Ready for a Samsung Galaxy S4  system dump and a chance to play with all of the goodies it contains? The folks over at SamMobile received one and have already begun pulling out apps for you to install. First up is the newest version of S Voice, the Siri-like voice actions application that was first introduced with the Galaxy S3. It’s still powered by Nuance’s Vlingo, so it’s certainly no Google Voice Search. But hey, if you like talking to your phone and found older versions of S Voice to be of use, feel free to give this new one a shot.

You’ll be able to voice dial, create memos, schedule appointments and tasks, set alarms or timers, ask “what the weather is like,” and find local listings to the best restaurants. From what I can tell, nothing has really changed, other than the S Voice icon. Pro S Voice users, feel free to tell me what I’m missing. 

Download Link

Once it finishes downloading, install as you would any sideloaded app. If you are installing on a Galaxy S3, it should install over the top of your current S Voice app. Should you decide that it’s not worth the update, you can uninstall and return to the stock version by uninstalling the update in the Application manager.

*The .apk file works on both my Galaxy S3 and Nexus 4.

Via:  SamMobile

Cheers Jul!

Download: New S Voice From the Galaxy S4 is a post from: Droid Life

These damn voice recognition apps, they just won’t go away. I’ll admit that they are probably more useful than 3D was, but how many people are going to find something like this useful on a daily or even hourly basis? Siri use has been hit or miss, so how will Samsung’s S Voice fair?

In our tests, it worked OK at times. For me personally though, I’m still struggling to find a way to fit it into my daily schedule, however, over time it could grow on me (assuming Samsung has plans to add in sports, movie and restaurant features). At this point, it’s only slightly better than some of the Android options and has a long way to go to become an ultra-powerful tool.

We took it for a spin below. Most of this video was featured in our full Galaxy S3 review, in case you missed it. 

Click here to view the embedded video.

Video: Samsung Galaxy S3 S Voice Overview is a post from: Droid Life

Been thinking about turning your Galaxy Nexus into a Galaxy SIII recently? Developers over at XDA are on a mission to do just that, and with the release of these overlay files, I think they have completed the task. Once you flash the add-on files, you will have the sounds, wallpapers, applications, and other tidbits that seperate the SGSIII from every other phone on the planet. You will be able to utilize S-Voice, S-Memos, and some other neat little things Samsung have developed.

We made a quick walk through video to shortly show off the features, so check that out and if it looks like fun, follow the instructions down below to do the same. 

Warning: For CyanogenMod 9 and AOKP users only!

Instructions for installation:

1. Download the add-on zip file and the launcher zip file and place them on your phone’s storage.
2. Reboot into ClockworkMod Recovery and immediately create a backup.
3. Wipe data/cache.
4. Install the add-on zip and then the launcher zip files.
5. Reboot and enjoy!

Walk through of the add-on:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Via: XDA (2)

Galaxy Nexus Receives Galaxy SIII Add-On Mod, Say Hello to TouchWiz and S-Voice is a post from: Droid Life

After the Galaxy SIII’s S Voice leaked over the weekend, user experiences were quickly halted as the servers that powered the service seemed to have been shut down or blocked. Some guessed that Samsung was behind it and sure enough today, they admitted that they were. Their reasoning? Well, because that version was only a test build and they did not want the world to assume it was the final product:

An initial test version of S Voice which was found online has been blocked as Samsung Electronics does not want consumers to judge the quality of the voice feature based on a test version. When the product is launched, users of GALAXY S III will be able to fully experience S Voice.

I’d say that makes a lot of sense. Usually these leaked ROMs are indeed test builds, so it’s hard to argue with that reasoning. Doesn’t part of you think that they did it so that one of the exclusive features to the GS3 was preserved, though? Can’t blame them for wanting that to happen either, especially knowing that the phone itself hasn’t even been released yet.

How has your experience been with S Voice? Game-changer or just another voice actions app?

