Time for Mayer to go?
I recently chimed in with a bunch of Yahoo watchers about the avalanche of long-expected executive defections (see Marissa Mayer has failed profoundly). As I said,…
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I recently chimed in with a bunch of Yahoo watchers about the avalanche of long-expected executive defections (see Marissa Mayer has failed profoundly). As I said,…
We have only a single clue ahead of next week’s Apple media event: “Hey Siri, give us a hint.” Oh, and no…
Amazon Echo brings the intelligent agent home to a voice-activated speaker. It’s an early step in a category that could grow th provide more value through home monitoring.
Responsive design and other popular mobile design principles are not sufficient to address the fundamentally different context and needs of users who are every bit as mobile as their devices.
K.K. Barrett obviously favors good design, but only if the device works well as a tool first. He also explained why it was a good choice to go with Scarlett Johansson’s unusual voice.
We should see devices that use Apple’s HomeKit development framework at CES in January, but before then we’re seeing a rush of startups trying to find their niche in the ecosytem
Amazon’s Fire phone may not have been a big hit, but its new Echo speaker certainly looks ambitious.
Apple tried to get trademark protection for its personal assistant Siri as a “social network,” but the Trademark Office turned down the application.
Microsoft has rolled out new features for its Cortana virtual assistant app, including the ability to track evening activities, track important flights and even recommend nearby concerts. Cortana probably still is not a Google Now or Siri killer,
We’re unlikely to see one virtual assistant to rule them all. Rather, we’ll have a team of assistants, each aware of its strengths and weaknesses, collaborating, delegating and stratifying based on the task at hand.
BlackBerry hasn’t given up any chance of a mobile device comeback: It will soon offer the square-screened Passport phone along with a BlackBerry Assistant app similar to other voice-activated digital assistant apps on competing platforms.
Comments made by a Cortana product manager suggest Microsoft is working on a version of the voice assistant for Windows 8 laptops and tablets.
While touch interfaces are the most mature, motion-sensing technologies in areas like 3D modeling, IoT, and wearables will grow the most in the next three to five years.
It’s about time Siri learned a new trick and it may come in the form of Apple TV support. Code snippets in iOS 7.1 suggest that Siri could help you find new television content or change the channel for you.
According to a report in Bloomberg, Apple is planning to integrate Shazam song identification into an upcoming iOS update.
Meal logging and calorie counting is still a pretty painful process, but SRI is working on an image recognition technology that could change that.
Apple’s latest iOS update finally introduces CarPlay support, fixes a bug that caused devices to crash, and brings along some nice UI tweaks.
Microsoft’s Windows Phone personal assistant is sounding much like Siri and Google Now. Cortana is the current name and the intelligent software will be able to scan your email to provide useful, contextual information. Will users accept that or complain about privacy?
The screens look like a cross between Apple Maps and a traditional GPS.
Talking to your phone when there is someone on the other end is one thing. Talking directly to your phone as if it could listen and respond to you may take a little getting use to, and here are some tips for using Apple’s Siri.
For Apple(s aapl) product users, the home may soon be Siri’s domain. Apple Insider reports that Cupertino has filed a patent with…
Conversation just might be the future of entertainment. ToyTalk is using its interactive talking software to make even more immersive, and hilarious shows for kids. Can the adults have some too?
The tech world is wondering how Apple plans to utilize the assets it acquired by buying Topsy, which focuses on collecting and analyzing Twitter data. I suspect Apple is trying to fill a big data void in its platform battle against Google.
Google Now voice commands offer more information than Siri, but they’re not conversational like Siri. Google appears to have addressed this gap in it’s latest version of the software: Your Android will speak back to you for more information as needed.
Apple’s Siri voice assistant is now two years old. Susan Bennett claims she recorded the now-iconic vocals back in 2005.
Advances in voice recognition and natural language understanding technology will make things easier for all of us, but it’s a potential game-changer for some with disabilities.
