VoicePod Mobile - Voice Recognition Server and Sirius XM Control Issues

[ScottGA]

Has anybody else had an issue with VoicePod Mobile the last week or so?   About a week ago, the app stopped accepting any voice commands.  I've deleted the iOS app, reinstalled it.  Verified the VP Mobile driver is "Active" in Composer HE.   Restarted my HC800 Controller, etc....but nothing has resolved the issue.     Any time I try to issue a voice command, the mobile app comes back with an error message "Unable to process Voice commands at this time.  Please try again".   I've been "trying again" for about a week with no luck.

 

I talked with the dealer that installed the VP Mobile driver.  They said they've been told the issue is with HouseLogix's VoicePod Server.  I'd be interested in hearing from anybody else that has VP Mobile installed.  Is your VP Mobile still working?  If not, have you heard anything about the issue and/or an ETA for when it might be fixed?  

 

I'ma little  surprised I haven't seen any mention of this issue here on the forum.  I'm wondering if the install base is pretty small. '

 

While I'm posting about VP Mobile, I guess I might mention the other issue I'm having with the VP Mobile system....Sirius XM control through my Sonos Connect Controller using the EV Sonos driver.  Has anybody else got this setup working?  VP Mobile will change the room source to the Sonos system, but it can't control the Sonos box to get it to the Sirius XM channel.  Back when the it was recognizing voice commands,  I could say "Listen to XM Chill" and VP Mobile would properly respond something like "Playing Sirius XM Chill", but then nothing would change on the Sonos box.   Any thoughts or suggestions on this issue would be appreciated.  I listen to music all the time and the ability to change channels with voice command was a huge reason for my purchase of VP Mobile.  I'm frustrated after 3 months, that functionality still isn't working.

 

Thanks for listening!

[Cyknight]

On the SiriusXM side - I suspect that the VP is just trying to use the default channel selection method - and as you're using the Online version on a device rather than a 'normal' tuner, that wn't work out of the box.

That said, one can PROGRAM those default commands to do what needs to be done.

Either that hasn't been done (properly) OR the Sonos/Sonos driver you have isn't able to be programmed to do it - in which case you wouldn't be able to do that functionality with ANY programming, be it from VP or a keypad button. I'm not familiar enough with the Sonos unit to tell you if that is the case however.

[tazplex]

I am getting the same error. And Cyknight is correct. It's meant to work with the hardware tuner, but you can program stations individually.

[tazplex]

VoicePod Mobile is still broken for me. Is anybody else having issues with it?

[ScottGA]

Yes.  It's still dead in the water.  

 

I called House Logix tech support line at the end of May when VPM still wasn't working.  They said something along the lines that they completely redid the platform that supports VPM and they were waiting on Apple to approve the new app version that is required to work with the new platform.  They were expecting the new app to be available in the Apple app store in a week or so (depending on Apple's approval process).

 

When another couple of weeks passed and I didn't see any update app, I called House Logix again to ask for an update.  I was told that Apple asked for some changes to be made to the new app, HL had done that and resubmitted to Apple for approval.  The HL tech support person wasn't hesitant to provide an ETA for the new app, but he thought it would be a week or 10 days...something like.  It's been at least 2 1/2 weeks since that time and still new updated app.

 

My biggest frustration is that there has been ZERO proactive communication from House Logix or my dealer about the issue.  There's not info about it on their web site and not emails explaining the situation or how/when they plan to resolve it.

[voicepod]

All, there is good news on the horizon.  I apologize profusely for the lack of communication.  We kept thinking we could work around the problem quickly and tried not to make a big deal about it.   But we kept running into roadblocks.  Below is an email we are about to send to all registered users, which explains the entire situation and the exciting resolution.   We appreciate your patience.  - Ted

 

-----

 

Dear Registered VoicePod Mobile Users:

 

In May of 2014, Google changed access requirements for their free HTTP speech-to-text service which is used by VoicePod Mobile and hundreds of other applications.  VoicePod Mobile uses Google for translating microphone input to text prior to processing by the VoicePod Cloud.  As soon as this problem surfaced, we immediately launched an emergency project to produce a VoicePod Mobile update to fix the problem.  We initially tried to work around Google’s changes, only to later learn that Google had intentionally secured their speech services so that only Google-endorsed technologies, such as Chrome and Android apps, could use them.

