Siri is Apple’s personal assistant technology that debuted in 2011 with the iPhone 4S. Apple purchased Siri in 2010. At the time, it was a dedicated app on the iPhone. When it became built into the iPhone, it could do basic things like play music and make phone calls.
Now, it can do things like integrate with third-party messaging apps. payments, ride-sharing service, calling app, set timers, get directions, add reminders, start TV shows on the Apple TV, make language translations, search for photos, open documents, interact with your smart home though HomeKit, and a lot more.
In iOS 12, it became integrated into more third-party apps through Shortcuts. Companies can build their own interactions for the service to work with.
If Nuance gets its way with the just announced ‘Voice Ads’ mobile advertising platform, soon every mobile ad could include Siri-like functionality that lets you communicate with and ask questions about the product being advertised.
Nuance, the company behind the voice recognition module now used in Apple’s Siri, today announced a new project to bring its voice recognition technology to the mobile advertising world. The basic concept of the new platform, which Nuance made available through an SDK for advertising companies, is to bring a two-way, interactive conversation to mobile ads. As highlighted by Nuance in the video above, ads that implement the Voice Ads platform will allow users to engage in a Siri-like conversation with an advertisement:
Nuance Voice Ads gives mobile advertisers and creative agencies an opportunity to go beyond the limitations of the four-inch mobile device screen and create a conversation with consumers through the power of voice recognition. Voice Ads finally creates an opportunity for brands to deepen the relationship with their consumers, with targeted interactive ads that deeply engage their core audience – much in the way that the world’s most popular mobile personal assistants have deepened consumers’ relationship with their mobile phones.
In the demo above, Nuance shows an advertisement for a fictional deodorant brand that uses a magic 8-ball theme to answer any question that users might have. The ad of course ends in a pitch for the product in question, as you might expect. Other ads could allow users to ask specific questions about a product’s release date or specs… Expand Expanding Close
AFP reported Apple is in court in Shanghai, China again today, but this time it’s over a lawsuit alleging the company copied components of Siri’s speech recognition software. According to the report, Shanghai-based Zhizhen Network Technology Co. claimed in pretrial proceedings that Apple infringed its patent related to voice recognition technology via Siri. While the suit notes that development of Siri began in 2007, there is no mention of Nuance. Apple currently partners Nuance with to implement the speech recognition component in Siri, and it is also a market leader that presumably has its own arsenal of speech recognition related patents.
Zhizhen says it patented its “Xiao i Robot” software in 2004, while Apple’s Siri, which made its debut with the release of the iPhone 4S in 2011, was first developed in 2007.
“The company will ask Apple to stop manufacturing and selling products using its patent rights, once Apple’s infringement is confirmed,” Si Weijiang, a lawyer representing Zhizhen, told AFP.
“We don’t exclude the possibility of demanding compensation in the future,” he added.
The company is behind Siri-like software called ‘Xiao i Robot’ that it claimed was first developed before Siri in 2004. The technology is apparently available on some smart TVs and enterprise applications, but it doesn’t appear to be available as a consumer-facing app for smartphones or tablets. The video below appeared online when the company originally filed suit against Apple last year, and it shows the Xiao i Robot software running on a Lenovo smartphone:
GM announced in November 2012 that it would bring the Siri’s Eyes Free feature to the Chevy Sonic and Spark vehicles in 2013, and it officially became the first company last month to offer the enhanced Siri integration in its vehicles. GM has today kicked off a new marketing campaign to highlight the feature that allows drivers to activate Siri through a dedicated button on the steering wheel in its 2013 Sonic.
Apple originally announced a number of automakers that would include support for the feature in future vehicles, including: BMW, Mercedes, Land Rover, Jaguar, Audi, Toyota, Chrysler, and Honda. Honda confirmed earlier this year that Siri Eyes Free would be available in its 2013 Accord, Acura RDX, and ILX models.
Some more videos showing off Siri Eyes Free are below:
The video above came from Senior iOS Architect at Honda R&D Americas Duane Cash, and he is claiming to have come up with a method of controlling Siri through “a brainwave-reading device.” This isn’t the first video that has popped up online claiming to show brainwave activity controlling an iOS device, but many past videos have been faked. Duane’s role as senior iOS architect at Honda R&D in Silicon Valley seems to provide a little more credibility to the project.
