Google may be working on a voice-recognition assistant for Android under the codename of Majel, according to an unconfirmed report.
AndroidandMe.com claims the company plans to expand its existing Google Voice Actions, already available on most Android phones, by adding a natural language processing feature.
Voice Actions allows users to give commands by saying keywords such as “send text to. But the updated software could allow it to respond to commands by using more natural verbiage, similar to Siri.
Majel is a reference to the female voice of the computer on board the ship in Star Trek. Mashable reached out to Google for comment, but the company declined to address the matter.
We expect Google will use Majel for search queries at first, and will incorporate other commands such as controlling phone and app actions down the line. Majel could be released before the end of the year, but more likely in the next few months, according to AndroidandMe.
Google recently announced that it acquired a company called Clever Sense, the maker of the app Alfred, which serves as a digital personal assistant. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Mashable did confirm with Google that the Alfred app does not have voice-command capabilities at this time. Similar to Siri, he does search the Internet and provide users with recommendations from restaurant suggestions to bar and nightlife options. Alfred also learns user preferences and tastes over time to make more targeted recommendations.
Google could be planning to pair Majel with Alfred’s “learning” technology — though that’s still speculation at this point.
Do you think some combination of Majel and Alfred could take on Siri? Why do you think Google acquired Alfred? Let us know in the comments.
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