Apple’s Siri represents the birth of a new breed of voice-controlled smartphone assistant services, and it is only a matter of time before other companies begin to expand their offerings as a result. While Microsoft and Google undoubtedly work to refine their own voice command services, a new third-party app hits the Android Market on Tuesday that could represent Siri’s first real competition. Cluzee, billed as your intelligent personal assistant, offers Android users a Siri-like service that includes capabilities even more impressive than Siri in some cases. As showcased in a video provided by Tronton, the company behind the app, asking Cluzee a simple question like “what does my schedule look like today?” will yield a spoken rundown of the user’s schedule. Beyond just listing events, however, the app also includes smart tidbits from a range of data it pulls from the web. In one example, Cluzee adds “to reach the doctor’s office on time, you should avoid Main Street because of construction” following the mention of a doctor’s appointment, using traffic data to ensure the user reaches his appointment on time. Read on for more.

Cluzee can also search deals in line with the user’s buying habits, read emails and text messages aloud, research hotels and flights, find restaurants a user might enjoy based on his or her tastes, convert voice to text to send emails or SMS, and more. ”People are drowning in information overload,” Tronton CEO Ashish Patwa said in a statement. “We don’t need all of the information available, all of the time. We just need the right information at the right time, which Cluzee intelligently provides, making us more productive. Technology created the problem, but we’re using smarter technology to solve it.”

Cluzee becomes available on Tuesday for Android phones, and Tronton has plans to launch a cloud-based version in the future that will be accessible from any phone, tablet, computer or internet-connected device. We’ve spent the past day testing the app and it has worked quite well for us so far. The scope of available commands is far more narrow that Siri’s, but there is plenty of functionality in this first public build of the app and we have high hopes for future versions.

A video follows below along with another pair of screenshots and Tronton’s full press release. Android users can click this link from their devices to download the app.

Tronton Launches Talking Mobile App “Cluzee,” Your Intelligent Personal Assistant New Type of Virtual PDA Employs Conversational Interface and Machine Learning To Help Save Time/Money and Manage Information Overload

Chicago, IL – (November 29, 2011) In the Digital Age, we are inundated with so much information, many people wish they had a personal assistant tohelp them keep up with it all. Today, Tronton LLC hopes to make that dream a reality for the average person with the launch of Cluzee, a “talking” intelligent virtual personal digital assistant, available now on Android mobile devices, and coming to iPhones soon.

Billed as “Your Intelligent Personal Assistant” Cluzee utilizes cutting edge technologies like voice recognition, voice synthesis, personal analytics, smart filters and machine learning to help users manage all aspects of their personal and digital lives. Designed to save people time and money, Cluzee’s customized interface talks and responds to voice commands, providing the user with services like day planning, a health planner, personalized restaurant and retail recommendations, a trip planner, social media monitoring, and a daily briefing of personalized digital information.

Cluzee is thefirst offering from Tronton, an emerging start-up poised to become the premier vendor of Virtual Personal Digital Assistants. Founded by seasoned technology professional Ashish Patwa, Tronton designs intelligent products that help people make better decisions in real-time, and improve personal productivity.

“People are drowning in information overload,” said Patwa, CEO of Tronton. “We don’t need all of the information available, all of the time. We just need the right information at the right time, which Cluzee intelligently provides, making us more productive. Technology created the problem, but we’re using smarter technology to solve it.”

CLUZEE INTELLIGENT PERSONAL ASSISTANT CAN HELP YOU:

BE MORE PRODUCTIVE: Many of Cluzee’s features can be accessed hands-free, via voice recognition and voice interface. So you can perform tasks while you’re driving. Cluzee reads you your e-mails, replies to text messages, and gives you a daily digital briefing of whatever you care about, from local news and events, toSocially-Filtered Facebook Feeds and Tweets, plus horoscopes, calendar reminders, health and even package tracking.

SPEAK AND BE SPOKEN TO: Cluzee utilizes Conversational Interface, meaning it talks to you and responds to your commands, delegates tasks, and allows user to create and manage text memos and reminders.

MANAGE YOUR DAILY & DIGITAL LIVES: Services include a Day Planner (PDP) with calendar syncing, a Health Planner with calorie tracker, Trip Planning, Daily Brief,Friends Locator, Local Search Recommendations, and Social Filtering.

