Celia (virtual assistant)
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Developer(s) | Huawei |
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Initial release | 27 April 2020 |
Operating system | |
Platform | |
Available in | |
Type | AI Virtual assistant |
Website | consumer |
Celia is an artificially intelligent virtual assistant developed by Huawei for their latest HarmonyOS and Android-based EMUI smartphones that lack Google Services and a Google Assistant.[1][2][3][4] The assistant can perform day-to-day tasks, which include making a phone call, setting a reminder and checking the weather. It was unveiled on 7 April 2020 and got publicly released on 27 April 2020 via an OTA update solely to selected devices that can update their software to EMUI 10.1.[5][6][7]
Huawei had initially referred to the new assistant in late 2019 by having announced that there would be an English version of their already Chinese speaker assistant—Xiaoyi—to be released into the European markets.[8][9] Due to the on-going China–United States trade war, the company's newly released smartphones were left without any Google services, including the loss of Google Assistant. This subsequently led to the development and release of Celia.[10][11][12]
AI technology is integrated into the software of Celia, which allows it to translate text using a phones camera and to identify everyday objects — similar to that of Google Lens.
Features
[edit]Celia has many features that are similar to that of its rivals: the Google Assistant and Siri. It can be triggered by the words, 'Hey Celia' or be summoned by pressing and holding down on the power button. The default search engine for Celia is Bing, but this can be changed in settings.[13][14] Celia can make calls, check the agenda, send a message, show the weather, set alarms and control home appliances.[15] The assistant also has the ability to integrate itself with the stock apps of the EMUI software and toggle with the device's settings, such as by turning on the flashlight and playing multimedia content, but with the users command.[16] With the AI that is installed in Celia, it can identify food, everyday objects and translate text using the phones camera.[17]
In China, Chinese Xiaoyi packs with a LLM model called PanGu-Σ 3.0 AI on HarmonyOS 4.0 major upgrade improvements from Celia, making the assistant smarter and more advanced compared to when it was launched in 2020 on EMUI handsets in China and internationally, surpassing Apple and Google by the being the first in the AI industry, with a dedicated AI system framework of APIs on the latest operating system that evolves to a complete large dedicated AI software stack called Harmony Intelligence of Pangu Embedded variant model and MindSpore AI framework with Neural Network Runtime on OpenHarmony-based HarmonyOS NEXT base system to replace the dual framework system with a single frame HarmonyOS 5.0 version by Q4 2024, first introduced on June 21, 2024 in Developer Beta 1 preview release at HDC 2024.[18][19][20]
Availability by country and language
[edit]Currently, Celia is available only in German, English, French and Spanish, and has been released in Germany, the UK, France, Spain, Chile, Mexico and Colombia. Huawei has said, that there will be more regions and languages to come.[21][22][23][24]
Compatible devices
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Celia only became available with the EMUI 10.1 update[25] that was released in April, which means that a limited number of devices are compatible with it. More devices will be added to the list throughout the coming months as Celia's availability increases. The current list is shown below:
- Huawei Mate 40
- Huawei Mate 30 (Lite, Pro & RS Porche Design)[28]
- Huawei MatePad Pro[29]
- Huawei Mate 20 (Pro, 20X 4G, 20X 5G and RS Porche Design)[30][31]
- Huawei Mate X & Xs[27]
- Huawei Nova 6 (Nova 6 5G & Nova 6 SE)[27]
- Huawei Nova 5 (Nova 5 Pro, Nova 5i Pro & Nova 5Z)[27]
- Huawei Nova Y60[27]
- Huawei Enjoy 10S[27]
Issues
[edit]Technology news website Engadget has noted that when saying, 'Hey Celia', out aloud in the presence of an iPhone, Siri will respond along with Celia;[32] this is apparently because 'Celia' sounds similar to 'Siri'.[33]
See also
[edit]- Alexa
- Cortana
- Siri
- Bixby
- Comparison of notable virtual assistants
- Applications of artificial intelligence
References
[edit]- ^ "Huawei's Celia". Android Authority. Archived from the original on 27 March 2020.
