Google to launch voice-action update ‘Majel’ for Android phones

When Google bought Phonetic Arts in 2010 it became clear that it is preparing for something big. Since then their team has been working on features like voice recognition, voice input and voice action. The application has been codenamed as Majel for now. The name has been derived from Majel Barret-Roddenberry also known as the Federation Computer from Star Trek. 

According to Tim Wimberley from ‘Android and Me’ Majel is already in its closing stage and can see its launch anyday soon.

Apple’s Siri has been in talks since its inception and was eagerly anticipated as well. Siri became one of the reasons behind Apple iPhone 4S’s instant high sale figures. Siri's fun and light responses attracted Apple fans and envied Android fans. Even though there is no doubt about the fact that Siri has been quite buggy but still many are happy having it onboard. Responsive enough Google is trying to make sure that its Majel should be released by January or February 2012.

This application will make the device pretty much intractable and you can give commands which Majel will optimize for the search. For instance ‘navigate to..’ even if you say ‘directions to…’ will be automatically managed by Majel. The Android4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) Voice action applications types the words as they are spoken. 

Matias Duarte, Google Android's director of user experience, in a recent interview with Slashgear said that Google for now is giving a way to interact with your device which will be quite mechanical. Users will be able to do things that Siri does but Majel will not have that bling factor which Siri users enjoy. 

Even so the point worth noticing would be Siri’s tech that has been developed under DARPA project and has been the result of more than 40 years of research. This was initially developed by a third party app and then advanced for the public (beta) release. Considering this the game looks quite challenging for Google but even then Android is the only one suited rival for Apple. This can be said because Google already has its own voice recognition tech and this is a step forward.