Hello, my name is Duane Cash. I am an iOS developer working on the project to produce a mind-controlled virtual assistant on the iPhone. This is a one of my initial tests using a brainwave-reading device to control some custom Siri functions on a iPhone.
We talked to Duane, and he confirmed it isn’t a project that Honda is officially working on. Duane said he is researching various brainwave-reading methods, but he told us he is using a Neurosky MindWave and “theiOS SDK for the software implementation” in the prototype above.
As you’ll see in the video, Duane explained he uses “mental commands from the EEG signals to command the iPhone to open a map, open a menu and close a menu with voice feedback from Siri.”
Bruce Tognazzini, Apple employee #66 and founder of Apple’s Human Interface Group, published his thoughts on a potential smart watch product from the company (via MG Siegler) yesterday. While we have seen the launch of several Bluetooth smart watch products from startups this year, Tognazzini thought a watch from Apple could “have a profound impact on our lives and Apple’s fortunes.” One of the many interesting ideas Tognazzini has about how Apple might take advantage of a wearable device is the ability to build better maps:
Using pressure data from millions of watches, Apple could build a precision altitude map of the world. This map would indicate true altitudes everywhere that iWatch wearers travel. The granularity would be several orders of magnitude greater than ever before attempted for a wide-area map at a cost several orders of magnitude less than Flyover.
In the article, Tognazzini explained what he thought will be the standout features of an iWatch from Apple. While outlining the some of the apps you might expect like fitness and remote control applications, he said Passcodes and enhanced Find My iPhone features would be the two killer apps:
There have been many rumors this year about what upgrades Apple will include in its anticipated annual iPhone refresh. Most agree Apple will move to release two iPhones, but there is some debate about what those phones will be.
Apple hinted in November at its plans to add more features to Siri in the near future with a job listing that sought individuals to translate Siri into a handful of new languages. Today, we came across another interesting job listing posted by Apple. This one looks for a creative writer skilled in character-driven dialog to “help the Siri team evolve Siri as a distinct, recognizable character.” Not only will the person help “refresh and refine” existing Siri content, Apple is also looking for someone to “develop and write original dialog to support new Siri capabilities.”
Apple clearly thinks Siri’s personality and lifelike AI is just as important as her functionality, noting in the job ad that “Siri’s known for ‘her’ wit, cultural knowledge, and zeal to explain things in engaging, funny, and practical ways.” It looks like Siri’s witty responses will be something that Apple continues to focus on to differentiate Siri from the competition.
We’re looking for a uniquely creative individual to help us evolve and enrich Siri, our virtual personal assistant. Siri’s known for ‘her’ wit, cultural knowledge, and zeal to explain things in engaging, funny, and practical ways. The ideal candidate is someone who combines a love for language, wordplay, and conversation with demonstrated experience in bringing creative content to life within an intense technical environment.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BtEfpR-vGw&feature=youtu.be There were more than a few Bluetooth-enabled smart watches on display at CES this year. We were on-hand for the official press unveiling of the Pebble e-paper watch, which is expected to start shipping to over 80,000 backers later this month. We also spotted Martian Watches, CooKoo, I’mWatch, and a small handful of other watches designed to pair and work with your iPhone or other mobile devices. Many have seen the Pebble, up until now, as the frontrunner mainly due to the 10 million in funding it raised through Kickstarter. While rumor has it Apple is interested in creating a smart watch of its own, we will hear a lot more about smart watches in 2013 if CES is any indication. Over the past week and a half, I had the chance to put one of these smart watches to the test: the Bluetooth 4.0 “Passport” from Martian Watches.
A few things to note right off the bat: First, unlike the Pebble and I’m Watch, which integrate a larger display, the focus of Martian Watches is voice command. There is some debate whether a smart watch, one that the average iPhone user might use on a daily basis, should resemble an iPod nano-like touchscreen or a more traditional timepiece design. Martian Watches is going with the latter, but it integrates a small 96-by-16 pixel OLED display capable of displaying notifications and scrolling text for incoming messages and calls.
