Friday 7 June 2013

Is Robin better than Siri?

I've spent an afternoon laying around with Robin, the Siri challenger on my Xperia Z with the intent to see if it is actually a good Android Siri alternative. Or even if Magnifis' hype is to be believed and Robin is a viable Siri replacement.

It's just a pity that Google Now and Robin don't work more closely together, for example I have a choice to shortcut Now or Robin as the instant swipe access mobile personal assistant, but not both. It's a pity as each does things slightly differently and has their own strengths. Robin still uses a lot of Google functionality which certainly puts it above Siri on Android as superior search is available through Google's engine and Google Maps.

It's also a good feature how you can progress your search. For instance searching toyotapartshub.com genuine toyota parts came up with multiple local options and Siri was then able to list them for me is either time or location without any button presses and just by voice.

The voice functions are very intuitive too and the Android PA rarely misses a phrase. (Although I did sometimes have trouble setting alarms). What's most to like about the Siri Challenger is that it has a lot of personality, it can tell you jokes, our daily horoscope and has just added functions to get updates on your favourite football team on your Android phone.

I think it's probably just a matter of time before Robin or Magnifis is snapped up by a larger company, they've built an intuitive and fun to use personal voice assistant for Android phones and are constantly expanding it. Robin is Siri better than you? "It is just impossible!"

No comments:

Post a Comment

Like us? Then say So!