Baidu Launches Siri-like O2O Personal Assistant 'Duer'
36Kr.com, 9/08/15
Robin Li, chairman and CEO of Chinese internet company Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU), introduced "Duer," a new O2O personal assistant, at the 2015 Baidu World annual conference in Beijing today. Duer was included in the version 6.8 update of the Baidu Mobile Search app released yesterday.
Users can ask Duer various questions and Duer will use artificial intelligence to respond with appropriate recommendations or answers. For example, users can ask Duer to find a nearby restaurant that allows pets, and Duer will search online to find a suitable one. Currently Duer can assist users with dining, movie and pet-related services, but will soon expand to cover beauty, transportation, education, healthcare and other industries. In the future Duer plans to integrate third-party services and apps.
Li revealed that Duer is currently available through the Baidu Mobile Search app, but will soon be added to mobile mapping service Baidu Maps, the mobile app of Baidu's group buy website Nuomi.com, and other Baidu-operated apps.
A source at Baidu stated that the company might also develop an independent app for Duer.
Editor's Note: Users must be connected to the internet for Duer to function, explained Baidu in its presentation at Baidu World. Baidu will also release a browser-based version of Duer, and at Baidu World introduced a small prototype robot equipped with Duer, which it may commercialize in the future. The appeal of the robot version of Duer for some users, said a Baidu manager, is that it provides a more human-like interface compared to the mobile app or browser version of Duer.
Keywords: voice search Robin Li Baidu World Internet wireless Baidu BIDU O2O mobile application Baidu Mobile Search mobile search voice recognition
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