Apple yesterday introduced two new models of its iPhone — iPhone 5c and iPhone 5s. One is a mid-market product and the other is targeting the top end of the market. And they are both packed with some incredible stuff. Here is what I like & dislike.
During the past few months, many of the trends that underlie the social transformation in business have accelerated, like the rapid shift to proximal devices and the emergence of social platforms operating as marketplaces.
On the heels of Apple’s announced in-car iOS and Siri functionality, a big European car brand gets on board with 2012’s Siri EyesFree.
Tempo’s quest to build the industry’s most contextually aware smartphone calendar got a $10 million boost. According to CEO Raj Singh, though, the calendar is just a proxy for its much more ambitious virtual assistant plans.
Apple’s made some changes to Siri’s programming if the mention of suicide comes up — she’s now much more proactive in getting the user help.
While not exactly part of Siri, it is her voice that speaks to you. Spoken notifications come in handy for hands-free situations where you can’t pick up your phone, like driving, riding a bicycle or working out at the gym.
A report on Tuesday indicates Apple has bigger plans for the car beyond a hands-free assistant app: teaming up with carmakers to offer Apple Maps and Siri on a car’s in-dash system.
The Wikimedia Foundation’s first major new project in 7 years is now feeding the biggest project in that stable, Wikipedia itself. But anyone can take structured data from Wikidata, due to its open license.
Apple confirms the anonymized information may be kept “for up to two years.” But when Siri is turned off all the user data is deleted.
Sherpa is trying to build a more flexible virtual assistant technology that can easily adapted for new tasks. To that end it has developed its own conceptual meta-language which it uses to process all voice commands.
Web discovery engine Trapit is launching a set of tools for publishers. Publishing clients can use the tools to create their own white-label iPad and web apps that surface content around given topics. Here Media is the first client.
Shanghai Zhi Zhen makes a product called Xiaoi, which the company calls a “chat robot system.” It says Siri violates a patent it holds on man-machine interaction.
Nuance is continuing to push voice recognition into the security realm with a new biometric ID service for enterprise IT departments looking to automate the task of resetting passwords.
I’ve owned every iPhone model to date. Here’s my experience going from the iPhone 4S to the iPhone 5, including what I’ve liked, what has not met my expectations and what I’d like to see in a new version.
Like MobileMe and Apple Maps did, a future iWatch could reinforce the notion that Apple isn’t good at web-based services. But — if done right — it could push Apple to get its web-based act together.
With a backlog of well over 100,000 registrants, Tempo is far more popular than it ever anticipated. The company has been forced to halt new activations to give its servers some breathing room.
After Chevy, Honda is the second car company to announce new car models coming with Siri this year.
In a move that could assist vision-impaired users (and potentially aid smartphone development), Amazon has acquired text-to-speech and voice recognition company IVONA Software for an undisclosed sum.
Nuance plans to integrate its growing number of speech command platforms into a universal assistant for the internet of things. It’s also trying to make its speech technology more dynamic, using crowdsourcing to capture the language zeitgeist.
Nuance continues to revamp its semantic search app Dragon Go into a full-blown mobile assistant. New features on the app allow you to open third-party apps, access your music and even set alarms. Nuance also added support for Gingerbread, but there’s no iOS version yet.
Maluuba, a Siri for Android app, is now offering users a way to shop by just asking Maluuba questions. The app has integrated with Walmart and Best Buy and pulls up data from Google as well.
The automaker isn’t adding Apple’s service to any high-end models just yet, but two smaller cars aimed at buyers on a budget. To use it, owners will need an iPhone 4S or iPhone 5 running iOS 6 that can connect to the car’s infotainment system.
One of the hallmarks of 2011’s OS X upgrade was how many iOS features showed up: iMessage, Notes, Reminders, Notifications, Game Center, Twitter integration, AirPlay mirroring. In that light, why wouldn’t Siri and Maps be next on the list?
