What can investors in both companies expect from this recent flare up in the long running battle between these two tech behemoths?
No surprises here
For investors who have been following the Google-Apple conflict over the past six years, Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s strategy of pushing voice search onto iOS devices doesn’t come as much of a surprise.
The deep-rooted animosity between the two former allies started when former Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) CEO Eric Schmidt, a member of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s board, launched Google Android shortly after Apple released its first iPhone in 2007. In the following years, Apple stopped producing native Google apps (such as YouTube and Gmail), forcing Google to produce its own iOS software. Apple then attempted to create its own maps service to replace Google Maps, which failed miserably. There are now even rumors that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is encouraging Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) to build more iOS apps, squarely aimed at reducing Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s presence on its devices.
Simply put, Apple has been trying to rid its operating system of Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG), but has found it nearly impossible due to Google’s dominant position in search and cloud-based apps. Meanwhile, Google is dedicated to keeping its apps on Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) devices to remain the default search engine of iOS users, which increases its search advertising revenue.
Circumventing Google
Apple’s Siri debuted on the iPhone 4S and was later added to the iPad with iOS 6. Siri is often simply regarded as a cutting edge add-on feature for iOS devices. However, Siri is an integral part of Apple’s longer-term strategy. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) intended for Siri, whose voice search results are not powered by Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG), to eventually reduce the dependence of iOS users on Google’s web search apps. In theory, if Siri grew intelligent enough and could process spoken results faster than typed ones, then it could eventually render Google’s search capabilities useless.
While Siri hasn’t quite evolved to that stage yet, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is quite serious about helping Siri grow more intelligent. A recent report states that Apple retains user-linked voice data for six months, and anonymized data for up to two years, in an effort to improve Siri’s search capabilities.
Google just won’t leave
When dealing with Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s unwelcome incursions, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) could try to “pull a Microsoft” and lock Google out of its ecosystem completely. However, that would immediately trigger antitrust regulators, and it would also alienate a large number of iOS users who are also dedicated users of Google’s software.
With the launch of Google Now, Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) has completely invaded the iOS ecosystem. Apple’s mobile Safari browser is often regarded as an inferior choice to Google’s Chrome, which easily synchronizes bookmarks, settings and extensions across multiple platforms. By comparison, Safari requires a wider array of toggles across the iCloud to properly synchronize. Meanwhile, Google Maps were brought back to iOS at the end of last year after the Apple Maps debacle, which proved that despite valiant efforts from Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), Google is still the undisputed leader in mobile maps.
Is this the end of Siri?
This leaves us with the big question – can Google Now actually kill Siri?
While Siri stores user voice data for analysis, Google Now works the most efficiently when users give Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) permission to access their user data. With a linked account, Google can analyze a user’s search history, bookmarks, calendar entries, location and even content from a Gmail account to deliver a customized experience. Google Now can fill the phone’s home screen with customized stock quotes, sports scores and local weather without being asked to do so. In addition, Google Now proactively makes localized, customized suggestions before users actually need them, in contrast to Siri, which answers user requests. On many levels, however, Google Now is considerably more intrusive than Siri.
Although Google Now is a fairly seamless experience on Android devices, it isn’t as cohesive on iOS until Google’s other apps, such as Maps, are installed. Another issue is the conversational nature of the two devices. Siri will repeatedly ask for clarification until a clear directive is stated, whereas Google Now tends to simply pull up web pages via Google search if the request is unclear. However, that may be Google’s intention, since sending users online via its search engine helps it generate display ad revenue.
Lastly, Google Now offers many of the same voice commands as Siri, such as setting alarms or looking up the weather, but it lacks the developed personality and sense of humor of Apple’s software.
As for which app is actually more advanced, initial reports indicate that Google Now works better as a supplement to Siri, rather than as a full replacement, which means there may be room for both to coexist peacefully (for now).
Next generation devices
Lastly, voice search will likely be a primary feature of Google and Apple’s upcoming devices. Both companies have a number of confirmed and rumored devices in their pipeline, such as Google Glass, Apple’s smartwatch and iTV. All of these devices are expected to use voice search on some level, which means Google Now and Siri could define future product releases.
Google Glass, which is the only confirmed product of the three, heavily uses voice search for launching apps and using “augmented reality” directions. Analysts have speculated that if Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) releases a smartwatch or smart television, both could benefit greatly from Siri integration, which could tie together the iPad, iPhone and other devices together across the iCloud for a more seamless, intelligent search experience.
The Foolish bottom line
In conclusion, Google’s launch of Google Now’s voice search capabilities for iOS is merely a symptom of a much deeper conflict between Google and Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), and not the simple voice search battle that many analysts and tech reviewers have been discussing.
Google wants to weave itself into Apple’s ecosystem as tightly as possible, utilizing the popularity of its own ecosystem to demand a presence on iOS devices. For Google, which controls 49.3% of the U.S. smartphone market with Android, maintaining a presence on iOS, which controls 43.7%, is an absolute necessity. Meanwhile, Apple is trying unsuccessfully to push Google away, since it has no interest in spreading the popularity of Google’s ecosystem and boosting Google’s ad revenue.
Although Apple and Google shareholders are still firmly at odds with each other over their companies’ strategies, the competition between their voice search apps could yield some impressive new products. Accelerated research and development to create the better voice search app could transform both Siri and Google Now evolving into true virtual assistants bordering on artificial intelligence in the next few years. By then, typing in search results could seem as outdated as using a physical encyclopedia to look up information.
The article Google vs. Apple: Let the Voice Wars Begin! originally appeared on Fool.com.
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