Hound Voice App Could Be Smarter Than Siri Or Cortana

The creators of SoundHound want you to talk to your phone as if it were human, not as if it were — well — a phone.

"What is the best Indian restaurant around me?" (Video via Youtube / Windows Central)

This new app called Hound is a lot like Apple's Siri or Microsoft's Cortana — except it appears to be a bit smarter. Its voice recognition software is able to understand questions (even follow-up questions) asked more naturally and less like a robot.

“Show me four- or five-star hotels in Seattle for three nights starting on Friday between $150 and $250 a night. … How ‘bout with free WiFi and a gym that aren't bed and breakfasts? Those look great!” (Video via SoundHound)

Kind of seems too good to be true, right? The Verge got to meet with the app's founder, Keyvan Mohajer. His demos were scripted yet “astonishing enough” to make one writer believe the tech could be legit.

Mohajer asked the app, ‘How many days are there between the day after tomorrow and three days before the second Thursday of November in 2022?’ Hound apparently gave the right answer.

Right now, the Hound assistant is still in beta and is available as an invite-only Android download. But Mohajer wants the voice assistant to be more than an app eventually.

Wired reports "SoundHound hopes you'll soon see [it] inside every phone, tablet, car, toaster, and espresso machine on the planet." But first, they'll have to get a full version of the app out and get it on more peoples' phones. 

Until then, you can go to SoundHound's site to request an invite for Android or get on the waiting list for an iOS version, which is currently in the works.

This video includes an image from Getty Images and music by Bensound / CC BY ND 3.0.