Apple has integrated its assistant with the Apple Store app. Users can ask for details about Apple products and the results will be brought up on screen via the app. It shows us Apple is thinking about using Siri to better connect users with its products.
The focus of this year’s GigaOM RoadMap Conference was on design and the user interface, and how those are critical to succeeding in a connected world. During the event, attendees took time to consider important strategic issues, from what UIs will look like after Siri to where the IPO market is today and how it could affect early-stage companies. We’ve gathered some of the key takeaways from these sessions and other parts of GigaOM RoadMap to provide a brief analysis on how companies and devices will best connect with users in the future.
Google is releasing an updated search app for iOS devices that allows users to ask their questions by voice and get quick responses, many of them spoken back to users. It doesn’t replicate everything Siri does but it also provides more answers.
Movies and restaurants are a good start, but I wish Siri could tell me what concerts are happening in my area, or give me information about my device, have more specific voice control actions, and even help translate conversations into foreign languages.
Siri, and possibly Apple’s overall search functionality, is likely to get smarter: Apple has hired William Stasior away from Amazon. Stasior led Amazon’s A9 search unit and was Amazon’s director of search and navigation. With the move, Apple can rely less on others for search.
My iPod touch arrived today and after a few hours of use, I’m impressed. Apple has taken nearly all of the iPhone 5 features and functions and put them in this super thin and light iPod. I may use Android phones, but this is my PMP.
Imagine the day when your mobile is constantly suggesting new things, based on what it knows about you. Voice interaction may not be there today, but an epic shift is coming soon, Mobilize 2012 panelists say.
Maluuba, a new voice-activated personal assistant app, is trying to give Siri and Google Now a run for their money by combining slick natural language processing with a wide array of services. The startup has raised $2 million from Samsung Ventures.
Siri had some major weaknesses in its first iteration released last year. In iOS 6, there are some great new additions to Siri’s capabilities. However, the software is still not perfect. Here are my experiences with the new Siri.
iOS 6 isn’t just for the iPhone. Apple included some fun new features in its new mobile operating system, available today, for iPad users. Here’s a look at the new stuff you’ll get: Siri, a clock app, FaceTime everywhere, Facebook integration and more.
These are the companies, startups and giants alike, that are changing or could potentially change the mobile landscape in the most profound ways.
Adam Cheyer is reportedly the second cofounder to split from Apple in the last year. The news of his departure comes on the eve of the introduction of a new iPhone and the rollout of updated iOS software, which will include major improvements to Siri’s software.
A number of connected watches have hit — and been funded on — Kickstarter lately, but the newest doesn’t just show information from a smartphone; it works as a hands-free speaker phone. The watch also supports voice commands so you can use it directly with Siri.
Developers are getting another Siri-like tool to embed speech-enabled virtual assistants in their apps. Lexee, a new product from interactive voice response provider Angel, offers an SDK for iOS and Android users. Lexee has a point and click system for building conversation flows and user analytics.
Apple’s Siri voice commands for iPhone have made it the target of a patent lawsuit from a university in Taiwan. The school’s lawyers say they are also looking into whether to target similar technology from Microsoft and Google next.
Trapit, an AI-based discovery engine for Web content from the group behind Siri, is releasing its iPad app Thursday after launching a Web version last November. Trapit wants to compete against news reading apps like Flipboard by offering better content. It’s planning publisher partnerships, too.
Apple stole the spotlight in the third quarter with a fascinating series of both positive and negative headlines. Its iPhone 5 was…
Here’s our daily pick of stories about Apple from around the web that you shouldn’t miss. Today’s installment: Apple/Motorola judge questions the need for software patents, how the Windows PC advantage dwindled before the iPad, yet another patent suit in Apple’s second-most important market.
LTE will have an enormous impact on mobile data’s future. But if Apple, the maker of the world’s most popular smartphone, isn’t on board, that progress could be impeded, and, worse, the industry could actually start regressing.
