siri
IN PHOTO: Luke Peters demonstrates Siri, an application which uses voice recognition and detection on the iPhone 4S, outside the Apple store in Covent Garden, London October 14, 2011 Reuters/ Suzanne Plunkett

SoundHound, a music recognition app has launched a new voice search app named Hound in private beta for Android based phones on June 2, according to reports.

The app is using voice recognition technology to develop a new voice-based virtual assistant for the Android based smartphones while the company is also working on an iOS version, reports NDTV Gadgets.

Hound is faster in terms of processing and replying to any spoken query as it does not separate the audio speech recognition from the language processing part, reports Phonearena.com, which also mentions that Hound deals with more complex queries than Siri or Google Now.

It is designed to handle search queries faster than other services because the company has applied all its learning’s about the voice technology from its SoundHound service, Keyvan Mohajer, SoundHound’s Founder told Wired via PC World.

Currently, the app is available in the Play Store in beta format and it needs an activation code to be sent to the user once it is installed but users will have to wait for 24 hours for getting the code, reports Phonearena.com.

Story Behind The Launch Of Hound

A report on Re/Code says, SoundHound came up with Hound app after working on it for nine years. SoundHound was established in September 2005 by Keyvan Mohajer, who aimed at creating a medium for humans to interact with computers. Mohajer raised some money from TransLink Capital, WaldenVC and Global Catalyst Partners and while the company was working on the main idea, SoundHound established an interim business i.e the music recognition app that generated enough revenues through ads and fees from music stores to back up the company’s operations, reported Re/Code.

The Hound app will face tough competition from Google and Apple that already have their own voice search offerings built into their respective operating systems, as per the Re/Code report.

According to USA Today, tech companies have been working towards making human-smartphone voice interaction better. Google had recently previewed forthcoming Now on Tap feature at the 2015 Google Developers Conference held in May. The latest version of Google Now offers new levels of contextual understanding like that of the Hound, reports USA Today.

For feedback/comments, mail the writer at pragyan.ibtimes@gmail.com

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