
nope. You then pick up the phone to have the conversation. Slide up, press mic "call mum".
Not on speakerphone you don't. Or if you're driving.
You're conflating what are fairly decent (but not, IMHO, alanwarwic "uncannily accurate") voice commands with the supposed additional convenience of not having to access Google Now in the conventional manner. Google Now is already easy to access. And does some nice voice activated things. Moto X makes it a little bit easier to access. Not a game changer.
Where I think it might be more useful is for home use, particularly combined with home automation. Mics in every room with a decent range. (how well will moto x actually work its in a dock and you're on the opposite side of the room ? )
They're claiming a range of many metres. It's not going to revolutionise anything - we're way beyond the point where any feature is. But it does for the first time actually make voice commands useful, because voice commands are only really useful when you're either skipping many steps on the phone, or not wanting or able to touch the phone in the first place.
It's the act of unlocking, hitting the button or going through multi-stage menus that gets around. I do use voice commands for stuff like alarms, calendars, notes and reminders because they're some of the fussiest things to set up. This makes them even easier. Voice control could be said to be a gimmick when you have to unlock and tap to use it, but it's better than that now.
I already have home automation on my Android, and being able to walk into a room and not have to fish for my phone, unlock it, open the app and set the lighting etc would be great.
I'd also say it's better than things like NFC for profile setting. At the moment, people are getting out their phone, unlocking and tapping on a specific point for things like car and home profiles. A voice command when you get home or to the office is a much better solution.
Comments
I've been driving and then realised I'm lost, or decided to go somewhere else along the way, or have heard there's a traffic issue and so come off the main road...
Why would you not have put the phone in the dock, if you're listening to music through a dock?
Not on speakerphone you don't. Or if you're driving.
They're claiming a range of many metres. It's not going to revolutionise anything - we're way beyond the point where any feature is. But it does for the first time actually make voice commands useful, because voice commands are only really useful when you're either skipping many steps on the phone, or not wanting or able to touch the phone in the first place.
I already have home automation on my Android, and being able to walk into a room and not have to fish for my phone, unlock it, open the app and set the lighting etc would be great.
I've been driving and then realised I'm lost, or decided to go somewhere else along the way, or have heard there's a traffic issue and so come off the main road...
Why would you not have put the phone in the dock, if you're listening to music through a dock?
Not on speakerphone you don't. Or if you're driving.
They're claiming a range of many metres. It's not going to revolutionise anything - we're way beyond the point where any feature is. But it does for the first time actually make voice commands useful, because voice commands are only really useful when you're either skipping many steps on the phone, or not wanting or able to touch the phone in the first place.
It's the act of unlocking, hitting the button or going through multi-stage menus that gets around. I do use voice commands for stuff like alarms, calendars, notes and reminders because they're some of the fussiest things to set up. This makes them even easier. Voice control could be said to be a gimmick when you have to unlock and tap to use it, but it's better than that now.
I already have home automation on my Android, and being able to walk into a room and not have to fish for my phone, unlock it, open the app and set the lighting etc would be great.
I'd also say it's better than things like NFC for profile setting. At the moment, people are getting out their phone, unlocking and tapping on a specific point for things like car and home profiles. A voice command when you get home or to the office is a much better solution.