Hound can outsmart Siri, Google Now with voice-search tricks
Tech Industry
Sorry Siri, there is another assistant that could be smarter.
I'm Bridget Carey.
This is your Cnet update.
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It seems another voice assistant is set on outsmarting Siri, Cortana and Google now.
A new app called Hound Has some new voice search tricks that blows Siri and Google Now away.
It's a free app made by the company Sound Hound.
And what makes it different is that it can handle multiple layers of a spoken question.
Don't just ask for a nearby hotel, ask for which hotels are available in a certain place on a certain day at a max cost and if it's pet friendly.
Try that on a Android or iPhone and you can get a useless search result.
This can be applied to complex restaurant hunts.
Or you can also use it to request an Uber car ride.
And it'll tell you the distance, time, and estimated cost of the trip before you even book it.
But Hound will not be just in every situation.
As for sports scores and series shines, because it breaks down the score by a quarter.
Ask for directions and Hound loses because it does not have public transit advice.
And for generic trivia, Google speaks the answer where as Hound just poses as a Wikipedia page.
and also on the topic of that.
Google Maps just got a little better for iPhones.
The maps app now lets you add a stop along your current route, it was in Android for several months now.
But not all road adventures have been smooth lately for Google.
One of Google's self driving Lexus cars has accepting blame in a minor crash.
And it's the first time the car itself is at fault, well partial fault at least.
The accident happened last month involving a bus.
The Google car was trying to move into another lane after signaling and waiting for an opening.
It assumed a bus coming would yield to let it in.
But that did not happen.
The car hit the side of the bus.
Meanwhile, in other Silicon Valley drama, the battle continues between Apple and law enforcement over requests to unlock iPhones.
On Tuesday, Apple and the Federal Bureau of Investigation made Made arguments before a congressional panel regarding the order to force Apple to help the FBI break into the iPhone belonging to one of the San Bernardino shooters.
FBI Director James Comey said his team has done everything they know of in their power to unlock this phone before they took it this far.
Apple argues that this issue should be determined by Congress and Lawmakers rather than by the courts with a warrant It's based on a very old statute.
But what could help Apple's argument is another case that happened the day prior about a different iPhone.
A New York judge ruled that the government had no right to force Apple to unlock an iPhone that belongs to a drug dealer And that may strengthen Apple's argument against doing it for the FBI.
That's it for this type news update, much more at cnet.com.
From our studio in New York, I'm Bridget Carey.