While Pebble and others hope to create an ecosystem of third-party apps that can run on small, touch-enabled displays, the name of the game is voice command for Martian Watches. That means, in the case of iPhone users, you’ll be able to activate and control Siri right from your wrist. It also means as Siri improves and adds more functionality, your Martian Watch does too. However, Martian packs some other non-Siri features that make it a true competitor to the other Bluetooth smart watches hitting the market…
During its opening keynote at WWDC, Apple announced Siri would gain an all-new “Eyes Free” feature as part of iOS 6. After five months of quiet about the feature, General Motors announced this morning that it would be the first of nine automakers previously outlined to adopt Eyes Free in its vehicles starting early next year. Of its fleet, the Chevrolet Spark (1LT, 2LT) and Sonic LTZ and RS will be the first.
Eyes Free lets automakers include a button on their automobiles that allows drivers to initiate Siri for sending messages, making calls, setting reminders, launching apps, and accessing a slew of information from inside of the car without picking up the device.
GM will include the Eyes Free feature on the automobiles, but it still won’t do away with its Chevrolet MyLink info-tainment system. However, if an iPhone 4S or iPhone 5 enters the car running iOS 6, they can connect over Bluetooth with GM’s MyLink radio feature. From there, they can use the Eyes Free steering wheel button to access information. Additionally, the screen won’t light up to minimize distraction. Shown off in the gallery below:
A member of The Verge forums, going by the name of “Knowledge”, posted the Apple TV concept below that envisions a future Apple TV OS where users could tap into multiple content sources from cable/satellite providers, local devices, and elsewhere. It would also integrate Siri (and Facetime) for scheduling recordings, changing channels, etc., and a unified search of all content.
Unified search looks for content in library, app store, iTunes, and TV Guide. Also brings the ability to use Siri for scheduling recordings, setting reminders, changing channels, playing music, playing video from library, opening an app, finds content available for purchase in iTunes, etc etc.
Ferrari announced in a press release for its 2012 financials today that Apple’s Senior Vice President Internet Software and Services Eddy Cue is joining its board of directors. Ferrari chairperson Luca di Montezemolo made the announcement during a meeting of the company’s board of directors earlier today:
“I am delighted that Eddy Cue, one of the main driving forces behind Apple’s range of revolutionary products, has now joined our board. His huge experience in the dynamic, innovative world of the Internet will be of great assistance to us.”
Cue, who recently took on new responsibilities leading Siri and Maps following the departure of iOS chief Scott Forstall, also provided a statement regarding his nomination for the board:
The Google Now-like voice recognition features introduced to the Google Search for iOS app last month have been getting a lot of attention. Maps might not be the only area Apple cannot compete with Google. As highlighted in a video comparison we posted earlier this week, Google’s voice search feature has Siri beat. And many users are taking note. Today, AppAdvice pointed us to a new Jailbreak tweak called “NowNow” that allows you to call up Google voice search (from within the Google Search iOS app) by holding down the Home button—just like Siri. It appears you can also select alternate methods to invoke the feature, so you should be able to continue to use both if want. The tweak is available via the BigBoss repository now for free.
With Android now on 75 percent of all smartphones sold, and Apple and Samsung battling in and out of court for the top vendor position, the smartphone wars usually come down to units sold. Apple vs. Samsung. Android vs. iOS. Less of a focus has been Google’s steady invasion of iOS, providing users with an alternative universe to most of the core features of Apple’s mobile operating system. The importance of Google’s ecosystem of iOS apps has never been more apparent than following the recent controversy over the removal of YouTube and Google Maps as default features of iOS. Apple realized the necessity of controlling key experiences on iOS, such as Maps, but it is running into a backlash from users in the process. It is not just facing competition from Android vendors; it is also now engaged in a struggle to keep Google from creating its own layer on top of iOS.
Google’s iOS apps are not just driving iPhone and iPad users to use Google services instead of Apple’s; they are increasingly an important aspect of the iOS experience for a large amount of users. Sixty-one percent of iOS users in our own polls said they were hesitant to even update to iOS 6 because of Apple’s new Maps app, many of which are still waiting for a standalone Google Maps app that Apple has yet to approve. Some say the Maps fiasco coupled with Siri might have even led to the departure of long-time iOS chief Scott Forstall, which many think could result in a new direction for iOS. What this means for Google’s presence on iOS going forward remains to be seen, but Apple does not appear to be ignoring the control Google’s apps have over its users.