PREVENT INFORMATION OVERLOAD: Cluzee lets users set filters for social updates. Instruct Cluzee to immediately inform you if tweets/FB updates come from a group of users, and even customize what news, weather and traffic are included in your brief.

SAVE MONEY WITH CUSTOM DEALS & TRIP PLANNING: Personalized recommendations and daily deal filtering based on your personal digital profile save you money on things you love, while weeding out offers that you’re not interested in. A trip planner helps you map out your vacation and find local attractions.

Cluzee utilizes Machine Learning technology to save time, making busy people’s live more enjoyable.

Cluzee is available today as a mobile app for Android devices, for free download at www.cluzee.com.

Future generations of Cluzee will run in the Cloud and be accessible from all of a person’s devices, including mobile phones, tablets, desktops, laptops, TVs and the Web.

For more information about Cluzee, please visit www.cluzee.com.

During the AsiaD conference in Hong Kong on Wednesday, Google’s Android boss Andy Rubin said his company’s upcoming music store “will have a little twist.” Rubin confirmed Google “won’t just be selling 99 cent tracks,” which suggests it might take a subscription-based approach, or even offer ad-based free listening as Spotify does. Google Music beta already allows users to store up to 20,000 in the cloud. Reportedly, Google is only close to sealing a deal with EMI snd has not yet signed each of the other major record labels. Rubin explained that Google’s image as a search engine may have contributed to a stall in the deals. “Google is in the very very early phases of adding consumer products to our portfolio,” Rubin said during AsiaD. “The media industry didn’t see us as that. They saw us a search company.” Reports surfaced on Tuesday that suggested Google will launch its music store this quarter, but a separate story from The New York Times has said it could launch in the coming weeks.

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Facebook has decided to kill off its Facebook Deals product, a service that was launched to compete with other coupon service providers such as Groupon and LivingSocial. “After testing Deals for four months, we’ve decided to end our Deals product in the coming weeks,” Facebook told Reuters. “We think there is a lot of power in a social approach to driving people into local businesses. We’ve learned a lot from our test and we’ll continue to evaluate how to best serve local businesses.” Facebook will instead focus on Pages, Sponsored Stories and its Ads product. Facebook announced Deals in November and began testing the service in Atlanta, Austin, Dallas, San Diego and San Francisco. It partnered with aDealio, Gilt City, HomeRun, kgb deals, OpenTable, Plum District, PopSugar City, ReachLocal, Tippr, viagogo and zozi to power the service.

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T-Mobile introduced a new Android application on Wednesday called “More for Me.” The app offers T-Mobile customers with phones running Android 1.6 or later, daily deals based upon their preferences, location, and interests. Discounts are provided by sites such as LivingSocial, which is available in more than 260 markets, but there are also exclusive discounts from T-Mobile or its partners. T-Mobile customers simply need to install the T-Mobile More for Me app from the Android Market to get started. Read on for the full press release.

T-Mobile Launches More for Me — Combines Daily Deal Offers Into One Easy Place for Consumers

The beta version of the T-Mobile More for Me application for Android provides personalized offers, discounts and deals to consumers on any mobile operator

BELLEVUE, Wash. — June 15, 2011 — T-Mobile USA, Inc. today announced More for Me™, a nationwide aggregation service that offers consumers the best in daily deals. The service is completely free. Beginning today, consumers using nearly any Android™-powered smartphone can download the beta version of the T-Mobile More for Me application from Android Market™ to get the best and timely offers, discounts and deals from some of the biggest names in daily deals tailored to their preferences, location and interests.

More for Me is the first nationwide daily deal aggregation service of its kind from a national wireless carrier. Discounts and deals are generated from popular social buying sites, such as LivingSocial – the online source for handpicked experiences at a great value – as well as exclusive offers from T-Mobile and its partners. Customers can get discounts on a wide variety of products and services, making it easier than ever for people to save money while on the go.

“Consumers are constantly looking for ways to save money and are turning to social buying apps in droves,” said Brad Duea, senior vice president, value added services marketing,
T-Mobile USA. “With T-Mobile’s More for Me application for Android smartphones, we’re bringing together the leading daily deal sites into one easy-to-navigate place so consumers spend less time searching and more time saving.”

