When Siri for the iPhone 4S was announced, downloads for Vlingo, a voice command app for Android, shot up 50%. Why? Because voice command, especially with artificial intelligence, can complete tasks more efficiently than our own fingers.
The act of talking to our gadgets is still in the awkward stage, but pretty soon we'll all be voice-commanding our phones, forgetting that we ever lived without artificial intelligence.
Voice command (and speech recognition) isn't just available for phones. Check out our guides on getting these services on any of your gadgets:
Android
- How to get voice command on your Android phone
As Apple announces the Siri voice command system for the iPhone, Android users may be wondering what took it so long. With these tips, use voice recognition to complete helpful tasks using apps that are available now. - Iris for Android answers your curious questions
Iris (Intelligent Rival Imitation of Siri, or Siri backward) surfaced in the wake of Siri's debut and is touted as one of Android's best alternatives.
iPhone
- No iPhone 4S? Get voice commands with Dragon Dictation
You don't need Siri to talk to your iPhone. Dragon Dictation recognizes your voice, though it won't answer you. Still, it's a handy (and free) app for dictating e-mails, texts, and Facebook and Twitter updates. - 5 hidden tricks for making the most of Siri
Follow this guide to using Siri as a painless, superfast way to get things done. - Siri gets grammar lessons with these tips
teach Siri how to use punctuation and special characters. - Improve Siri by using phonetic names
Siri pronounces words like they are spelled, which can lead to some inadvertent name calling. You can avoid any awkward moments by adding a phonetic name to your contact card. - How to update Twitter or Facebook with Siri
Check out this easy workaround that lets you update Twitter and Facebook with Siri. - How to personalize iPhone Voice Control (iPhone 4 and earlier)
If you have an iPhone 4 or earlier model, you can use its built in Voice Control software to complete tasks. Donald Bell give you tips on how to personalize this feature.
Windows and Mac
- Setting up speech recognition in Windows 7
Voice commands aren't just for smartphone users; they're for PC users, too. We'll show you how to use speech recognition so you can launch programs, dictate text, scroll Web pages, and more, all by voice. - Get started with Mac speech commands
Built into Mac OS X is speech recognition software that lets you converse with your Mac. - Related: Check out Mac OS X Lion's high-quality speech voices
Apple's OS X 10.7 Lion operating system comes with brand-new, high-quality text-to-speech voices. Here's how to enable these on your system. - How to use Chrome's speech-to-text
Chrome 11 comes with a new feature that converts your mellifluous voice into surprisingly accurate text in the browser, and we've got a quick guide on how to use it.
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