So, in case you were wondering why Apple Senior Vice President of Internet Software and Services Eddie Cue is now in charge of Siri, watch the Siri vs. Google Voice Search video above. The most notable difference between the two speech-recognition services —by far— is the response time.
Bloomberg Businessweek is out with a story today, titled “Mapping a Path Out of Steve Job’s Shadow”, that discusses life at Apple after Jobs, and it cites “more than two dozen current and former” Apple employees and partners:
There’s also more office politics and some concern that Jobs’s departure and the arrival of thousands of new employees will dilute the culture. Nevertheless, the company is happier and even somewhat more transparent than it was during Jobs’s tenure, these insiders say. There are fewer frantic calls at midnight, and there’s less implicit pressure on engineers to cut short or cancel vacations in the heat of product development cycles. No one would say Apple is better off without Steve Jobs. But to a surprising degree, it’s doing fine… Much about the company’s direction and even its products still reflects Jobs’s decisions and design preferences—the iPhone 5 was the last model to receive detailed input from Jobs, say two people familiar with the phone’s development.
On Jobs’ role in the new Maps app:
It’s possible that Jobs would have nixed the app before launch, but that’s not certain. Siri, the iPhone’s hapless voice assistant, was introduced under Jobs, though it was branded beta. Apple insiders say Jobs himself initiated the mapping project, putting mobile software chief Forstall in charge, and he installed a secret team on the third floor of Building 2 on Apple’s campus to replace Google Maps on the iPhone… Jobs also discussed pulling Google search from the iPhone, but figured that customers would reject that move, according to two former Apple executives.
On the retirement of Senior Vice President Bob Mansfield:
According to three people familiar with the sequence of events, several senior engineers on Mansfield’s team vociferously complained to Cook about reporting to his replacement, Dan Riccio, who they felt was unprepared for the magnitude of the role. In response, Cook approached Mansfield and offered him an exorbitant package of cash and stock worth around $2 million a month to stay on at Apple as an adviser and help manage the hardware engineering team.
We know Siri has a tendency to provide surprising answers that can cause a bit of controversy in some cases. Many reported earlier this year that Siri responded with “Nokia Lumia 900” when asked what the best smartphone is (an answer based on data from the Web). Apple quickly appeared to tweak the responses with answers that promoted the iPhone, such as: “The one you’re holding.” Now, PocketNow reported law student Sean DeVries is suing Apple over the “sponsored responses”:
Instead of actually providing information based on web search results and user reviews, Apple’s Siri software will provide a “sponsored answer” instead that advertises Apple’s products… of our law-student Pocketnow readers decided to sue Apple about this on-device false advertising simply out of principle. Sean DeVries’ goal is to get Apple to at least change their website and end user agreement to include this information though an indicator of “sponsored responses” would be best during Siri’s answers. Sean’s court date is scheduled for October 9th.
Google unveiled a new feature within its iOS search app in August that reminds us a lot of Siri. Taking features from its Siri competitor Google Now, Google announced the search app would now allow folks to use natural voice commands to make searches. For example, a user can “ask for the weather in a natural way and it will provide results,” Google explained. Google noted during its announcement that the updated app would be available in a few days. But, two weeks later…nothing.
After the announcement, Google told reporters the app was submitted a week before the event. So, Google’s updated app has been going through Apple’s App Store approval for three weeks. We have to wonder: What is the hold up?
Codename One is an SDK launched by former Sun employees that allow developers to create a single native mobile app for multiple platforms (iOS/Android/Windows Phone, etc.) using Java and an optional GUI builder:
In other Apple Java news, a recent Apple job listing is looking for a Senior Java Engineer to join the Siri Server Platform team. Candidates should have experience in Java API design and will “lead and extend the core software infrastructure, algorithms, and APIs that let Siri move, understand, plan, learn, speak, and remember.” Like most huge Server Side Applications, Siri’s backend appears to be Java-based.
Those in China looking to get a head start on their Fall iPhone shopping are given the opportunity by sites like TaoBao, which, according to Reuters, (and the link we dug up) are already for sale.