The T-Mobile More for Me application is customizable, enabling consumers to find the most relevant deals, closest to their exact location. Users have the opportunity to see deals from a variety of retailers, in nearly any city, with many deals tailored to meet their specific interests and preferences.

“LivingSocial works directly with merchants in all of our 260+ global markets to craft great deals that drive our valuable members through their door,” said Jake Maas, senior vice president, corporate and business development, LivingSocial. “We are excited to bring our handpicked experiences to the millions of consumers who will enjoy T-Mobile’s new More for Me app.”

T-Mobile Android customers, and anyone with an Android-powered mobile phone using Android 1.6 or higher, can download the More for Me application from Android Market for free today.

In partnership with Out There Media, a global leader in mobile advertising, T-Mobile will expand More for Me to reach virtually all of its customers, regardless of phone type, by offering them the option of receiving free text messages of exclusive offers, discounts and deals. The T-Mobile More for Me application is also expected to be built for other popular mobile operating systems later this summer.

In both the application and opt-in text message experience, T-Mobile More for Me enables consumers to specify their interests and demographic information in order to receive the most relevant offers, deals and discounts.

More information on the T-Mobile More for Me application is available at https://market.android.com/details?id=com.tmobile.moreforme.

On Tuesday evening, Amazon will take the wraps off of MyHabit.com — a new site that will compete directly with Gilt and other membership-only sites that offer discounts on high-end brands. MyHabit will have stiff competition, however, as Vente Privee has largely dominated the international private sales industry and will soon spread into the United States, according to Business Insider. The website will offer up to 60% off of select brands and sales will begin at noon EDT daily. Amazon says that it will offer free shipping as well as 360-degree views of products that are available. It’s unclear what brands are on board so far, but if you’re looking for a new pair of Louis Vuitton sneakers at a discount price, MyHabit.com could be a good place to start looking.

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Yellow Pages, a subsidiary of AT&T, is launching its own Deals platform that will compete with Groupon and other bargain services, Bloomberg is reporting. The service is live now on YP.com, and AT&T is offering new customers a $10 credit towards their first “Deal of the Day” purchase — provided that you sign up before May 22nd. The carrier says that its Yellow Pages Deals service will be available in Atlanta, Dallas/Forth Worth, and Los Angeles to start, although it will be deployed to more cities in the future. AT&T could have the upper hand among mobile users, as it typically installs a default Yellow Pages application on most of its phones. However, it’s unclear if it will build the Deals service directly into mobile apps, or if it will only be an online/e-mail offering. If you live in one of the three starter markets and want to save a few bucks on your next steak, face painting lesson, or both, hit the jump to get started now.

[Via Bloomberg]

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In November, Facebook announced its new “Deals” platform that allows users to check-in to various local businesses for discounts. On Tuesday, the social network announced that it’s taking that idea one step further with its new “Deals on Facebook” service — which is currently being tested in Atlanta, Austin, Dallas, San Diego, and San Francisco. Using the Deals on Facebook, friends will be able to see local specials — such as concerts or group discounts at restaurants – and buy them directly from the social network. While we definitely see this service competing head-to-head with similar services from Groupon and Living Social, Facebook has teamed up with a number of partners, including aDealio, Gilt City, HomeRun, kgb deals, OpenTable, Plum District, PopSugar City, ReachLocal, Tippr, viagogo, and zozi for a more robust offering. If you’re in one of Facebook’s beta markets, hit up http://www.facebook.com/deals for more info.

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AT&T on Monday announced ShopAlerts, a new mobile advertising service that will introduce location-based ads to the AT&T wireless network. The service, developed by AT&T Advanced Ad Solutions and Placecast, will serve advertisements and special offers to subscribers’ cell phones when they are in the vicinity of a participating retailer. Initially, the service is only being offered in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and San Francisco. “We are proud to take mobile marketing into the future with this unique offering that is being embraced by consumers and brands alike,” said Greg McCastle, senior vice president of AT&T Advanced Ad Solutions, in a statement. “ShopAlerts by AT&T enables brands/advertisers to help link consumer engagement with activation and ultimately to the point of sale.” The ShopAlerts service will be opt-in, meaning AT&T subscribers must elect to receive ShopAlerts ads before any related advertisements or deals will be delivered to their devices. AT&T’s full press release can be found after the break.

