When Apple revealed the iPhone 4S, some people weren’t that impressed by the device.  It looks exactly like the iPhone 4, so why would you buy something that could easily be mistaken for an older version?  But when the iPhone 4S went on sale, people couldn’t wait to get their hands on it, reserving their handsets online and lining up at Apple stores around the world just to get the latest smartphone.

There are three factors why people were in such a rush to get the iPhone 4S: 1) it’s the newest iPhone, everyone wants one; 2) Steve Jobs just passed away and they wanted something to remember him by; 3) Siri.  Siri, the talking assistant of the iPhone 4S captivated the people with her wit and accuracy, so everyone wanted to try it.

But Fandroids still have their defenses, making comments like “talking assistant or voice recognition software is nothing new and they have apps for that.” Did we really need a new phone just to experience a digitized personal assistant?  Well, when it comes down to it, those Siri-like apps in the Android Market aren’t that integrated, accurate, witty or funny.  So Siri still takes the cake.

But Google’s not one to leave Apple to dance in victory.  Yes, you got that right, they’re prepping for their own version of Siri.  AndroidandMe reported a few months back that Android is working on a secret project that wold compete with Siri – Android unleashed their Trekkie side and named their AI Majel, as in Majel Barett-Roddenberry, the actress who played Nurse Christine Chapel in the original Start Trek, wife of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, and of course the voice of the voice-activated assistant, Federation Computer, of the Enterprise D.

“The metaphor I like to take is – if it’s Star Wars, you have these robot personalities like C-3PO who runs around and he tries to do stuff for you, messes up and makes jokes, he’s kind of a comic relief guy. Our approach is more like Star Trek, right, starship Enterprise; every piece of computing surface, everything is voice-aware. It’s not that there’s a personality, it doesn’t have a name, it’s just “Computer.” And you can talk to it and you can touch it, you can interact with it at the same time as you talk with it. It’s just another way to interface with the computer,” said Director of Android OS User Experience Matias Duarte.

Majel evolved from Google Voice Actions, the voice recognition software on Android devices at the moment but it’s more formal than Siri since you use specific voice commands.  With Majel, users will be able to use natural language and be more laid back.  Rumor has it, the Google X lab, a hush-hush secret group of Google working on secret projects, is hard at work with plans to releasing their first product before the year ends, and signs are pointing to Majel as their first release.  But unlike Siri, the initial release of Majel would only be able to perform Google search queries.

If Google is really trying to beat the clock in the hopes of releasing a product before 2011 ends, then they’re at risk of releasing a raw product.  I’m sure Fandroids would still be happy about it, but a rushed project could end up having a lot of glitches, I’m sure Apple fans will have the time of their lives bashing Majel.

Other sources point to a 2012 release, and a more integrated Majel experience that combines multiple Google Apps to provide a comprehensive query response.  As the Majel story gains traction, tipsters seem to be coming out the woodworks with details about Siri.  One writes:

Like, if you say “show me the Statue of Liberty” it’ll automatically take you to Google Image results, but another tray beneath it might be its location on Google Maps and then another tray might have a Wikipedia page. It’s also pretty good at giving you succinct answers if you ask it a question. The UI is definitely more powerful than Siri’s, even if a little harder to navigate. At least at one phase of the development you would activate it by saying “Computer…” It was hard not to use a Jean Luc Piccard accent when doing it!”

It would be important for Google to leverage its existing Apps presence with Majel or any AI counterpart.  They’re sitting on one of the most interactive data sets in the world, learning about consumer behavior through a string of actions, from web search to mobile coupons.  Majel could really bring all of these initiatives together in a unique way, potentially proving a worthy attempt at one-upping the first-gen Siri.