Microsoft Tellme is NOT the same as Siri [video]

Posted Thursday, November 24, 2011 at 7:45 pm by Jason Cartwright |

Microsoft Tellme vs Apple Siri

Over the past 24hours there have been a lot of posts about Microsoft’s Chief Research and Strategy Officer, Craig Mundie, claiming that “Microsoft has had a similar capability in Windows Phone for more than a year… All that is already there, fully functionality for years.”

With Siri, Apple managed to humanise the synthesized voice with comedic responses. With more functionality like setting alarms and geo-fenced reminders, scheduling meetings and more, Tellme is really not the same thing. WP7 voice functionality still feels like last generation voice commands, regardless of how Microsoft try and sell it.

The problem isn’t with marketing as the video suggests, but rather the lack of a response to Siri. Tellme was probably on-par with Apple’s voice controls like “Play Artist xyz” in iOS4, but with Siri, Apple takes it to the next level. Microsoft needs to respond by releasing an update and not only match the functionality of Siri, but surpass it to draw attention and be a point of difference for potential smart phone buyers.

Also its worth keeping in mind that Siri is still in beta. While we are yet to see an update, when it arrives, it’s likely to add even more voice controlled functionality. Make no mistake, the race is on to be the first to deliver an OS-wide voice command API that 3rd party applications can integrate with. When that happens, it will be a game changer.

The video below graphically demonstrates the difference between the two voice systems, you be the judge.

Update
More than 500,000 people have now watched this video, you’re an opinionated lot. Below is a video responding to some of the comments.

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Guest

I wouldn’t make a video, i’m too shy, but Siri does work with natural language, that is the whole point of Siri. The basic COMMAND:THIS voice control has been there for a while already.
I’ve got the 4S and it’s amazing how good it works, but i will, unlike some people, admit that Siri is not free from bugs and false recognitions. It also lacks a few features i’d like, such as opening apps. But i’m sure that’ll come too.

I have not used any Windows Mobile phones so i don’t know how well Microsofts TellMe works, but seeing this test Siri won, both accuracy and speed. If that’s due to accent, it’s not an excuse, that proves Siri has better accent recognition then Microsoft TellMe.

Go to an Apple Store and try out Siri on the iPhone 4S yourself and you’ll be amazed.
Guest

And Siri will understand you your way.
If you wanna send a text message;
Text
Send a text message to
Create a text to
Text to
SMS
Help me send a text message to
Could you send a text message to for me
…. and many more ways of doing it .

Pretend to be human? You don’t have to pretend nothing, just be.. Be yourself, don’t try to be anything. There Siri will work, TellMe won’t if what you’re saying is correct.
AM

The sheer
level of ignorance displayed by some of the apple fanbois here is breathtaking.

Patently obvious that the massive majority of you have never even seen let
alone used the products you are so proudly pontificating against.

Break out the
banjos, you are just a bunch of hillbillies with smartphones.
http://Mac-Security.blogspot.com Derek Currie

What is most pathetic in the Craig Mundie interview is his inability to think about the quality and capability of technology. Instead he defaults to blethering about marketing. This specific attitude is what undermines and slowly destroys Microsoft. I call it Marketing-As-Management and consider it one of the fastest ways to tank your company. I was able to watch hit happen first hand while I was at Eastman Kodak. Knowing what was going on, I sold off my Kodak stock at $55 US per share. Check out its stock price today.
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Psyches

On the other hand, if Siri can’t talk to the cloud, it’s currently useless. I proved this over 12 hrs today, Nov 28, over about 20 attempts. Total fail, all day long. I’d take smoke signals over Siri if this continues.
Anonymous

Interesting. It really boggles my mind that anyone could say something like that for any Microsoft product. Specifically, what other smartphones have you tried?
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Anonymous

Not unfair you moron, he just used the main interface to speak commands. Tellme defaults to web search, while as Siri is more intelligent and picks the right application based on context. Seems tellme is a dumb application for retards like you
Anonymous

Mundies main quality is that he is good at licking Ballmers ass. Considering that he still wears a watch, I guess he has never used a smartphone. I think both Ballmer and he should be fired and replaced by more technical and visionary men/women
Anonymous

so you’re saying that it’s the worst that there is?

nobody would argue that the windows phone user experience is anything other than crap, and anyone who knows MS history knows that we don’t need a resurgence of windows 3.0 . Gone with the old, sheesh!
ComeOn

You don’t need any more help you dere dude
ComeOn

By your measure Apple is a bigger failure because they had their Iphone for at least 3 years ahead of WP7 and they still couldn’t come up with decent voice recognition. Apple didn’t take any step at all other than buying Siri out and you for some reason seem to be attributing it all to Apple’s brilliance. Siri is still in beta even after one year of additional work by Apple (ever think why?).

