Google’s Nexus One muzzles the foul-mouthed
One of the most innovative features of Google’s new Nexus One is the built-in voice recognition. But there’s one major limitation that Reuters discovered while putting the smartphone through its paces: the phone is a bit of a prig.
Try uttering a curse word into the Nexus One, and the well-mannered device will automatically replace the offensive expression with a string of # symbols.
Thus, a jocular text message inquiring about a buddy’s whereabouts is transcribed as “Hey #### where are you?” on the Nexus One; A spirited rejoinder to a dubious assertion becomes “that’s bull #### and you know it.”
While perhaps not as politically charged as Google’s censorship of Internet search results in China (a practice Google recently said it will no longer engage in), this restriction of free speech for the foul-mouthed is puzzling, and somewhat inconvenient.
So why the no-curse policy? After all, what business is it of Google’s if a person chooses to be profane in their private communications?
A Google spokeswoman provided a statement suggesting that replacing curses with # symbols aimed less at enforcing etiquette than to ensure that offensive words don’t accidentally appear in transcriptions – a potential concern given the fact that voice recognition technology is still not perfect.
“We filter potentially offensive or inappropriate results because we want to avoid situations whereby we might misrecognize a spoken query and return profanity when, in fact, the user said something completely innocent,” said Google.
Google steals CES spotlight, and a page from Apple
When it comes to blockbuster product introductions, Apple is king. So it’s not surprising that Google, which is looking to challenge Apple’s iPhone dominance, is stealing a page from the Steve Jobs & Co. playbook.
Google emailed invitations to reporters on Tuesday for “an Android press gathering” that will take place at its Mountain View, California headquarters on Jan 5, as rumours continue to swirl that the company is preparing to release a Google-branded smartphone.
Yes, that’s the same week as the big Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, where Sony, Microsoft, Samsung et al will dutifully convene to show off their latest doodads.
Wresting the spotlight away from CES with a better fireworks display is classic Apple: Jobs gave the world its first peek at the iPhone in January 2007 at San Francisco’s Macworld, instantly vaporizing any value in the press releases and preparations of every hapless gadget maker that had trudged to Vegas that week.
And if Google ends up introducing the much-anticipated, Nexus One phone next week, the announcement could suck the oxygen out of all other technology products, as some commentators have noted.
The only device that could potentially compete with a Google phone for attention is the Apple tablet, another much-speculated about device whose existence has never been confirmed by the company.
But Apple appears to be waiting until after CES to take the wraps off the tablet. According to a report in the Financial Times, Apple has reserved space on Jan 26 at a San Francisco venue for a “major product announcement.”
Sounds like the Stallone movie “Demolition Man” where Stallone is brought back to life in the future and any foul language will cost you credits. Be Well!