Via:  The Verge

Samsung Blocked the Leaked S Voice From Working Because It was a “Test Version” is a post from: Droid Life

After enjoying Samsung’s new S Voice service that had been pulled from the Galaxy SIII, users started to notice a network error appear often enough to assume that Samsung had blocked the service. If you were running into this issue and can’t live without S Voice on your phone, there are a couple of fixes out there for you to try.

The first is a new .apk file. Simply uninstall the old one and install this one instead. You may even be able to install this if you aren’t rooted.

If that doesn’t work, there is another method that involves editing your build.prop to trick Samsung’s servers. You can find those instructions at the source link below.

Via:  XDA

Cheers Adam and Joey!

Samsung May Have Blocked S Voice From Working, A Couple of Fixes Already Floating Around is a post from: Droid Life

The S Voice app from the Galaxy SIII is available for any rooted device running Ice Cream Sandwich to try at this time, thanks to a leaked full ROM from yesterday. For those not familiar, this is Samsung’s attempt to put a Siri-like voice-actions system on their newest flagship device. Does it live up to the hype as being better than Siri or is it just another player in the game that already has too many? Let’s find out. 

First off, please remember that this version of S Voice is running on my GSM Galaxy Nexus, yet it isn’t supposed to be. There are going to be bugs, especially when the app tries to pull from apps that do not exist on any phone that isn’t running TouchWiz. So to be fair to the app and Samsung, don’t take this all as the definitive guide or what you can fully expect when you get your hands on the Galaxy SIII in the next few weeks. Think of this as showing only part of the potential. Second, it’s powered by Vlingo, which is a voice recognition service that is good on its own and is available in the app store today to everyone. So unless Samsung is using some super special custom version of Vlingo that can’t be found anywhere, this could be nothing new.

Tests

With simple tasks like “What am I supposed to do, today?” and “What’s the weather like?” the app returned exactly what I needed to see. It also works well for reminders, settings alarms, and any of the other items it recommends you try (from the command list). It’s fairly fast at returning most results and even allows you to say “Hi Galaxy” to wake it up, making this a fully hands-free operation.

As with any Android voice recognition app though, it starts to struggle when you try to get it to respond to things that aren’t on its specific command list. I pulled directly from the most annoying commercial in history, aka the Zoe Deschanel spot that Apple is currently running, and it responded with some canned answer to my “Is that rain I hear?” question. It also force closed when I repeatedly tried to ask it to deliver me tomato soup.

When I tried to get responses to things I actually care about on a daily basis, like sports scores from the night before, it came up empty. Now, this may be something that all voice recognition apps struggle with, but is simply another reason why I think these tools, including Siri, are toys at best.

If you need to add something to your calendar or quickly call someone, they all work wonderfully. If you want to actually get something done though or fully simplify your life, none of these apps seem to be able to do that, yet. Take for example the shots below where I asked it to open Evernote and turn off GPS. It wanted to web search for GPS and after confirming with me multiple times that I wanted it to open Evernote, it never actually opened Evernote. These could be bugs since again, it isn’t supposed to be running on anything other than the Galaxy SIII, but seeing that it recognized my voice perfectly, I’m not sure what to think.

Feel free to take it for a spin and tell us what you think. It should work for any rooted device running Ice Cream Sandwich.

____________________________________

Update:  Samsung has reportedly blocked this version from working. Here is an updated/fixed build.

Download:  S-Voice.apk

Instructions:

*Must be rooted.

1.  Download the file from above to your phone.
2.  Using something like Root Explorer, copy it into /system/app.

*You will need to Mount R/W first.

3.  Once in there, change the permissions to RW-R-R.

4.  Reboot your phone.
5.  Once booted back up, head into Root Explorer – /system/app again.
6.  Tap on S-Voice.apk and then install it.
7.  Enjoy.

Via:  XDA [2]

Cheers Inquizitor, Tim and everyone else!

S Voice From the Galaxy SIII Ready For Download, We Take It For a Spin is a post from: Droid Life