Although I'm happy with my Samsung Galaxy S II Android phone, I've also got a bad case of Siri envy. I, too, would like a "personal assistant" that responds to natural language requests such as "Move my meeting from 3 to 4." And I'm sure I'm not alone, as the millions of Google search results for "Siri for Android" attest.
Can you create a Siri-like experience on an Android smartphone? Not exactly, as there's no single app baked into the OS that can handle a similarly wide range of requests using free-form natural language. However, it is possible to get a fair chunk of Siri's functionality. Unlike iPhone 4S users, though, you'll need to gather together a couple of different apps if you want to issue a wide range of voice commands on your Android device.
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On the other hand, there are a couple of things Android voice-activated apps do that Siri can't -- for example, use "launch " commands and head directly to websites.
I ran more than half a dozen contenders through their paces, testing them for various functions to communicate (make calls, send messages), organize (keep track of appointments) and find information. Read on to see some of the best options for creating your own subset of Siri for Android -- and which apps work best for what specific tasks.
