Google applies for patent on Siri-like TV control
Filing describes way to use voice commands from mobile device to manage set-top box remotely
Published: 22 February, 2012
READ MORE: UI | Patents/IPR | Android
Google has filed for a patent covering a user interface similar to that of Apple's popular Siri technology. This would enable a customer to use a mobile device to control a set-top box, presumably running Google TV, with just voice commands.
According to Patently Apple, which saw the patent application, Google's application describes a way to issue voice commands through a mobile device and relay that command to a set-top box, which then displays the requested content or information on the TV screen. In the example given in the Google document, a user asks "When is Seinfeld on?" The TV software then displays the title, name of the episode, and when it will be on.
This is presumably designed to chase Apple, which is rumoured to be planning a high definition Apple TV this year, with support for the Siri 'virtual personal assistant'. Samsung and LG have also announced voice controlled applications to manage their upcoming TVs - LG with its MagicRemote technology, and its rival with Smart Interaction, which also adds gesture control, Kinect-style.
The main difference in the Google version, judging by its patent filing, would be longer range, allowing users to be up to one-quarter of a mile away from the TV.
"We file patent applications on a variety of ideas that our employees come up with," a Google spokesperson told CNet in an emailed statement. "Some of those ideas later mature into real products or services, some don't."
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