While recording this week’s Bro Show, I had a thought about the iPhone 5.
I have been wondering for weeks now what Apple could add to the iPhone at this point, from a hardware perspective. Clearly, things like a faster processor and better camera are on tap for future models, but I really can’t think of a single “it” feature that would knock things out of the park.
Then, I had it.
What if Apple makes all of the Nuance-powered voice stuff that keeps popping up in the iOS 5 betas iPhone 5-only?
This makes sense to me for a couple of reasons.
First, no real changes have been made thus far in the iOS 5 betas when it comes to voice, and Apple hasn’t said a single word publicly about its Nuance partnership. Why not show it off at WWDC, even in a very un-released fashion? The only reason I can think of for the company to hold its tongue on what would be a great feature is that it is tied to unreleased hardware. (Granted, Apple does like having a secret feature to show off close to release.)
Secondly, by building this technology to run on an A5 chip or better, Apple instantly has its “headlining feature” for a new iPhone model this fall. The iPhone 4 has been a smashing success, and while the new model will be an even bigger success if history teaches us anything, Apple probably wants more than a case redesign and an A5 chip to show off to customers.
Nuance’s software may require an A5 to run as smoothly as Apple would like, too. Android does voice-stuff in the cloud, but I’d imagine Apple would prefer if all the operations could take place locally, without a network connection.
Voice-powered commands aren’t new to the mobile scene, of course. Google has baked-in voice command to Android for some time now. When (if) Apple ships something comparable, I’m sure it will be executed in a way that is more elegant and more powerful than what other companies are doing.
I would love to see voice-powered commands and search come to iOS 5. It is the single biggest thing I miss about carrying a Droid as my mobile phone. I’m really hoping Apple has something ready to go in the fall, even if it doesn’t come to the iPhone 4.