Are you jealous of your iPhone 4S-toting mate? Got an older iPhone and want Siri functionality but don’t want to install jailbroken apps, or perhaps you have an Android phone and want to try a new AI app? Let us introduce you to Evi, an impressive Siri alternative for iPhone and Android lovers alike.
Evi has been developed by a company called True Knowledge, with the voice recognition aspect powered by Nuance. You might have heard of Nuance before – that’s because it’s the company Apple acquired in order to build Siri in the first place. Nuance’s tech is behind some of the best voice control apps in the business, so we already know this app has fantastic foundations, but can it be a legitimate rival to Apple’s Siri?
You can grab Evi from the App Store for 69p now and it will work on any iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad running software version 4.0 or higher. The app is slightly more basic for Android as it is currently in a Beta testing stage, but you can download it for free from the Market on any device running Android 2.2 and up.
So what can Evi do? Evi integrates Nuance’s excellent speech recognition technology with True Knowledge’s existing online search engine and database. It’s a personal assistant just like Siri, though at the moment it doesn’t link in with system applications, so you won’t be able to use it to make calls, send and read text messages, or set reminders and calendar appointments.
It does beat Siri hands-down on one thing though; business and local search. Siri can search for places to eat, places to stay and such in the U.S, but currently it won’t do the same in the UK as Apple hasn’t signed a deal with a provider. In the UK and U.S you can ask Evi where to eat, where the nearest pizza restaurant is, or where you can buy some new shoes, for example. From our tests it works pretty well using your device’s GPS along with a 3G or Wi-Fi connection to find the nearest amenities, though beware: if you’re out in the sticks or Evi doesn’t recognise your location, it doesn’t work perfectly.
What else can Evi do?
Though it has only just been released, and is bound to be updated plenty in the future, Evi can already do the following for you:
- Convert, e.g. “What is 4000 metres in miles?”
- Calculate distances, e.g. “How far from Bristol to London?”
- Local times, e.g. “What is the time in Hong Kong?”
- Answer questions, e.g. “When was Ghandi born?”
The interface is mainly white, clean, basic and smooth. Evi, who we’re told is female, is represented by a strange Cyclops-like face that sits at the top of the screen. While it’s thinking, the eye rolls from left to right rather eerily, and Evi’s voice speaks to you to tell you it’s thinking about it, before vocally announcing an answer.
Because Evi works with natural speech, it’s actually very easy to perform a search, and, as with Siri, you don’t find yourself speaking slowly or like a robot in order to get the desired results. If it can’t find what you’ve asked about, Evi will offer you similar website results. The app contains its own built-in browser, so you can follow links and browse pages within the app, without having to switch to Safari or the Android browser.
Results can be rated by tapping a thumb up or thumb down icon, which the developer says will help Evi learn new things and understand what you’re searching for a lot better. This feedback goes back to True Knowledge, which is great because it means the app can be constantly updated so that it can understand common search requests.
Evi was released yesterday and has been downloaded plenty, say developers True Knowledge. Because of this some users are experiencing connection issues, so if you download soon be patient, it’s worth it! If you’ve got an older iPhone and want to get a slice of that Siri pie, we highly recommend giving Evi a try. If you’re not convinced, check out a video of Evi in action.
Let us know your thoughts on our comments below or via our @Gadget_Helpline Twitter page or Official Facebook group.
Tags: 3gs, Android, AOTW, App, Apple, iphone 4, Nuance, Personal Assistant, Review, Siri, True Knowledge, Voice Control