AT&T Advanced Ad Solutions Launches ShopAlerts by AT&T, a Groundbreaking Location-Based Marketing Service Featuring Special Offers from Leading National Brands

Innovative opt-in service enables marketers to engage consumers on their mobile phones and drive them to the point of sale with relevant location-specific offers

FEBRUARY 28, 2011 — AT&T Advanced Ad Solutions and Placecast today announced an agreement to provide ShopAlerts by AT&T, which are special offers delivered to consumers via their mobile phones when they are near a participating store or brand. The unique location-based mobile messaging service will be available for AT&T* customers in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and San Francisco who have opted-in to receive such messages. AT&T is the first U.S. mobile carrier to offer a large-scale, location-based mobile marketing program to consumers and advertisers.

The innovative ShopAlerts by AT&T service will provide consumers with valuable offers, rewards, and coupons based on their specific geographic location. AT&T creates a “geo-fence” – a virtual-perimeter around a retail location, event, or any geographic area – in order to deliver appropriate location-specific messages.  Participating consumers receive relevant marketing messages when they are inside a geo-fence, benefiting both consumers and marketers.

The messages are enhanced with information such as weather, traffic, and local shopping area details to more effectively engage consumers.  Numerous companies have recognized the value of the ShopAlerts by AT&T service, and the initial presenting sponsors will be HP, Kmart, JetBlue, SC Johnson, Kibbles ‘n Bits, Nature’s Recipe and the National Milk Mustache “got milk?” Campaign.

“We are proud to take mobile marketing into the future with this unique offering that is being embraced by consumers and brands alike,” said Greg McCastle, senior vice president of AT&T Advanced Ad Solutions. “ShopAlerts by AT&T enables brands/advertisers to help link consumer engagement with activation and ultimately to the point of sale.”

“Kmart has embraced technology to enhance our customer’s experience and maintain our value proposition,” said Mark Snyder, chief marketing officer of Kmart. “ShopAlerts allows us to deliver this value directly to our customers through innovative technology.”

Katie Thompson, associate director of digital media of JetBlue, notes that ShopAlerts is a clear fit for many advertisers, including beyond just those with brick and mortar locations. “We were excited about the opportunity because it takes the onus off of the advertiser to build a large database of opt-in users that the true power of the technology can be harnessed,” said Thompson.

Pioneering Location-based Technology and Media

The program combines the location-based technology platform and expertise of San Francisco-based Placecast with AT&T’s large subscriber base, outstanding Web and mobile media properties, and strong relationships with national advertisers and media buyers. The initiative marks the first time a major operator in the U.S. is introducing such a program at scale.

“At HP, we are continuously implementing innovative new marketing platforms that will resonate with our customers’ mobile lifestyles,” said Tariq Hassan, vice president, Worldwide Marketing and Communications, Imaging and Printing Group, HP.  “ShopAlerts by AT&T service enables us to deliver relevant, location-based content to our customers.”

“Placecast is excited to work with AT&T to deliver a new generation of opt-in marketing services focused on delivering relevant messages to consumers when they are in a mindset to make a purchase. Retailers and subscribers alike benefit from messages with tailored offers available nearby, based on their trusted relationship with AT&T,” says Alistair Goodman, CEO of Placecast.

Customers in participating markets can visit the customer portal and opt-in at www.att.com/shopalerts.

*AT&T products and services are provided or offered by subsidiaries and affiliates of AT&T Inc. under the AT&T brand and not by AT&T Inc.

Google offered up a whopping $6 billion in an effort to acquire local deal vender Groupon last year, but the Internet giant was rebuffed. $6 billion is quite a healthy amount of scratch, but Groupon apparently thought it could take over the world on its own. Of course the massively successful coupon merchant must have known at that time — just as the rest of the world knew — that Google would certainly not leave well enough alone. Enter “Google Offers.” The aptly named service will be Google’s attempt to eat Groupon’s lunch, offering great local deals on, well, lunch — among other things. Restaurant deals, shopping deals and other local deals will be emailed to users each day, and the service will be packed full of opportunities to notify nearby friends of great deals via Facebook, Twitter, Google Buzz and so on. Hit the break for a screen shot of a Google Offers page to see what we have to look forward to, as well as a fact sheet Google is sending to local businesses in an effort to get them on board.

