Sophisticated voice commands will be the next big step for the development of smartphones, according to Apple co-founder, Steve Wozniak.
He was speaking at the Australian Chamber Business Congress in the Gold Coast. He founded Apple in 1976 with Steve Jobs and has been recognised as a major contributor to personal computers.
Asked what he thought would be the up and coming development for smartphones in the next five years, Wozniak pointed to voice-activated commands.
“We have gotten down to such tiny devices with amazing computers inside with all the human senses; vision, hearing, touch, location acceleration and movement,” he said. “... I don't want to click buttons anymore and I just want to do things without having to think about which buttons to click.
“I like voice commands more and my wife would tell you I generally pick which phone I want based on what commands I can speak into – be it an Android or iPhone – and I would just rather speak it than press buttons even if it only takes a few seconds."
Wozniak's philosophy is if one person like something, it has potential to have mass-market appeal.
While he thinks voice commands will not supplant touchscreens in smartphones in the near future, he saw them co-existing effectively.
I like both [touch and voice] but I think there is still going to be a need for [touchpads] for people like accountants, lawyers and engineers... that aren't going to adapt to voice well.”
The Australian Chambers Business Congress concluded today.
