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WITH GOOGLE’S VOICE assistant now available on iPhones and iPads, the Associated Press used an iPad Mini to throw five test questions at Google Now and Siri from its HQ in New York this week.
Here’s what the two digital assistants had to say for themselves:
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Question: What is the meaning of life?
Siri: “I can’t answer that now, but give me some time to write a very long play in which nothing happens.” Siri has more than a dozen prepared responses to that question.
Google Now: The voice assistant was silent. Instead, keywords in that question triggered an ad for the Mormons on the top of the search results page. That was followed by links to a Wikipedia entry for “meaning of life” and other sites.
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Question: What is the weather like Friday?
Siri: “It should be nice Friday… up to 61 degrees and sunny.” Siri also presented a graphic with day-by-day conditions over the next six days, using information from Yahoo.
Google Now: “Friday’s forecast for New York, New York, is 64 degrees and clear.” Google then presented a box with day-by-day conditions over the next 10 days, as well as current conditions.
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Question: What movies are showing this weekend?
Siri: “I found five movies playing nearby on Friday.” Siri then presented a card with show times, parental ratings and favourability ratings from the Rotten Tomatoes website. Four of the movies were at art-house cinemas, as theatre chains hadn’t released weekend schedules yet. Links to buy or rent those movies on iTunes were offered when available.
Google Now: “Movies playing in New York on Friday.” Google then offered a page with times, descriptions and other information for 13 movies, including six IMAX movies playing at science museums in New York and Jersey City, N.J. As with Siri, most of the rest were at art-house cinemas.
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Question: How did the Mets do?
Siri: “The Mets lost to the Phillies yesterday. The final score was 5 to 1.” An inning-by-inning scoreboard was presented.
Google Now: “The Mets lost to the Phillies 5 to 1.” An inning-by-inning scoreboard was offered up.
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Question: Please set my alarm for seven.
Siri: “I’ve set an alarm for 7 am.” Siri assumed 7 the next morning rather than 7 that evening. Siri then showed a digital clock with a lever at “on,” which you can switch to “off.”
Google Now: The voice assistant was silent. Instead, search results appeared, including an article on “How to Use Siri’s Clock – For Dummies.”
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This headline should read ” insurance company reaping the benefits of gender directive”.
My insurance hasn’t gone down whatsoever! Also under this directive can I get a refund on the €4200 I paid for my first Years insurance back in the day
It’s all about equality.
Equality not so great now ladies.
Can men reclaim the horrific car insurance payments they made in their late teens and early twenties whilst women drove off paying less than half those rates? It was pure discrimination.
So is the article complaining that there is equality now?
It seems so.
Michelle must have enjoyed all those complimentary comments yesterday, because she’s on fire this morning.
I thought it was more that insurance companies are taking advantage of the directive?
It’s about time.
Isn’t equality nice!
I suppose the usual bleaters will complain now because things are not equal enough for them…
… and perhaps post such thoughts up in the form of articles.
There are positives and negatives of equality. You can’t expect to reap the gains and avoid the loses!
Cue Sinéad giving out!
Can’t wait for the age directive so older motorists have to pay the same as younger motorists
Mine still costs €1200 a year, which I can’t afford. Even my friends who now have full licences are paying at least €800 a year.
Complete Bo#$&x. Not a claim ever my renewal quote doubled this week, I don’t recall having a sex change. Even scouring around general quotes more than last years premium.
Mine went up significantly after the gender directive, but I noticed that my older sister, who doesn’t even have a full licence, still paid less than me. So age must be a factor too. My premium has now come down again thankfully, but all savings will be lost by the time I have to renew my health insurance!
Go online to renew health insurance, big money can be saved that way
Mine went down in fact all i pay is €350 fully comp. Its great really considering it was 800 two years ago… roll on the equality movement… next i hope that ALL my fellow citizens who drive around in 2014 brand new cars and hi-aces have to pay actual income tax and have benefits stopped until they can prove income… now there’s a novel idea.
I’m amused you are envious of those who drive HiAces…
There should be a tax on excess cynicism and assuming the worst about your fellow citizens.
Good
They obviously didn’t talk to Aviva if the research is indicating an average price drop for men.
My claim trippled this week. When I rang them I was told that all insurance was going up all across the board due to more claims. I had to shop around, I got a cheaper quote only 100euro over my old quote. Insurance companies are like criminals. Charge what they like with no fear.
Seeing as this a gender directive should LBGTI persons incur more costs , on account of their sexual mis-adventures and the dangers therin …, or is gender not a social construct when it comes to health insurance ?
Sorry?
Are you suggesting a gay person sleeps around more then a heterosexual?
Go out on any Saturday night and you’ll see a heterosexual person hooks up sleeps around the same as somebody that is gay, their all human’s after all with the same urges and desires.
Gender is not the same as sexuality.ffs.
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/service/advertorials/sexually-transmitted-infections-in-men-who-have-sex-with-men-msm-continue-to-soar-30086359.html , I’m merely stating a fact and proposed that perhaps a person who “identifies” as gay should bear the financial brunt if their lifestyle choice endangers their health
Don’t feed the troll/Neanderthal lads
Gay women are at a lower risk. Should they pay less?
As a gay women, I don’t think so.
They say gender doesn’t matter, yet they all ask if you’re male or female with no choice to ignore answering so I’m sceptical regarding any real change.
My Broker is charging a fee of €45 for renewal through them. I went online myself and got a cheaper quote than they got for me. A follow up call from the insurer got me another 5% off. Needless to say I’m taking care of business myself this year.
‘Gender directive’ – hate these euphemisms.
It’s not a euphemism. There really is a European Directive and it really does deal with gender. Council Directive 2004/113/EC if you’re interested.
So equal pay will be next on the agenda. Men get paid more than women in the same job so I suppose when they balance it as they have done here, the extra pay we will get will offset the hike in insurance. Of course by the same token the drop in wages for men will be offset by the drop in insurance
No they don’t
Equality, its all fun and games untill you see what it really means :)
Smoking , drinking heavily , pharmacuetical drug dependence , illegal drug use , over or under eating & depression would be factored into a quote for health cover , why not the practice of unsafe sex?
It depends on how the companies define unsafe sex? It also would depend on how they would regulate it and prove it. If people don’t admit to it, and are healthy, it can’t be proven. Unlike smoking, drug use, dangerous work etc.
have your say