Siri For Android Appears On Market, Just A Shortcut At The Moment
When the Apple iPhone 4S was introduced to the world, with it came a re-introduction of Siri, an until-then third-party app that used an above-average voice recognition system to do commands and actions – now the Android Market has "Siri for Android," but it's not quite what you might think. Instead of an "Official App" as it jokingly suggests that it is with its developer name, it's just a shortcut to what all Android devices version 2.2 and forward have working on them natively: Google Voice Actions. Sadly you will not be able to ask this this "Siri" if it'll be raining on your parade tomorrow.
Between 1,000 and 5,000 people have already downloaded this application, it just added this week in an effort to educate the masses on what Android has been capable of doing for over a year now. This app was not produced by Google (as far as we can tell,) but it's certainly a good tool to inform those without knowledge of this basic function that it is, indeed, there for the picking. For those of you still trying to find that perfect Siri alternative on your Android complete with any form of speaking you wish. Meanwhile you'll be using such gems as these to make everything happen:
Send email
Say "send email to [recipient] [subject]* [body]*"
e.g. "send email to Mike LeBeau How's life in New York treating you? The weather's beautiful here!"
_____
View a map
Say "map of [address/city]"
e.g. "map of San Francisco"
_____
Go to websites
Say "go to [website]
e.g. "go to Wikipedia"
Those of you wishing to get a whole lot closer to Siri on Android should check out some of the following alternatives: Iris which is of course Siri in reverse, Vlingo Virtual Assistant which is just about as close as you're going to get to Siri at the moment, Skyvi (Siri for Android) whose title makes no qualms about which audience it's going for, Speaktoit Assistant complete with strange cartoon companions, and Andy – Siri for Android which has a giant amount of good reviews for its ease in use and developing awesomeness. Let us know what you use, Android lovers, and if you've got a Siri alternative out there, tell it!