- ^ "International Voice Assistant Releases". TrendHunter.com. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
- ^ "Huawei Launches Its Own Personal Assistant, That Sounds A Lot Like Apple's". Android Headlines. 26 March 2020. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
- ^ "Meet Celia, Huawei's own voice assistant". Speed Magazine. 20 May 2020. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
- ^ "The exciting new features of the Huawei P40 Lite – MyBroadband". Retrieved 12 June 2020.
- ^ "Celia arrives on the Huawei P40 range". Gsmarena. Archived from the original on 30 June 2020.
- ^ "Huawei Mate 30 and Mate 30 Pro get stable upgrade to EMUI 10.1". Notebookcheck. Retrieved 31 May 2020.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Schoon, Ben (26 March 2020). "Huawei's 'Celia' tries to replace Google Assistant, also wakes nearby iPhones". 9to5Google. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
- ^ "Huawei launch's its own assistant and it's called Celia". Bizidev.
- ^ "Huawei's Celia Voice Assistant Replaces Google Assistant, but Not Google Apps, on New P40 Smartphones". Voicebot.ai. 26 March 2020. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
- ^ "Huawei's Celia voice assistant is now available on EMUI 10.1 on the Huawei P40". xda-developers. 19 May 2020. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
- ^ "Huawei Celia the is alternative to Google Assistant | Rapid Mobile". rapidmobile.biz. 26 March 2020. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
- ^ "Huawei is the Latest Company to Launch a Virtual Assistant For Nobody to Use". Gizmodo UK. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
- ^ "All we know about Celia, Huawei's voice assistant". Techjaja. 28 March 2020. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
- ^ "What does Celia have in-store for us?". Memeburn. 21 May 2020. Archived from the original on 31 May 2020.
- ^ "Huawei made its own Siri rival called Celia". finance.yahoo.com. 26 March 2020. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
- ^ Collins, Katie. "Huawei's Siri and Alexa rival is a smart assistant named Celia". CNET. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
- ^ "Huawei's HarmonyOS 4 Launches Celia Voice Assistant with LLM Pangu 3.0 AI". Medium.com. Multiplatform.AI. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
- ^ Matsui, Emiko (19 January 2024). "HarmonyOS NEXT is true operating system with self-developed components: Huawei CEO". HC Newsroom. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
- ^ "Huawei unveils new Harmony OS, AI model in race for tech self-reliance". Nikkei Asia. Retrieved 25 June 2024.
- ^ Junior, John H. (5 April 2020). "EMUI 10.1 Feature: Celia – New Voice Assitant [sic]". Huawei Central. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
- ^ "Huawei to launch multilingual voice assistant Celia, starting on the P40 flagship in 6 countries". VentureBeat. 26 March 2020. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
- ^ "freegameguide.com | Domain For Sale". freegameguide.com | Domain For Sale. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
- ^ ""Hey Celia" - Sprachbefehle für HUAWEIs smarte Assistentin". HUAWEI.blog (in German). 18 December 2020. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
- ^ "The new virtual assistant - Celia". Tekaw.com.
- ^ "Celia and Huawei P40 Pro update information". Hypebeast.com.
- ^ a b c d e f Sudarshan (23 April 2020). "Official List Of Huawei Smartphones Eligible For EMUI 10.1 Update". Gizmochina. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
- ^ "Huawei Mate 30 and Mate 30 Pro get stable EMUI 10.1 release, with some new features". Notebookcheck. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
- ^ "Full specifications of the Huawei MatePad Pro". Gsmarena.
- ^ Srinivas, Rahul. "Supported devices for EMUI 10.1". MySmartPrice. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
- ^ Rogerson, James (22 October 2020). "Huawei Mate 40 release date, price, news and features". TechRadar. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
- ^ "HDC 2020: Siri-Alternative von Huawei kommt nach Deutschland". computerbild.de (in German). 10 September 2020.
- ^ Smith, Mat (26 March 2020). "Huawei made its own Siri rival called Celia". Engadget. Retrieved 12 June 2020.