Gadgetory

I'm an Swan Goodwin this is seeing that TV and you're watching tap that app the show where see you next editor responding the hottest EPS in the mobile space and get our phone screen all finger print so that you don't have to hopefully my phone will stay relatively clean today because I'm talking about voice assistant apps for Android phones programs that let you tell your phone what to do with a little more than the sound of your voice and since I'm a car tech editor and most people I know tend to think of voice command as an in-car activity I'll be focusing on apps that work best when you're behind the wheel now first up is Robin it's been generating a lot of buzz this week as they would be Siri fighter which it kind of is but mostly isn't Robin can do a number of things but she seems to be tailored mostly for in-car use focusing on traffic data destination search parking and navigation you can probably tell that by the Google map that's the apps home screen find a coffee shop does it have a good reading Robin can also search for fuel prices get weather updates read your Twitter feed aloud set reminders and tell you really bad jokes the interface is a bit beta and outside of basic show me a place and then get me there sort of commands Robin still has much room for improvement but the developers say that new features and commands are constantly being added I do like the conversational tone of this free app and the fact that it speaks your answers back so you can keep your eyes on the road dragon go buy nuanced features great recognition accuracy and hooks into many other apps now some of those apps like Netflix are best left out of the car but others like setting reservations using open table or finding venues and restaurants using Yelp can be very useful in the car find Pandora karaoke on Yelp however dragon goes interface is a bit cluttered and attention intensive for dashboard use and with no spoken feedback you end up looking at and touching the screen a lot more than I'm comfortable with while driving so be sure to park before getting too deep into any dragon searches it's free like all of the apps in today's roundup there's also Vlingo voice assistant with in-car beta easily one of my favorite voice assistant apps for in-car use and the most hand three of the pack with its wake up command feature hey blingo but we've already covered Vlingo on a previous episode of tap that app which you can find by searching CNET TV finally let's take a look at an app that's probably already on your Android phone and being overlooked the stop Voice Search app now most of you have probably never looked twice at the built-in Android feature but Google's voice search will not only let you search the web but you can also use it to get directions initiate navigation send text message and emails to your contacts said alarm send yourself reminders even cue up music set an alarm for 5:00 p.m. text Optimus Prime you've got the touch listen to Jack White well that's it for this week's episode of tap that up I've been Antoine Goodwin with cnet.com you can follow me on twitter at ant goo and if you've got an app that you'd like to see tapped send it to tap that app at cnet.com