Tag: siri

Rumour: Apple is Set to Launch New Apple TV in September

As reports from Buzz feed suggest, Apple Inc will launch a new generation of Apple TV set-top boxes, in September. This new version is said to come with a new remote with touch-pad input, an increased on-board storage, and an operating system that will support Siri.

The Apple TV was last refreshed in 2013, and was expected to unveil a new version in June at its Annual Worldwide Developers Conference, but instead launched Apple Music. The company is rumoured to be announcing the unveiling of this new Apple TV along with the new iPhones.

The updated Apple TV will feature SIRI and an App Store.

The new version is said to launch with its own App Store and software development kit for app developers. However, Apple has declined to comment on any rumours or speculation.

Source: [tw-button size=”medium” background=”#07ABE2″ color=”” target=”_blank” link=”http://www.buzzfeed.com/johnpaczkowski/apple-will-debut-new-apple-tv-in-september#.htMnGxKB7″]Buzzfeed[/tw-button]

July 31, 2015
All the Important Apple Announcements From WWDC 2015 in One Place

At this year’s WWDC, Apple made a string of announcements about its future. From the new Mac OS X El Capitan to the now widely accepted Apple Pay, here’s everything important that the California-based tech giant disclosed at the event:

Launch of Mac OS X El Capitan

The new OS brings out a lot of new visual changes, as well as enhanced performance. The OS comes with several features like a new Safari browser, improved ‘Spotlight’ and enhancements to mission control. It has improved gesture support and the ability to snap windows to fill the sides of the screen.

Click here to read more about Apple’s latest operating system.

Siri Gets ‘Proactive’

In an attempt to beat Google, Apple has brought in significant changes and new features for Siri. Instead of scouring through the cloud, they have given their Digital Assistant the permission to monitor a user’s daily habits to help give them better suggestions. Overall, it’s a step towards making Siri more intuitive, and subsequently, more helpful. The Calendar app supports the cause.

Read more about it here.

The New Power Saver Mode

Battery life was one of the most important issues discussed at WWDC 2015. A new low-power mode will allow devices to reduce power consumption and restrict to only phone call capability; improving the last few minutes of battery to upto 3 hours of usage.

Click here to read more.

Apple has Open Sourced their New Coding Language “Swift”

For faster bug fixing and developing new features, Apple has open sourced their coding language, Swift, for developers. But, does this mean other manufacturers will be able to make iOS devices?

Click here to know more.

Multi-Tasking is Here!

The company brings in the much-awaited multi-tasking feature, which was missing on Apple devices. Multitasking has been broken down into three fundamental characteristics – Slide Over, Picture in Picture, and Split View. There is a basic version that can multi-task on the most recent iPad models, while the newer iPad Air 2 will support full screen split with any app.

Click here for more details.

Watch OS with Improved Performance and Native Apps

Apple has added new updates to the Apple Watch OS 2. Apple has now allowed moving the logic and processing directly to the Apple Watch; improving the long and nagging load time everyone has been complaining about.Developers create applications that run on the Watch itself rather than in the background on a paired phone.

For more details about the improved Watch OS, click here.

A Truly Consolidated Music Streaming Service

Yes, the rumours were true. The Cupertino-based tech giant introduced its new music streaming service. Apple Music will be available 30th June onwards. For the initial three months, the service is available free of cost. After which, it will cost 9.99$ per month. Click here for more.

June 9, 2015
With These New Features, Siri Might Actually Become Helpful

At the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2015, Apple announced major software changes. Amongst other things, Apple threw light on how they’ve been spending time further improving their digital voice assistant. It seems that Siri is trying hard to keep up with Google Now, its arch enemy, which has speedily raced ahead in the game.

However, at the event Apple claimed that Siri takes over 1 billion requests per week. They expect the new and improved Siri to further improve this number. According to the company, on iOS 9, Siri is going to be 40% faster, as well as 40% more accurate.