The banners now decorating Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference venue indicate the event’s tagline is “Where great ideas go on to do great things.” It’s vague, as usual, making it’s hard to pinpoint what this year’s theme will be. Here’s what we’ll be watching for on Monday.
It seemed a bit strange that following Siri’s debut in fall 2011 the iPad introduced five months later wasn’t equally equipped with the voice-assistant technology. But there are whispers that will change later this year, and Siri will debut on the new iPad.
The Internet is expanding the amount of available content at almost incomprehensible rates, but the difficulty of navigating through all of that content has quickly soured the TV-viewing experience. To understand why the problem of easy access to content is so difficult to solve, it is essential to first consider the major players involved in the system and where their interests lie. This research note examines the current state of the market, which companies matter now, and which matter for the future.
Artificial intelligence has to be a siren’s song for application developers that want to strike it rich. It enables revolutionary apps suchs Siri, but it’s also very difficult to do well. A San Diego-based startup called ai-one wants to change that by giving apps brains.
Dolphin Sonar is now part of the popular Dolphin Browser for Android, making it easy to search the web, share links or open specific web pages by speaking. I tested Sonar and see much to like now, and in the future, thanks to web services.
Every now and again, Apple reminds the mobile world that developing for iOS includes going through the harrowing and sometimes mystifying App Store review process. Evi, a voice-recognition search app, thought it was a goner for coming too close to Siri until Apple changed its mind.
Siri is hot, but the software is exclusive to the iPhone 4S; iPads, iPod touches and older iPhones need not apply. The situation provides an opportunity for developers on non-Siri devices, and SpeakToIt Assistant, a $1.99 app, is one of these. How does it stack up?
Apple CEO Tim Cook said iCloud “is not just a product, it’s a strategy for the next decade.” What will that mean for a company trying to lead us all into the post-PC world? We look at possible future applications of cloud-based services from Apple.
The sky is falling again in cellular land, and this time Siri is to blame. At least that’s the assessment form this opinion article in the Washington Post this morning claiming Siri’s piggy ways will destroy our cellular networks. But this assessment is wrong.
Patently Apple has dug up a detailed patent for Siri, which goes into a lot of depth about potential future uses, including for online shopping, as a travel service, and as part of a car navigation system or the car’s entertainment system.
There are a lot of bad Siri imitators in the Android Market, but Monday night a pretty close approximation to Apple’s now-iconic personal assistant will be available. Nuance Communications is launching an Android version of Dragon Go, it’s voice-powered semantic search app.
The past year in mobile has been even more eventful than most of us would have predicted. Our appetite for mobile data grew dramatically; Google’s Android continued its march to worldwide dominance; Amazon joined the tablet bandwagon; and AT&T tried and failed to acquire T-Mobile USA, among many other things. All of that activity lays the groundwork for a very promising — and very challenging — 2012. This research note serves both as a review of the major trends and events of 2011 as well as a forecast for the coming year. Companies mentioned in this report include Millennial Media, Quattro Wireless and Samsung. For a full list of companies, and to read the full research note, sign up for a free trial.
As the year winds down, here’s a look back at the biggest, most significant things that happened in the apps we use on our smartphones and tablets this year, as well as the most important themes to watch out for come 2012.
Are Google, Yelp and Facebook scared of Siri? If they aren’t they should be, as should any mobile website, service or app that depends on advertising. Siri is the first user interface that shifts our attention away from our phones’ screens, but it won’t be the last.
What kind of amazing new things are going to happen in tech over the next 365 days? Digital design agency Fjord got out its crystal ball and let us have a preview of its annual prediction of the most important themes in tech next year.
Mainstream mobile users have been slow to embrace location-based services. But location apps could really see a boost through the smart use of voice activated AI systems like Siri, which can help users more easily unlock the world around them.
Siri isn’t on the Mac (yet), but that doesn’t mean you can’t use it there, and in a way that should prove a considerable time saver. In combination with Mac launcher software Alfred and iOS app TouchPad, you can easily issue voice commands to your Mac.
