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Samsung blocks access to S Voice on non-Galaxy S III devices after APK is pulled from official firmware

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Over the weekend the Samsung Galaxy S III’s official firmware was ripped from the device and made available to all, bringing along goodies such as an installable APK for the handset’s S Voice features. S Voice is Samsung’s take on voice interactions in the style of the iPhone’s Siri, so many users were excited to check out the software. Hopefully you had a chance, because Samsung has blocked access to its S Voice servers for devices other than the GS3.

The ripped APK was apparently running fine on most Ice Cream Sandwich phones (such as the Galaxy Nexus) without any need for modification, but there is no way to mask device information being sent to S Voice’s Vlingo-hosted servers. Rooted users have been able to alter their build.prop files to spoof the server into thinking the device in questions is a Galaxy S III , but expect Samsung to continue to do its best to hold S Voice exclusive to the phone for the time being.

[via PocketNow]

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25 Comments

  1. There is a workaround.
    Change your build.prop to pretend your device is a Galaxy S3.
    See XDA.

    1. This ^
      A workaround may eventualy be made?…. there already was one.
      Come on, you should know by now to always do a quick XDA search first.
      ;)

    2. I still haven’t found a good enough reason (including this app) to fake my devices identity. Feels dirty.

      1. Not to mention that it causes a host of other compatibility issues….

      2. voice control is meh anyway. unless they can understand like watson, I will never use them on a daily basis. I give it 5 to 10 years. Now that Samsung has Graphene Barristors, we’ll have these mobile chips in 8 years.

  2. Still working on my note up here in canada on rogers. Yeeeehaww!!!

  3. Hi, Apple.

    1. No, that’s not even close to Apple. This is their big selling point for their new phone. I don’t blame Sammy for wanting it to be exclusive for their rollout date.

      1. How is this any different than Apple preventing Siri from being used on non-4S devices? Siri was the “big selling point” of the 4S, too, if you’ll recall. (Arguably it was the only selling point…)

        Pretending that this isn’t “even close,” is, well, wrong.

        1. Keep in mind it was the .apk. So it was able to be used on ANY phone. Meaning HTC’s and Motos, etc. Maybe Samsung didn’t want those who have other OEM phones using this. And the Galaxy Nexus is stock Android. If you won’t use Touch-Wizard, then you can’t use S-Voice. LoL!! Maybe they were thinking something lyk that.

          1. sorry, stupid browser….

          2. sorry again

          3. My guess is that S-Voice calls specific samsung apps, such as their music app in TW. I’ve had a lot of FC’s when trying several things. So it’s a quality of service issue as well.

    1. LoL!! Your pro.pic caught me off guard.

  4. Still works on my Captivate… well, as much as a Cortex A8 @ 1Ghz can do anyway

  5. After the GS3 has been out for a while, they could probably make a bundle selling the app for a buck or more on the Google’s App Market (still don’t like the name “Google Play Store”

  6. Vlingo has released a beta that pretty much matches up with what they gave to Samsung. If you want it… it is in the Play Store.

  7. When everything gets locked down, blame bullshit like this.

  8. Such a fuss over a pointless Apple-chasing non-feature.

  9. theres a patched made you dont need to change any build prop
    http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=26377398#post26377398

    see last page

  10. They use a blacklist not a whitelist, so change your build prop to anything that isn’t an actual phone and it’ll work

  11. At least open it up for other Samsung phone my captivate is running great on ICS even though it was never meant to have it I do use assistant but would really like svoice

  12. Too much work for a gimmick. Meh irather go play with my gf.

  13. If I had to venture a guess, I’d say it has something to do with Samsung/Apple’s legal battles. Things between the two suggest that some form of a truce may be foreseeable, but perhaps allowing S Voice on ANY device might shatter any hopes of a ceasefire.

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