Here’s how the company plans to achieve that:

Like we had suspected, Siri gets more ‘Proactive’. The easiest way to explain this would be the fact that the new and improved digital voice assistant not only answers to your requests, but is present at all times, noting your daily habits and patterns of how you use your phone. Apple gave an example, when you plug in your headphones, Siri would read the sign and automatically launch iTunes.

Siri can now also view the apps you’re viewing, and help you make plans accordingly. The Calendar app helps the cause. It gives you suggested times when you should leave your house, based on the traffic on your way to your destination.

These announcements seem reminiscent of Google’s introduction of Android M. Android’s new feature ‘Now on Tap’ can also be used while you’re viewing a particular webpage or an app. For example, if you’re viewing a friend’s Facebook profile, you can use Now on Tap to find out more details about the person. It may then link you to the person’s Twitter and Instagram profile.

While the world squabbles about which company came up with the idea first, we feel that Google, as well as Apple may have found the perfect formula on making their digital assistants more useful.

June 8, 2015
Yahoo May Bring Out an Independent Siri-Like Personal Assistant App Soon

During a conference call a few day back, CEO of Yahoo, Marissa Mayer spoke about a special new product the team has been working on. The new service will go against the likes of Apple’s Siri, Google Now or Microsoft’s Cortana. She stated that Yahoo is developing an interest in search in the mobile sector and will focus on “what happens when you involve context and personal information like email.”

According to Business Insider, the new service has been code-named ‘Index’ and it will come in the form of a smartphone app. Yahoo hopes to release a beta version of the same by the second quarter of this year.

Mayer explains the new app would search information somewhat like Google Now, and probing for information in the user’s inbox may help people give better results. Quoting an example to help understand the working of the app, she explained that if a user had booked a flight from John F. Kennedy Airport, then Index would find information related to the airport or flight, by using the information in the inbox – instead of fishing out information about President Kennedy.

The voice assistant idea may seem unoriginal from the user point of view, but Yahoo is willing to place a bet on this ambitious project.

April 23, 2015
Hackers Bring Microsoft Cortana’s Android Cousin; Meet Portaña

Microsoft’s personal voice assistant Cortana to land on Windows Phone platform is far from debuting on Android devices, but a group of hackers based in Italy has made it possible. The group, who call themselves OrangeSec, claims to have ported Microsoft’s Cortana to Android. The new personal assistant is named as Portaña.

The hackers made some alterations in Cortana’s program and brought out a version compatible with Google’s operating system. The tweaked version is very much similar to Cortana, but has some limitations. The hackers admit that the project isn’t that impressive and requires users to stay online for work. The reason being, even though it is running on Android hardware, it is still communicating with Microsoft’s back-end servers with the ported interface. To cut it short, you cannot use it to integrate with Android devices like Cortana does with Windows. OrangeSec used combinations of hardware proxies, custom SSL certificates and DNS spoofing for making this project work out. For now, Portaña can communicate in Italian only.

OrangeSec unveiled their mod at the Droidcon 2015 and admitted it to be a concept only. Hence, there are lesser chances of OrangeSec coming up with an official release. It is rumoured that Microsoft is planning to bring the voice assistant for both iOS and Android, but it doesn’t seem to happen anytime soon.

Cortana is named after an artificial intelligent (AI) character from the famed video game Halo. The personality of the voice assistant is also derived from the AI companion of the game. Cortana also offers usual voice-assistance features like setting reminders and calendar, weather and traffic information, writing notes and messages.

The generation of voice assistants kicked off with Apple’s Siri, back with the release of iPhone 4S in 2011. Microsoft soon followed by launching its very own Cortana on Windows 10 PC and smartphones. Meanwhile, Cortana is officially limited to Windows Phone.

April 20, 2015
Apple’s New Video Tutorials Demonstrate Apple Watch at its Best

Since the day Apple Watch was unveiled, it has received a heavy number of mixed reviews. Some say it is an overpriced device, while others suggest it will change the way the general audience looks at wearables. The Cupertino-based giant has decided to give its final customers a closer look at the Apple Watch and has released four new videos that demonstrate the Apple Watch at its best.