 

In early June, we determined that there were no workarounds that would allow our iOS version to continue using Google Speech.   So we began looking for an alternative speech engine.  Nuance, the company that provides the speech recognition for Apple’s Siri, quickly became our top choice.  In June, we signed a contract with Nuance, produced a new Nuance-compatible update of the VoicePod Mobile app and submitted this app to both Nuance and Apple for approval.   

Unfortunately, Nuance’s approval process takes a long time.  They rejected our app twice, most recently because we did not display their logo prominently enough within our app.  We have addressed Nuance’s concerns and we believe our new app will finally be approved this week.  Apple already approved our update so we will release the update immediately upon receiving Nuance’s approval.

 

We sincerely apologize for this extended service interruption.   As you can imagine, it has been a significant technical challenge to switch speech engines under an emergency project.  And needing both Nuance’s and Apple’s approval for our app has been frustrating and time consuming.   The good news is that the new app works great and is MUCH faster than our original app, since we are able to leverage Nuance’s real-time voice-to-cloud streaming technology.  

 

Unlike Google, the Nuance speech engine is not free.  Each time a speech command is issued, our company will now incur a small charge for use of Nuance’s services.  However, we are honoring our pricing model and all users will enjoy this new, better, faster service at no additional cost.  Also, for those who purchased an annual license, we have automatically extended your annual expiration date by 60 days.

 

We thank you for your patience.  Look for the new update to arrive on your phone very soon!

 

Kind Regards,

 

Ted Rosenberger

President – VoicePod, LLC

 

mobile: 610-349-7198

skype: tedrosenberger

[tazplex]

Good to hear Ted. Any chance we'll see a native iPad app instead of the zoomed iPhone one??

[Cyknight]

I'd say they've been rallying rather hard to deal with this setback - give them a week or so to catch their breath before working on more iPad/Android app versions

[voicepod]

We've talked about a native iPad app several times but have other priorities at the moment (see above)!.  When you have a speech centric product, you don't need much screen real estate so we have to figure out what to do with it!

 

Obviously, we are closely watching Apple's HomeKit evolution.  The VoicePod Mobile cloud may fit in very nicely with this in the future.  We're also working with some smart watch manufacturers on some interesting solutions.   Finally, we're evaluating a way to merge the best of the tabletop product with the best of the mobile product to create a next generation tabletop.  We'll see where the world goes!

[voicepod]

Update:  Still in Nuance's app approval queue.  Hopeful that this week is the week they get to us and that our third submission is the charm.  Thanks for your continued patience.  It's been like watching glaciers move for us.

[voicepod]

I am pleased (and relieved) to announce that, today, we finally received approval for utilization of the Nuance speech engine with VoicePod Mobile.  As my previous message indicated, in May 2014, Google unexpectedly “pulled the plug” on their free HTTP speech service that our iOS version depended on.   Ever since, all VoicePod Mobile users on iOS devices have been receiving an error message when issuing speech commands.

 

Our new update is now available on the Apple store.  I think you’ll find that the new version is faster and quite strong as Nuance is the same speech engine used for Apple’s Siri.  Nonetheless, this update was created under emergency circumstances so we do anticipate the need to address new anomalies that will surface in the coming weeks and months.  We encourage you to contact us if you observe any less-than-optimal speech recognition issues or inconsistent app behaviors.  We will do our best to fix them in future app updates.

 

Again, we sincerely apologize for this frustrating service interruption.  It resulted from circumstances beyond our control and it took several months to get the proper approvals to utilize Nuance’s paid speech services.  We believe the Nuance engine will deliver a better overall experience to our valued customers so hopefully the service interruption will have been worth it. 

 

On another note, the Android version of VoicePod Mobile will be available on the Google Play store within 10 days.

 

Enjoy!