While Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) continues to develop Siri, its voice recognition and speech-command assistant, Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) is working on the last phases before Google Glass hits the market. Although it seems that a few years remain until the product reaches the European market, the company has already started a “charm offensive” (in the words of Gabriele Steinhauser and Frances Robinson) in the old continent. This week, a team of Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) representatives will be traveling around Europe, introducing Glass to journalists and policymakers in the European Parliament. With this tour, that started in Brussels, Belgium, and will continue to Cologne, Germany, and Paris, France, the company expects to win the favor of those who will soon determine the laws that regulate the device.
Although Glass is in a late-trial-phase in the U.S., with approximately 12,000 testers trying out the gadget, two reasons have delayed the tryouts in Europe. For starters, Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)´s Glass´ American English voice-recognition software does not process foreign accents effectively. In the second place, privacy concerns have arisen in the continent, which is usually more preoccupied by these issues than the American population.
The details of the meeting in Brussels were not disclosed, but analysts believe that Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) will try and get approval in Europe by selling the device as a Bluetooth headset with an integrated screen. However, the future is still uncertain, and the largest bets, placed at the U.S. market, for now.
How does Glass Work?
Images are projected in inside a small, transparent cuboid over your right eye and are meant to look like a 25-inch (64 centimeter) screen eight feet (2.5 meters) away, limiting the obstruction of a Glass-wearer’s vision. Users navigate through the various functions by tapping or swiping the device’s frame, issuing voice commands preceded by the phrase “OK, Glass” or moving their head up and down. That allows them to search the Internet, take pictures or videos, make phone calls, send messages and post on social media. (…)The broad message Google wants to pass on about Glass is that it will actually limit “screentime,” allowing people to interact with the world around them rather than having their eyes glued to a phone. (WSJ)
This is War
The battle between Siri and Glass is not new. Actually, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is using Siri to discredit its competitor. When an Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) user says “OK, Glass,” Siri responds in sassy and cheeky ways. Some of the answers are:
– “Stop trying to strap me to your forehead (…) It won’t work.”
– “Glass? I think you’ve got the wrong assistant.”
– “I think that Glass is half empty.”
– I’m not Glass. And I’m just fine with that.
– Very funny. I mean, not funny “ha-ha,” but funny.
Disclosure: Javier Hasse holds no position in any stocks mentioned
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