Voice Command Workability & Comparison Between Versions

[rhythm]

New owner of Certified RX330 here.

Having mucho trouble with voice commands, as such:

First, when speaking many commands, the system often gives something completely else, usually turning on POIs I didn't ask for and that don't sound ANYTHING like the words I spoke.

So I printed out a "list of voice commands" posted on this forum. It seems some are just not available in my system. For example there is a whole section in the list for PHONE commands, but my Help Screens command list doesn't even have a PHONE Category, and the one for CLIMATE is greyed-out and unselectable, only NAVI, DEST, POI and the like are available. So my 330's navigation doesn't accept any voice command like "Dial Number" or "Phone". Bummer, I would have liked to have voice dialing.

1. Does this mean that PHONE category and other missing commands (like ICONS OFF, mine doesn't have that, either) are only available in later versions, like the nav system in RX350?

2. If so, is it possible to upgrade, easily, to a later version? Is it software upgradable or does the entire hardware have to be puled out and replaced? Wouldn't that be mucho expensive?

3. If not, can anybody post a list of voice commands the 330 SHOULD have, just so I can compare it to what's on my HELP screen and make sure there nothing missing or defective with my navi system. One dealer asked if I ever got the "quick voice command reference card" with my purchase, but I didn't and can't find such a thing.

Just for the record, does anyone know what are all the different versions of the navigation/voice system since Lexus started offering, and what imporvements were added with each new version?

Thanks for responding, whomever is clear about all this!

[rhythm]

Well, here I am replying to my own post about this, 'cause although it got 112 views, absolutely no one replied. At first I was amazed, like "Is this forum useless, or is it true that 112 people have nothing to say on this subject of speech commands." Then as I dug deeper, talking to a tech at the dealership, calling Lexus directly, I began to realize that detailed information about Navi and Voice command systems is hard to come by, 'cause Lexus is really cagey about this info. Even the service rep at Lexus said my '05 RX330 had the latest version of Navi/Voice on it...it doesn't, it has verison 4, later models definitely have v.5. So I'm posting this more as info for anyone else who's Voice Commands didn't work right or couldn't get the right list and wondered about this stuff.

According to my dealer, version 4 is woefully inadequate compared to 5. The available commands list is less than half the size of v.5, and the damn thing screws up at least 50% of the time. No matter how clearly I speak "destination" (which is indeed one of the available commands on v.4) the thing replies, "Gas Station icons now showing"; this is one of scores of examples of it misreading my very clear diction. In essence, it's all but useless. Upgrading to v.5, which is much more intuitive and does a much better job of translating your requests, is a nightmare. It requires a complete removal of your whole Navi system, with tons of rewiring and computer reprogramming to put the new one in, very expensive, most dealers simply won't do it. So if you've got a v.4 like me and it sucks, fuggedaboutit, you're stuck with a primitive kluge.

Of course, not having good voice commands is no reason to return the whole caar, it's still a Lexus! But since voice commands are part of what they promise, and were added at a hefty price that you had to pay for, it would be nice if they actually worked. Glad they seem to have finally gotten it right on 07's, for all of us who own the eariler versions, we were essentially just Beta testers for Lexus.

[Ray in Boston]

I just bought a 2007 LS460. The voice commands work great (for the most part). Sometimes other noise, etc. aren't recognized (especially voicing numbers for the phone to dial...it often adds numbers).

The only voice command I couldn't get to work, was "CD Changer". But that may be because you have to have a CD in the changer, for it to recognize the command. Not sure.

I love having all the controls on the steering wheel. I can even tell the climate control what temperature to set....for example, "68 degrees". Pretty cool.

Well, here I am replying to my own post about this, 'cause although it got 112 views, absolutely no one replied. At first I was amazed, like "Is this forum useless, or is it true that 112 people have nothing to say on this subject of speech commands." Then as I dug deeper, talking to a tech at the dealership, calling Lexus directly, I began to realize that detailed information about Navi and Voice command systems is hard to come by, 'cause Lexus is really cagey about this info. Even the service rep at Lexus said my '05 RX330 had the latest version of Navi/Voice on it...it doesn't, it has verison 4, later models definitely have v.5. So I'm posting this more as info for anyone else who's Voice Commands didn't work right or couldn't get the right list and wondered about this stuff.

According to my dealer, version 4 is woefully inadequate compared to 5. The available commands list is less than half the size of v.5, and the damn thing screws up at least 50% of the time. No matter how clearly I speak "destination" (which is indeed one of the available commands on v.4) the thing replies, "Gas Station icons now showing"; this is one of scores of examples of it misreading my very clear diction. In essence, it's all but useless. Upgrading to v.5, which is much more intuitive and does a much better job of translating your requests, is a nightmare. It requires a complete removal of your whole Navi system, with tons of rewiring and computer reprogramming to put the new one in, very expensive, most dealers simply won't do it. So if you've got a v.4 like me and it sucks, fuggedaboutit, you're stuck with a primitive kluge.

Of course, not having good voice commands is no reason to return the whole caar, it's still a Lexus! But since voice commands are part of what they promise, and were added at a hefty price that you had to pay for, it would be nice if they actually worked. Glad they seem to have finally gotten it right on 07's, for all of us who own the eariler versions, we were essentially just Beta testers for Lexus.