The videos describe how the Apple’s first smart watch can make your day-to-day tasks a lot easier.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=LHdVkPrdRYg

The company recently updated its Apple Watch web page with four new videos. The clips walk the users through several features of the Watch giving a fair idea about how to use it and what it can do. The first one of the four is an introductory clip that says “Welcome to Apple Watch.” The 4:44 minutes video is dedicated to providing an elaborate detail of its hardware and software concepts like Messages, Digital crown, Force Touch and Faces. The video narrates the power of Apple Watch and how it is a must-have accessory for every iPhone user.

The other three videos are comparatively shorter than the introductory video and finishes within 2 minutes. Each of them focuses on one key feature and demonstrates how to customize the watch. The Faces speaks about how with a long press, all the watch faces come up and you can make a selection from a list. Tap any to make it the new face and customise it as you desire like changing hand colours, adding calendar and weather, and more.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=N6ezjg6-0hU

Similarly, Messages and Digital Touch give an insight into the functionality of the other features. Messages give a tour of sending audio and text messages along with numerous emoji options. The Digital Touch caters to your social habits. The side button below the Digital crown gives access to your friends. You can add contacts, send sketches, taps, messages, and heartbeats to your contacts, and of course, you can ring them any time using the Watch.

Meanwhile, Apple has made public only 4 of the videos, while the official web page depicts 7 more guided tours each with “Coming Soon” tag. These include Phone Calls, Siri, Maps, Music, Activity, Apple Pay and workout. Apple Watch will go on sale on 24th of this month. Needless to say, we’re extremely excited to get our hands on Apple’s first wearable.

You can check out all the videos here.

April 4, 2015
Revamped Apple TV To Get An App Store And Siri

Apple is bringing back its focus on Apple TV which has been awaiting an update for a while. Apple is expected to introduce new revamped Apple TV at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC). It will have an App Store and a will provide a Software Development Kit (SDK) to help developers populate it.

The reports are still speculatory and Apple hasn’t given any official confirmation yet but several experts are confident of the development. The device is expected to be powered by an A8 SoC along with enhanced storage facilities.

The updated Apple TV will feature SIRI and an App Store.

To make it easier to operate the new Apple TV comes with Siri’s voice assistance. Competing systems like Amazon Fire TV already introduced voice assistance on their devices, so it was about time Apple caught on.

Apple has already said that the Apple TV plays a major role in its HomeKit ecosystem. HomeKit is a framework in iOS 8 for communicating with and controlling connected accessories in a user’s home. It gives users the ability to control their garage doors, light bulb adapters, door locks, and other house hold items. Users would require Siri enabled Apple TV to control these devices. So you can expect Apple to bring more proactive upgrades for the Apple TV from now on considering how crucial it is for its future home automation business.

March 21, 2015
Apple to Enable Siri to Understand Indian English

English is a really fluid language. It takes the shape depending on the person who is speaking it. Folks from all parts of the world add their bits to language in terms of accents, slangs, and references. While this diversity makes it unique, it also makes it hard for a voice detection system to understand these various different shades of one language. Apple is trying to make its voice assistant more competent in this regard and is giving it an ability to understand Indian English.

If you are wondering what Indian English is, we suggest you go watch a couple of Russell Peters stand-up acts and get back here. Now, coming back to the story, according to 9to5mac, in the latest iOS 8.3 beta release, Apple has added support for Siri to grab Indian English.

This feature will be available for devices like the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. This update also adds support for Russian, Danish, Dutch, Portuguese, Swedish, Thai and Turkish.

One really useful feature of this new update is that it will allow Indians to use the dictation feature without faking a douche-y American or British accent.

Google has a larger user base in the country, and so they have already released support for Indian English on Google Now. Google also plans to offer support for Hindi soon which would help to further grab the market, especially in the mid and affordable segments. All this seems to project the importance of the Indian consumers for smartphone makers. It also indicates that support for Indians will keep getting better in the coming future.

