The Future is Hear

We’re currently moving through an age where it’s not seen as completely insane to talk to yourself. We’ve probably all done it. It’s hard to find a phone these days that doesn’t have some form of voice control. Siri was the pioneer, launching in 2011 as the first conversation style personal voice assistant. Android followed with Google Now, Samsung now speaks through S Voice and Microsoft has recently released Cortana.

Siri and S Voice remain the most simple, responding to users requests and replying with the desired information.

Google Now and Cortana take the idea of an assistant a step further. Asking more about what you like, how you normally travel, tracking where you are parked and scanning social networks for information like birthdays allows them to give you relevant, in the moment information; the theory that Google has brought across into their wearable operating system, Android Wear.

At Motorola’s Chicago event recently, they released their long-awaited Android Wear smartwatch the Moto 360. The stylish watch isn’t the first of its kind but its been met with positive reviews and a lot of noise across the web allowing one of Motorola’s other reveals to go practically unnoticed.

The Moto Hint is described by Motorola as a “discreet wireless earbud.” Awesome. Motorola produced a bluetooth headset as a callback to the symbiotic tech plague of the early 2000s?

I was intrigued when I first saw a picture. Okay. That’s pretty small. But is it enough to for people to consider wearing it? The Hint is designed to be worn at all times but unlike most headsets it’s actually small, light and discreet enough for that to be an option. For that, it contains technology for passthrough audio, allowing you to keep it in your ear and still hear everything as you would without it.

Where the Hint really comes into its own is ‘Moto Voice’.

Moto Voice means that the Hint is always listening for your call. By saying the Android standard “Okay Google” or any custom phrase you set, the Hint will activate and immediately respond giving you access to anything from the conventional “What’s the weather like?” questions through Google Now to apps like alarms, notes, Facebook, Whatsapp, turn-by-turn navigation and even making phone calls using its two noise-cancelling mics.

At this level, the Hint is a fantastic bluetooth headset but the real excitement for me is in the possibilities. The obvious and most recent example is Her.

With the technologies available in software like Google Now and Cortana, it’s hard to imagine that we’re that far away from the ideas portrayed in Her.

Part of the initial love for Siri was due to the conversational tone that you could take. Asking questions in plain english and getting answers with an attitude or joke to them. In an age where our phones are constantly learning about us, who we talk to, what our interests are and the ways that we like to receive our information, can it be that much of a stretch?

Instead of having to think “Okay Google. Read my new message” Couldn’t a nice warm voice let us know

“Craig wants to know what your dinner plans are”

Google Now contains a powerful translation tool which when paired with the passthrough audio on the Hint is starting to sound a lot more futuristic than a simple bluetooth headset. Although, maybe that’s less Her and more Iron Man.

I’m not saying it would be easy to create but if I could have a $150 friend sitting in my ear all the time making sure that I’m up to date, it would be a lot easier for me to choose that over a $300 watch that requires a constant mix of swipes, taps and talk.

I’ll finish with the final thoughts from The Verge’s wonderful review:

Bringing more information, more quickly, more ways, is core to what Motorola is trying to do with its latest round of devices — and bringing back the earpiece fits right in. But the real question still exists: have we forgotten the BlueDouche syndrome? Are we ready to put gadgets back in our ears again?