Top 10 Voice Assistants

Android users have access to a simple Ozlo assistant. It was created only to quickly get directions to your destination, find the best restaurant or cafe nearby. The assistant analyzes the map of food outlets, can remember the preferences of a person. To compare the results, it uses Foursquare and Yelp rating services. Favorite establishments are collected in cards that appear on the phone. If Ozlo does not understand something, he will ask again or clarify the command. The program is regularly improved taking into account user requests.

The assistant is not particularly nice to the owner, but remembers the name. It only executes the commands it has been trained to. But the assistant significantly reduces the time to find an institution, works great when traveling around Russia. It also works abroad, but is a bit buggy. The manufacturer assures that the list of commands is not final.

Abroad, the name SoundHound is known to many: the popular music recognition service is a worthy competitor to Spotify. In Russia, he did not gain such recognition, but he was able to get into the smartphones of his compatriots. The Hound voice assistant is the result of 9 years of work by the best engineers in the world. It is able to process long sentences, understand several requests in a row. The assistant will complete the task even if there is no direct command.It offers the most powerful functionality for searching songs by lyrics and motive.

SoundHound founder Keevan Mohair says their voice assistant can not only list the foods in the fridge, but also make recipes from them. The company has entered into agreements with music streaming services. She collaborates with Expedia, the assistant knows the names of all the musicians, their albums, concerts. Hound will tell you what is in fashion now, make a playlist. Not all functionality is available in Russia, but the most important commands are saved.

Typle is a simple voice assistant for PCs on Windows 7, 8 and 10 systems. The program is significantly inferior to the leaders in the rating, it executes only short commands. She looks for requests on the Internet, launches or closes applications. There are 2 versions available: free and subscription. After installation, a window appears on the computer that asks you to pronounce the word. The assistant remembers the voice and accent, reacts only to it. All commands to be used must be spoken the first time you connect.

Judging by the comments, Typle does an excellent job with basic functions. Despite its simplicity, the assistant has a powerful speech recognition system. The commands he memorized once are executed without errors. Microphones are needed for proper operation: the more powerful they are, the more responsive the assistant will become. Then Typle will parse the request in a noisy room, recognize the owner's voice among others.

The newest voice assistant on the market, Xiao Ai from a Chinese brand, is gradually being introduced into Russian smartphones. It only works with Xiaomi phones.The functionality largely repeats Siri and Google Assistant, which we will discuss below. The program controls smart appliances, sends photos to social networks, plays music. With short phrases, users set an alarm clock, make a schedule. Unlike Siri, Xiao Ai can send dictated messages.

The voice assistant is part of the Mi Home smart home, only when paired with other devices, its best sides are visible. For example, turning on an air purifier, a vacuum cleaner, a kettle. The helper doesn't need to open its own app to execute the command, it sends them directly. This reduces query response time. The main disadvantage of Xiao Ai is the focus on the Chinese user and their applications, Russian services are not supported.

Android smartphone owners who spend a lot of time on the road appreciated Robin. The voice assistant controls the phone instead of a person, drivers are not distracted by pressing buttons. He answers simple questions, dictates the news, informs about changes in social networks, sends SMS, calls, analyzes the weather forecast. The user can adjust the schedule, turn on the alarm, make a shopping list. Robin perfectly recognizes Russian speech.

New users go through a quick illustrated tutorial. The assistant has limited functionality, especially when compared with the best in the ranking. On the other hand, Yandex Labs and Google Moscow, which understand the needs of domestic users, are at the origins of the adaptation of the program. The developers regularly expand the functionality, teach Robin accents.Additional features include tips, quotes and anecdotes. But user requests should be simple.

Among foreign voice assistants, only Siri took the domestic consumer seriously. The manufacturer was the first to add the Russian language to the program, overtaking even Yandex.Alisa (it came out later). Siri is the easiest to manage, she understands short commands. Artificial intelligence adapts to a person, begins to respond better to the owner. Voice recognition increases significantly after a few weeks of use. Siri can be corrected, suggest pronunciation.

The voice assistant is the best choice for owners of Apple technology: iPhone, iPad, Mac, Watch, TV. It is built into cars with CarPlay function. However, the functionality also depends on the device, older smartphones do not support most of the commands. Modern gadgets take advantage of Bluetooth headphone compatibility. With their help, it is more convenient to make requests, answer calls and messages.

Microsoft Cortana was originally available on PCs and laptops from this manufacturer. All functionality is revealed on these devices. However, over time, the voice assistant appeared on smartphones with Android. It allows you to complete tasks on the go, spending less time. Unlike Google and Apple programs that use the Chrome browser, Cortana uses the development of Microsoft Bing. Assistant added to Harmon Kardon Invoke smart speaker and Xbox One console.

Unlike Siri, which relies entirely on voice commands, Microsoft Cortana is a complete assistant. You can enter unique features. The assistant will remember them and will perform them automatically. For example, reduce the volume during an important meeting. This helps a lot if the voice command is not recognized. The assistant keeps a notebook, adapts to the user. He will remind you about the match of your favorite team, tell you the most visited restaurant.

Amazon Alexa appeared in the manufacturer's column, gradually moving to mobile devices. It is part of a smart home, controls a huge number of things. For example, he opens the blinds and garage doors, turns on the lights and the TV, adjusts the thermostat and the air conditioning system. Artificial intelligence is learning, Amazon releases updates regularly. The voice assistant confidently took the place of the best in 2015, and is not going to lose ground.

In the reviews, buyers speak with admiration about the functionality of the assistant. He reads the morning news, plays his favorite songs, sets alarms, dictates audio books, calls a taxi. Together with Amazon Alexa, trainings are held, a schedule for the day is planned, calls are made. Despite the most extensive functionality, using the assistant is simple. Alexa in the column from Amazon has 7 built-in microphones, hears commands from all sides, even if the room is noisy.

Domestic manufacturers keep up with modern trends by offering their own voice assistants.Yandex Alice is their best achievement, which is not inferior to the program from Amazon and Microsoft. In many ways, it surpasses them, because the functionality is designed for the Russian user. Alice talks about the weather and the latest news, turns on music, launches programs, keeps up the conversation. It works in the mobile Yandex.Browser, on Android and iOS. The assistant is able to identify products in pictures, find them on Yandex.Market.

Customers are touched by Alice when she tells stories or jokes. The voice assistant has enough intelligence to speak in different voices, play games, clarify details, and make recommendations. It converts currency, warns about traffic jams. After each task, Alice can be rated. This tells the developers in which direction to move.

Global giant Google was one of the first to make voice assistants available. Google Assistant is an updated version of the program that works on Android, iOS and in the Chrome browser. She understands spoken language, supports the simplest dialogues. The assistant gradually learns the functions that the user needs. For example, it can make calls, book tickets and places in restaurants, "hang" on the phone, waiting for the operator's response. The program will listen to all insertions of the answering machine and notify the user when a person picks up the phone.

The voice assistant will plot the best route to your destination, provide information about restaurants and attractions. He uses Google Maps and other company services. Busy people learn plans for the day and manage the calendar with their voice, receive reminders of meetings.The assistant adds and deletes notes in seconds, sets an alarm and a timer, and makes a shopping list.