February 25, 2015
Apple May Bring Siri-like Personal Assistant to the Mac

In a development similar to the movie ‘Her’, Apple is planning to bring a voice based personal assistant to their desktop systems that run on Mac OSX platform. The company had filed a patent application back in February which was released yesterday.

The patent doesn’t exclusively mention Siri, but instead uses the term Apple’s “digital assistant”. The new personal assistant or what some may call desktop Siri, will be able to deliver Siri’s functions with added features. It can be conjured up using predetermined gestures on the touchpad or through an icon on screen.

Apple’s patent application also states that the digital assistant will be capable of performing tasks of operating systems like moving files, type and send emails, access internet and look for files, photos or play videos on YouTube. The biggest issue though will be people not just screaming at their phones, but their computers too.

The Yosemite beta has no Siri like feature as of yet so it most probably will be up and running in the next outing of the OSX. It will be a welcome surprise though if Apple includes the assistant in this release itself. But Apple thrives to perfecting its offerings to its best capabilities before bringing it out for its users, so this feature may still be a distant dream.

In the end, this seems like the natural order of things. Maybe the future where we bid farewell to keyboards and mouse is around the corner.

August 8, 2014
Meet Cortana , Microsoft’s Alternative to Siri

Microsoft has finally shown off its new mobile search assistant, Cortana, its version of Siri and Google Now.

As a part of Microsoft’s new Windows Phone 8.1 update, Cortana is a new Voice Recognition based personal digital assistant. Named after the AI in the popular XBOX title “Halo” the “personal digital assistant,” has the ability to search the Internet, set up alarms, shift calendar appointments, find restaurants, send messages, place calls and more.

Cortana is quite identical to Siri on an iPhone, tap a button and ask the ui a question, however like Google Now Coranta can also tap into applications and and the phone’s core services to deliver you contextual information.It can offer the weather where you’re located, deliver favorite sports scores, or scan email and provide updates on a flight status or package delivery.

Cortana runs on Bing and has a lot of intriguing features, for example it learns from habits of its users when and how they do their tasks. One unique feature of Cortana is that it can actually push the results of its searches over to other apps. Also like competition, Cortana doesn’t need to learn your voice and tries to interact with you naturally.

Cortana wasn’t the only new aspect of Windows Phone 8.1, which now has a notification drawer called Action Center, which collects text messages, emails, calls and updates from social networks and other apps. It also has quick toggles for things like Bluetooth and Wi-Fi seen on Android and iOS both.

Microsoft Also plans to push this Windows for free for hardware makers to use on phones, tablets with screens under nine inches. This should considerably bring down the costs of hardware running Windows.

April 3, 2014
Apple Keeps Your Siri Data For Two Years

Apple has revealed that it holds on to voice data that users submit to Siri for up to two years.

Siri keeps your personalized data collected and stored on its servers whenever you pick up your iPhone and ask her a question. The Cupertino firm also assured customers that the files it retains become disassociated from the user after six months, or if they deactivate the personal assistant.

Responding to questions raised by the American Civil Liberties Union yesterday, Apple on Friday dispatched its spokeswoman Trudy Muller who explained to Wired the firm’s data retention policy governing Siri.

Apple may keep anonymized Siri data for up to two years. If a user turns Siri off, both identifiers are deleted immediately along with any associated data.

Based on the information Muller provided, Wired’s Robert McMillan explains exactly what happens when you use Siri:

Whenever you speak into Apple’s voice activated personal digital assistant, it ships it off to Apple’s data farm for analysis. Apple generates a random numbers to represent the user and it associates the voice files with that number. This number — not your Apple user ID or email address — represents you as far as Siri’s back-end voice analysis system is concerned.

Citing the Apple spokeswoman, the site reveals that the company makes sure the data is anonymized. Apple “only collects the Siri voice clips in order to improve Siri itself,” it says.

However, an American Civil Liberties Union lawyer who had previously raised privacy questions about Siri says Apple should take additional steps to protect its users’ privacy.