Apple Inc’s next-generation iPhone has not even been released yet, but opportunistic sellers on China’s largest e-commerce platform, Taobao, are already accepting pre-orders, complete with mock-up pictures and purported technical specifications.
The hotly anticipated iPhone 5 is widely expected to be released sometime between August and October this year, although Apple itself has been tight-lipped about it. Sources have said the iPhone 5 would have a bigger screen than previous models, while Taiwanese media reported the phone’s voice recognition software, Siri, would have more powerful functions.
Buying Apple devices unseen shows what kind of confidence consumers have in the products that Apple makes. Would you put money down on Apple’s next iPhone without knowing anything about it? Expand Expanding Close
As noted by Phillip Elmer-DeWitt at Fortune, Apple analyst Gene Munster published a note to clients today that contained the results of a Siri vs. Google search 1600-question showdown.
While it is not exactly a test of how well the companies’ various voice services stack up against one another (since Google Search queries were typed-in and not spoken), but it is a good indication of just how viable Siri is as an everyday mobile search product and alternative to Google. In the test, both Google and Siri were asked 800 questions in a quiet location. Another 800 questions were asked among the loud street traffic in Minneapolis. The results, according to Fortune: Expand Expanding Close
The Wall Street Journal reported that Google is accelerating its plans to launch a competitor to Siri. 9to5Google has the full story:
We have heard several reports in the past that Google was working on various evolutions of its Voice Actions platform for Android. Back in December we heard of “Project Majel”, which according to reports is the codename for a new voice-controlled assistant app similar to Siri. In March TechCrunch reported on a similar project dubbed Google Assistant. According to a new report from the Wall Street Journal, Google is accelerating its plans to launch a competitor to Apple’s Siri…
Steve Wozniak traveled to upstate New York recently to visit a farm of rescued horses, and the local paper managed to snag a brief interview with the co-founder of Apple, where he discussed the criticism surrounding Siri.
Apple’s little personal assistant in iOS can handle questions, give recommendations, and delegate requests, but many wonder if it really lives up to expectations. The folks in Cupertino like to roll out commercials that show Siri capable of compiling individual preferences with personalized results, and even completing basic tasks like finding a nearby restaurant, but the software met very mixed reactions after it débuted on the iPhone 4S in October. Those who felt misled by Siri’s beta functionality depicted in ads eventually sought reimbursement by filing a class action lawsuit against the company earlier this year.
While in Patersonville, N.Y., Wozniak described his strong opinions on the voice-recognition application.
“A lot of people say Siri. I say poo-poo,” Wozniak said. “I was using it to make reservations long before Apple bought it.”
“I would say, ‘Siri, what are the five largest lakes in California?’ and it would come up, one, two, three, four, five. And I would ask ‘What are the prime numbers greater than 87?’ and they would come up all in a row. That was pretty incredible,” Wozniak said.
He said he told family and friends about Siri and how “This was the future: speaking things in normal ways, feeling like you’re talking to a human and how Siri was the greatest program,” Wozniak said.
“Then Apple bought Siri,” he said. He then paused, lifted his right hand and gave it a big thumbs down.
“‘What are the largest lakes in California?’ I’d get all these lakefront properties. And I’d say ‘What are the prime numbers greater than 87?’ And I’d get prime rib,” Wozniak said.
“I’m really disappointed, but it’s still a market for the future,” Wozniak said. “I think voice recognition for all the platforms is going to get better and better and better at putting together complete sentences and phrases. What did a human really mean? Like, if you said ‘Five, I mean six.’ It will understand a backup, the little faults in our speech that humans understand. It will understand that eventually.”
Wozniak iterated similar rumblings to a developer at FourSquare earlier this year. He even used the same lake/prime rib example. The reporter in this interview should have asked him, “Perhaps Siri knows you like prime rib?”
Despite Wozniak’s criticism of Siri, the quirky businessman seemed enthusiastic about Apple’s latest developments revealed at the Worldwide Developers Conference. He specifically said he is excited about Apple’s new computer lineup and app called “Passbook,” which essentially turns a user’s iPhone into a digital wallet.
“People are always going to be disappointed,” he added, when asked if Apple let down consumers at WWDC. “I really like the new MacBook.”
