Introducing: Viv, the better version of Siri

So I heard gist; and not even about how my neighbour, Aunty Vero beat up her husband [that’s gist for another day]. I heard Siri now has a boss. I remember when Dag Kittlaus and Adam Cheyer created Siri in 2007, it was A-SOME! Everywhere I went, people were like, “hey siri, show me photos from my last birthday” “siri, what day is it today?” I think I once heard a man say, “siri, will my wife lock me out if I get home late today?”  That’s how crazy people went when siri was first introduced. But now, the founders of Siri have created a better digital assistant. They call it Viv, I call it ‘THE GREAT BAZUKI!’. I know it sounds weird but I have my reasons [am not telling you…..]. Ok, keep reading and I’ll let you know why I think it’s great.  

So Dag Kittlaus took the stage at TechCrunch Disrupt in New York on Monday to show off the assistant in the first public demonstration of the app, and Viv could answer complex questions like “Will it be warmer than 70 degrees near the Golden Gate Bridge after 5 pm the day after tomorrow?”  It even allows users to send money to people with just one sentence.  Great, right? According to Kittlaus, Viv is powered by a new technology called “dynamic program generation.” The technology, which Viv’s founders described as “a computer science breakthrough,” is software that can essentially write itself in less than a second. What this means, he says, is that Viv can grow and learn much more quickly than other assistant platforms.

Viv is a far more open platform than Siri. One of the biggest frustrations with Siri is that it has only a small number of tasks it can complete. For the vast multitude of requests or queries, Siri will default to a generic web search. Viv offers the ability to connect with third-party merchants and vendors so that it can execute on requests to purchase goods or book reservations. That means you can book hotels and hail rides with simple voice commands. “Viv is designed to be devices agnostic — think one platform, open to all services, for all devices, personalized for you.

Viv’s goal is to be ubiquitous so it will understand your preferences and history as you engage with it on your mobile device, or in your car, or with your smart device at home,” said Adam Koopersmith, a partner with Pritzker Group Venture Capital, one of Viv’s investors. “Our sense is there will be a move away from having hundreds of different apps that act independently. These services will be integrated into everyday life. Viv will be the platform to enable it.”

You now see why I call it ‘THE GREAT BAZUKI!’ I don’t even know what ‘BAZUKI’ means. It just sounds nice and fit for how I feel about Viv. But jokes apart, all these hype about Viv sound really exciting, but I hope we won’t be disappointed when it formally launch to users. It’s not even clear exactly when, or how, the company plans to launch Viv. But I can’t wait to begin using it because I need a digital gist partner.  

Tell us what you think about Viv and I’ll gist you about Aunty Vero and why she beat up her husband. Oh that’s not a tech gist right?