According to Nicole Ozer, “There is no good reason for Apple to not include information about privacy practices on their Siri FAQ page.”

[Wired]

April 19, 2013
Apple’s Passbook Enabled Gift Cards Now Featured In App Store

Apple has made a couple of small-but-useful changes to its Apple Store app aimed at making shopping more efficient in its retail stores. Version 2.4 of the app lets users ask Siri for help in finding prices on Apple products. It also allows users to buy Apple gift cards (to be sent via e-mail) directly from within the app. The gift cards are now Passbook compatible, to boot.

Any Apple gift card that is purchased online and sent via e-mail—whether via the Web-based Apple Store or the iOS app—can now be loaded up via Passbook, which was launched along with iOS 6 in September. When the recipient clicks a link in the e-mail, Passbook will open to load up the details of the gift card. Then, whenever the recipient walks into an Apple Store with an iOS device, the app should bring up the gift card automatically on the user’s lock screen so it can be used to make purchases.

Unfortunately, Apple gift cards that are loaded into Passbook can’t be used in conjunction with the self-checkout system (EasyPay) built into the Apple Store app, so you’ll have to check out with a real human if you want to use the gift card balance.

Still a long way before this feature makes its way into India? Definitely.

November 12, 2012
iOS 6 starts pushing out to iOS devices all over the world. (Changelog)
Apple has started pushing out iOS 6 as we speak, while we download and update our iOS devices, you can check out the full log below.

The iPhone 4S version is about 626 MB OTA.

iOS 6 Software Update

This update contains over 200 new features, including the following:

• Maps
- Apple designed vector based maps
- Turn-by-turn navigation with spoken directions on iPhone 5, iPhone 4S, iPad Wi-Fi + Cellular (2nd and 3rd generation)
- Real-time traffic information
- Flyover for photo-realistic, interactive 3D views of major metro areas on iPhone 5, iPhone 4S, iPad (3rd generation), and iPod touch (5th generation)
- Local search results with Yelp photos, ratings, reviews, and available deals
- Siri integration for requesting directions and finding places along a route
• Siri improvements
- Sports: scores, player stats, game schedules, team rosters, and league standings for baseball, basketball, football, soccer and hockey
- Movies: trailers, showtimes, reviews and facts
- Restaurants: reservations, reviews, photos and information
- Send a Tweet
- Post on Facebook
- App launch
- Eyes Free in supported automobiles
- Local search available in Siri supported countries (availability may be limited during initial rollout)
- Additional country and language support for Canada (English and Canadian French), China (Mandarin), Hong Kong (Cantonese), Italy (Italian), Korea (Korean), Mexico (Spanish), Spain (Spanish), Switzerland (Italian, French, German), Taiwan (Mandarin), US (Spanish)
- Supported on iPhone 5, iPhone 4S, iPad (3rd generation) and iPod touch (5th generation)
• Facebook integration
- Single sign-on from Settings
- Post from Photos, Safari, Maps, App Store, iTunes, Game Center, Notification Center and Siri
- Add location and choose audience for any post
- View up-to-date Facebook profile photos and contact information in Contacts
- View Facebook events and birthdays in Calenda
- Like content and see your friends’ Likes in App Store and iTunes Store
• Shared Photo Streams
- Share selected photos with the people you choose
- Friends can view shared photos in Photos app, iPhoto and Apple TV
- Friends can like and make comments on individual photos
• Passbook
- One place for boarding passes, store cards, movie tickets and other passes
- Barcode display for boarding flights, buying coffee, getting into movies and other actions
- Passes displayed on Lock Screen based on time or location
- Passes can be automatically updated
- Supported on iPhone and iPod touch
• FaceTime improvements
- FaceTime over cellular support for iPhone 5, iPhone 4S and iPad Wi-Fi + Cellular (3rd generation)
- Receive FaceTime calls, sent to your iPhone number, on your iPad and iPod touch
• Phone improvements
- Do Not Disturb to suppress incoming calls and notifications
- ‘Reply with message’ option when declining a call
- ‘Remind me later’ option based on time or location when declining a call
• Mail improvements
- VIP mailbox to quickly access mail from important people
- Flagged email mailbox
- Insert photos and videos when composing email
- Open password protected Office docs
- Pull down to refresh mailboxes
- Per account signatures
• Safari improvements
- iCloud tabs to see open pages on all your devices
- Offline Reading List
- Photo upload support
- Full screen landscape view on iPhone and iPod touch
- Smart app banners
- JavaScript performance improvements
• App Store and iTunes Store improvements
- Updated store design
- iTunes Preview history
- Complete my season
- Complete my album
• Game Center improvements
- Challenge friends to beat high scores and achievements
- Post high-scores and achievements to Facebook and Twitter
- Friend recommendations based on your Facebook friends
• Accessibility improvements
- Guided Access to limit device to one app or restrict touch input on certain areas of the screen
- VoiceOver integration with Maps, AssistiveTouch and Zoom
- Support for Made for iPhone Hearing Aids for iPhone 5 and iPhone 4S
• Improved privacy controls for Contacts, Calendars, Reminders, Photos and data shared over Bluetooth
• Reminders can be reordered in the Reminders app
• Custom vibrations for alerts on iPhone
• Clock app for iPad
• Clock alarm with song
• Search all fields in Contacts
• Automatic movie mode for improved video sound quality
• Definitions of a selected word for Chinese, French, German and Spanish
• New keyboard layouts for French, German, Turkish, Catalan, Arabic and Icelandic
• Keyboard shortcuts shared across devices via iCloud
• Bluetooth MAP support
• Global network proxy for HTTP
• Features for China
- Baidu web search
- Sina Weibo integration
- Share videos to Tudou
- Share videos to Youku
- Improved text input for handwriting and Pinyin
• Bug fixes