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When it comes to the online coupon space, Google wants in. The Internet giant wants in so badly, it was willing to pay $6 billion for the current market leader, Groupon. The huge offer was actually pretty fair considering Groupon’s reported $1 billion in annual revenue, but the deal died on the table and now Google is left searching for other ways to enter the space. According to a report from the New York Post on Tuesday, the company is doing just that — Google is currently on the prowl for a “Groupon wannabe” to snatch up so it can compete with the company that rejected its advances. Google tends to get what it wants, so an acquisition is bound to happen soon — and that’s good news for consumers. Stiffer competition means more deals, and thus more savings for users of these trendy new local deal vendors.

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‘Tis the season, we suppose. Motorola’s latest, and most enterprise-focused DROID device has now dropped to the very appealing price of only $49.99 with new two year service agreement from Best Buy Mobile. Both online and physical store locations are offering the deal, and from what we have seen so far, this is the lowest out of the door price for this handset. Now, you’re ultimately going to have to make the call between the DROID Pro or the Motorola DROID 2 Global (if global DROID devices are up your alley, that is), but the price gap has definitely just been made a bunch wider. Make sure to check out our DROID Pro review to help you decide, ok?

[Via Engadget]

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Looking for more excuses to avoid battling the Black Friday crowd? How’s this for a deal: the Dell Mobility Store will pay you $25 to take an HTC DROID Incredible — seriously. Dell is currently offering Verizon Wireless’ HTC DROID Incredible for free with a 2-year activation. Shipping is also free, and Verizon’s activation fee is waived. On top of all that, you’ll get a complimentary $25 Dell gift card with your order. We’re not sure there’s a better deal to be found right now. Of course the DROID Incredible is a little long in the tooth these days, and we’re not sure its specs will be overly competitive in 2 months let alone 2 years. But for the smartphone lightweight in your life who just needs a decent device, Dell’s deal is as good as it gets.

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Facebook today announced the introduction of its mobile platform. The purpose of the project is to provide a social environment for mobile devices that will eventually mirror the company’s dominant Web-based platform. The initial mobile platform involves a number of projects across a variety of mobile operating systems — including iOS, Android and BlackBerry — and it will allow developers to more easily expand their Facebook products beyond the desktop environment.

Platform announcements made today include:

•Single Sign-On — quick easy log-ins from mobile apps on mobile devices
•Location APIs — allows any mobile app to access Facebook location services
•Deals Platform — location-based platform for local businesses to offer deals to nearby Facebook users

Facebook is updating its Android product immediately to include support for Single Sign-On and other new features, and its iOS offering will be updated next week.

This week’s specials are in, and the folks over at your local Best Buy Mobile location have a few solid treats in store. Free Phone Friday, for those who failed Obvious 101, is a promotion that gives customers a new selection of free phones each week in October… on Friday. Here is this week’s lot:

• Samsung Fascinate (Verizon Wireless)
• BlackBerry Bold 9700 (AT&T)
• Sanyo Zio (Sprint)
• BlackBerry Bold 9700 (T-Mobile)

As you might imagine, each phone requires a new 2-year contract to be had for the low, low price of nada. As you also might imagine, this offer is only good for one day — Friday, October 22 — so get ready to head out bright and early Friday morning if you’d like to partake. Or, of course, you can just order these puppies up from the Best Buy Mobile website.

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Woot! announced on Wednesday that it is being acquired by online retail giant Amazon. Known for its daily deals, marathon Woot-Offs, and the server-crashing Bag Of Crap, Woot has been a daily stop for online shoppers since 2004. Faithful wooters should not be concerned as The Carrollton, TX-based company, will continue its zany operation as an independent subsidiary of Amazon — similar to Zappos and Audible. No word on the details of the acquisition but sources from Tech Crunch estimate the deal to be worth $110 million in cash. Woot!

[Via TechCrunch]

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