Lumiappaday #51: Ask Ziggy demoed on the Nokia Lumia 800 (Like Siri on iPhone 4S)

This is an unscheduled Lumiappaday (not just being the second one for today, but also not in the original line up I had already organized). But I saw the app in our tips (story via WPcentral) and it was rather brilliant so I thought I’d sneak it in.

Ask Ziggy is a voice search like Siri on the iPhone 4S. It’s also powered by Nuance, the same thing behind 4S. Like Siri, you Ask Ziggy things and most of the time, it will find an answer and say it to you. Sometimes it doesn’t get something and it provides you to a bing search (mobile bing). In terms of voice recognition, it’s fantastic – though it is geared more towards an American accent, it does a great job on my non US one.

This video was done out of the blue last night so I didn’t get to test everything, like updating statuses and finding places which surprisingly just work (and sending text/email, which for me currently doesn’t.) The voice recognition is by Nuance but apparently, the data fetching and matching is all done by the developer, Shai Leib. Pretty excellent work.

Now voice commands are already on Windows Phone though it’s not as core of a feature as it is on the 4S. I do think Voice commands are really helpful, opening up applications, searching for something, texting someone, telling to the phone to read out loud their message, calling, finding places. It’s not something you’d use everywhere and all the time but it does have moments where voice command is the best thing to use. Perhaps driving or busy in an office on your own they’re great but in crowded places no (not just because it will be difficult to distinguish your voice but also, you look stupid).

Ask Ziggy is genuinely useful, for asking random things on the go and you don’t/can’t type it. Think of it as pub-quiz assistance lol. Joking, that’s cheating! It’s also impressive, something to show perhaps iPhone 4S users that a lot of the functionality that they had just forked over hundreds of pounds for is available for free on an app.

I’d love more of things like this to be integrated into the phone. As a prominent home screen tile it’s easy enough to activate though. According to the WPcentral video there is an update appearing but I’m not sure if I’m already on that.

#51) Ask Ziggy

Price: Free

Link: http://www.windowsphone.com/en-GB/apps/71970bb1-1de9-46a9-a602-040e1e7356cb

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzMGBgAc-3c

Developer Blurb:

* Fixed Math addition issue

If you are craving Siri like functionality for Windows Phone and more, look no further. Ask Ziggy is your Personal Assistant that goes beyond Siri functionality. You can Call, Text, Email your contacts, Update Windows Live, Facebook, and Twitter, Get Weather, Stock Values, Flight Statuses, Get Ziggy to do Math, or ask any question you want (i.e. Who is the tallest person?) all by speaking to your phone.

You can even change the voice from male to Female. The best thing about Ask Ziggy is that it is completely free!

For help: http://www.ziggybot.com/

Rating:

Design: 8

Clean design, simple clear metro

Usability: 10

Just press a button to speak to Ziggy. Stop speaking and it will perform the search. Tap anywhere to stop ziggy talking or touch your question if Ziggy provides you a link. There’s an about page that tells you what else you can ask as well as being able to switch between a male/female voice.

Performance: 9

I was surprised how well it works. It’s not 100% accurate, but then neither is Siri or TellMe.

Price: 10

Free, no ads.

Conclusion: 

Give it a go! It’s awesome!

Here’s a better video from wpcentral

Cheers Paaplo  for the tip!

Tags: featured

Category: Applications, Lumiappaday, Nokia, Windows Phone