[Apple]
September 19, 2012
Taiwan University Sues Apple Over Siri

Taiwan’s National Cheng Kung University said Monday it has filed a patent infringement complaint against Apple Inc. in a U.S. court over the Siri voice command system used in the latest iPhone and iPad models, marking the latest patent spat against the Cupertino, Calif.-company.

In a filing to the district court of eastern Texas, the university alleged that Apple’s Siri voice-activated assistant, which allows users to make phone calls and perform other tasks with voice commands, violated two of its patents: a speech recognition system and another system that controls how the device interact with a user’s voice command.

The university is asking for an undisclosed sum of damages from Apple, according to the filing dated Friday.

Apple has been facing ongoing legal battles against other smartphone makers including Samsung Electronics Co. and HTC Corp. over patents on mobile device technology and features. Apart from seeking monetary damages, a ruling against Apple could effectively block shipments of its devices to some countries and significantly change the competitive landscape.

Apple introduced Siri last fall through the 4S iPhone and has been advertising it as a big differentiator for the hit device. The technology can perform a variety of tasks from searching for information to sending an email to scheduling meetings by voice. Unlike other types of voice-activated services, Siri can perceive normal human speech patterns.

July 31, 2012
HTC to Launch Siri Like Assistant : HTC to not Launch Siri Like Assistant

Several reports came to light when images of supposed Siri like voice assistant from the Taiwanese manufacturer came into being. The image shows a very Siri like interface on the HTC One X. Recently, LG introduced Quick Voice after Samsung announced the S-Voice feature with the Galaxy S III. All these voice commands driven personal virtual assistant services are set to compete with the Apple Siri.

Speculations of HTC-branded voice recognition software were triggered after the company put a strange image on their official Twitter and Facebook pages. HTC has apparently taken a hit at the rival companies, which are extensively promoting their voice-recognition applications. Apple initiated the war in the voice control segment with Siri, which is due to launch for iPad tablets and remaining countries, including India, very soon, along with iOS 6.

Interestingly the Google version of Siri Substitute which was slated for late 2012 release might be announced with Android Jelly Bean at the Google I/O this week.

June 26, 2012