Apple’s new iPhone 4s introduced voice to phone communication. At first I was not too impressed with this feature as I have a droid 1 that has had voice to phone communication since 2009. However, after reading about SIRI I realized this was a significant step up from Google’s voice commands but in the end would not be a significant deal breaker for me to switch to iPhone.
What can they both do:
text message
Find location on map
Make phone calls
Play music
Web searches
Email
Open the browser
Now where is the difference? The major difference is that Google voice relies on commands like ‘call john smith on cell’. Whereas SIRI relies on natural language such as ‘call my mother on her cell phone’ You can also ask SIRI questions like ‘what are my meetings for the day’ and SIRI will know to look at your calendar. This would be important for people who cannot remember or do not want to remember the commands. This introduction in AI is a significant step in voice communication with the phone and Apple has a slight advantage. However, I should point out that Android does have 3rd party apps that are supposed to do the same thing as SIRI.
A difference in favor of Android is that SIRI does not give text to speech voice directions like Google voice does. You need a 3rd party app for apple to do that. In light of that, there are rumors that Apple will soon have a good GPS system just like android does.
So overall is SIRI a deal breaker? I think it depends what you want. It seems like either way you can make each phone function the same using 3rd party apps (GPS apps for apple, AI apps for android).
I guess the main question is, are you going to talk to your phone?
Here is a good source with more explanation: http://gigaom.com/mobile/speech-smack-down-siri-vs-android-voice-actions/