Google is reportedly working on a rival to Apple's virtual assistant Siri, codenamed Majel, and will likely launch the service next year.
Majel is named after actress Majel Barrett-Roddenberry, and if you have geek cred you would also know that she was the voice of the Federation computer (and Nurse Chapel) on "Star Trek." The secret project is scheduled for launch late next year, according to Android and Me.
Majel is an evolution of Google’s Voice Actions that is currently available on most Android phones with the addition of natural language processing. Where Voice Actions required you to issue specific commands like “send text to…” or “navigate to…”, Majel will allow you to perform actions in your natural language similar to how Siri functions.
Just a day after the Android and Me report, Google acquired CleverSense, a search client with a "personal robot" that recommends restaurant, bars, cafes and the like based on user preferences, location and other factors, PCMag reported, suggesting that Google will incorporate the service into its virtual assistant.
While we don't know if Majel will be the real name or if the secret virtual assistant developed at Google X will ever see the light of day, it makes sense for Android phones to have something similar to Apple's Siri. Now that Google has seen the mistakes Apple made with Siri, we hope that it can improve upon its version and create something truly excellent.