If you were to do the same comparision a year ago Apple was a miserable failure in voice recognition (which would have been a more apples to apples kind of comparision). They have adapted and brought something new (although not their creation), to which they deserver some partial credit.

Author has made a very bad interpretation of the the interview and made it worse by referring the video which is even more pathetic for several reasons. Only a fan can take this seriously and think of it as a fair and logical presentation of facts (or misguided facts).
Guest

I don’t think that Mundie is ignorant, he is mostly responding to the questions and did a commendable job and he didn’t downplay Siri as much as he highlighted what TellMe has been capable of.

It is the ignorance of the author that is really the issue here. His interpretation of the interview and the supporting comparision video are both ignorance and ignorance being taken to a new level. The original interviewer himself can hardly hide his enthusiasm while asking the questions about Siri. His liking of iphone is quite apparent and he obviously was already decided on what the answer should have been, thus leading Mundie into questions and responses.

To begin with, this article is entirely based on misinterpretation and misrepresentation. Using this as justification of superiority of Siri is bad. Using this article as justification of someones ignorance is worse.
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ComeOn

You do realize that Siri (and similar technologies) has existed for quite some time now, and how is it the begining of NLI, ooohh!!! I see, you mean because it is in iPhone.

Attributing out of the world accolades and claiming leadership on false assumptions and all for someone who doesn’t know or care about you!! well Spoken like a fan, being a fan is ok but being dumb about it is not !!
Anonymous

I meant the beginning of NLI for public consumption. Same as when Apple released the GUI, it wasn’t the total beginning, just the beginning of mass adoption. And I’ll stick with my assessment that Siri is equally as big as the GUI was in its day.
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http://www.facebook.com/amitjakhu Amit Jakhu

Are you people the biggest morons in the world? All these iterations of speech to text are flawed. I say wait 5-10 years for it to be extremely fluent. The only difference between TellMe and Siri is that one is an update to all devices for FREE the other you pay HUNDREDS of dollars for. You be the judge. No point in arguing about beta software that will take years to perfect.
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Guest

Siri has been available in the App store for some time now before Apple baught it so to your point it was already there for mass consumption. What Apple has done is possibly accelerate the process.

NLI is an evolutionary process and has a ways to go. Siri is a step closer but nowhere near the ulitmate goal. It is just another pit stop as was the initial command based approach. If in your head Siri is as big as GUI then the initial command based approach was probably bigger as it was the begining of the process.

I guess you have your heart in the right place but your head in the wrong discussion. This is about the misrepresentation of the differences between Siri and Tell me and misinterpretation of the interview and the statements there in. This whole article is misleading in its content and intent.
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Anonymous

Good point that Siri was in the App Store. Apple was smart to buy it. One thing I have learned from participating in a lot of discussions is that different people see the same information differently. One group on here is saying that the video is an unfair comparison, because Tell Me can do a lot of the same things Siri can, if you speak to it right. The other point of view is that Siri is superior tech as demonstrated by the video. There is not a right way to talk to Siri, and Siri is more versatile. I agree with the 2nd point of view. In addition, I am saying that the Natural Language Interface, whose beginning stages are represented by Siri, is a big step forward for computing, comparable to the Apple’s introduction of the GUI in the 1980s, and will continue to develop and encompass more functions. Talking to computers will be more & more common and convenient. I do not see the article as misleading.
Apu

@Polimon:disqus Apple invented the GUI? I think not. Whilst there is a lot of debate on this, the first commercial computer to host a GUI was the Xerox 8010 Star Information System. A couple of years before the Apple Lisa.

Likewise Apple claimed to have invented the mouse, and went on to sue loads of people - and lost. The mouse was also invented by Xerox.

Xerox PARC (Palo Alto Research Center) was very prolific in inventing things, but Xerox weren’t good at commercialising them. They also invented Ethernet. Without them, we wouldn’t have the internet as we know it, or indeed computers as we know it.

With Siri, we see a similar thing. Apple have spotted a piece of leading edge technology, and have bought it. Now they are improving it. Thats a very good business model, and something Apple do very well. They aren’t good at inventing brand new ideas though, but they are excellent at taking an idea, improving it and commercialising it, and that has made for a much better computing experience for all of us – Microsofties and Fanbois alike.
Anonymous

You are jumping to conclusions. I am not claiming that Apple invented the GUI. Apple popularized the GUI. If you had read my post above, I say exactly that, and I quote:

“I meant the beginning of NLI for public consumption. Same as when Apple released the GUI, it wasn’t the total beginning, just the beginning of mass adoption. And I’ll stick with my assessment that Siri is equally as big as the GUI was in its day.”
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Thestoatman

Seems to me Poleydee was explaining some of the differences between the two interfaces. Regardless, everyone has their onion. While you might not agree there is no reason to post insults
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Gokhan Kaya

tellme rocks
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Microsoft Tellme is NOT the same as Siri [video]

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