Apple addressed criticism on Wednesday night that Siri, the virtual assistant built in to every iPhone 4S, couldn’t retrieve information about abortion clinics when asked. Apple’s response is basically that Siri is a beta product, but that won’t be enough to sidestep the service’s political ramifications.
Apps such as InstantMeeting, Expensify and yes, Siri are taking mundane tasks that top managers might have hired an assistant to handle and makes delegating them affordable for all. This is a welcome break for time-strapped workers called on to do more.
The iOS 5.1 beta software from Apple was released Monday afternoon for developers, and while at first it didn’t appear to add much, investigations by users have produced a few interesting tidbits about what’s new. Most interesting of all could be references to the next iPad.
Call it M2M, the Internet of Things, or a web that talks back, but once we start connecting devices and sensors we’re adding complexity to a system that’s already highly complex. Axeda wants to deliver a cloud with the intelligence capable of managing the connected world.
The man sits down in front of the computer and says, affably: “Computer!” Nothing happens. In a now-hear-this tone, the man repeats: “Comput…
The GigaOM RoadMap conference on Nov. 10 gathered leaders and visionaries to discuss how, thanks to technological and generational shifts, society as a whole is becoming more connected — not only in the media we consume and the social networks we use but also in the way we interact with devices and manage our resources. This research note takes a look back on the event in order to analyze this new era of connectivity across various industries, from Jack Dorsey’s idea of becoming “more human,” not less, to the concept of “invisible technology” and data, the fuel of the new century. Companies mentioned in this report include Airbnb, Netflix and Twitter. For a full list of companies, and to read the full report, sign up for a free trial.
Last night I was schooled at playing Jeopardy by Watson in an exhibition match and discovered that despite our fear of the robot overlords, humans are much smarter than we think. Case in point: Watson could never use Apple’s personal assistant Siri.
Trapit, a discovery engine for Web content from the group behind Siri, launches to the public today. The company describes itself as “Pandor…
Computers — the boxes that we consult — are wonderful, but they take away from what it is to be human and to really connect with one another, so the challenge and opportunity that lies ahead is how to get the computers out of computing.
Nuance, the maker of industry-leading voice-recognition tech, released Dragon Express via the Mac App Store on Thursday. The app is basically a streamlined version of Nuance’s powerful Dragon Dictate software, and it brings some features that Siri fans might appreciate to OS X computers.
Apple’s use of the Siri voice assistant in the iPhone 4S has been one of the most-talked about features on the new device, but Apple (NSDQ:…
Many have been hoping that Apple plans to bring Siri to other existing iOS devices besides the iPhone 4S, and recent rumors suggested that could indeed be in the works. But a new report indicates that probably isn’t the case, at least not right now.
I’ve written about robots powered by smartphones and the web, so you’d think I’d be comfortable seeing a new robot video. I saw one today showing the PETMAN, and I’m actually torn between amazement and fright. Then again, he might make for a good personal assistant.
Blazing fast networks, cheap silicon, always-on devices and a torrent of data will fundamentally change everything — how we consume media, how we work, and even who we are. We examined 10 areas that show how connectivity is profoundly changing the present and future of technology.
Health care policy analyst John S. Wilson believes that Apple’s recently released voice technology can revolutionize the 911 system. With its natural language processing, contextual search and ability to carry out tasks, Siri has the potential to better equip first responders to save lives.
Science fiction writers and futurists have long imagined a world in which we control everyday devices with our voice. That future seems a little bit closer to reality with the news that Apple’s Siri voice control technology will likely power its long-rumored iTV device.
The Apple television is the latest, hottest subject of the rumor mill that surrounds the company. On Thursday, a new report revealed many more tantalizing details about why Apple might be a creating a television and what will set it apart from the competition.
Siri isn’t available to developers, and there’s no guarantee it will be. But it hasn’t stopped developers from tapping its power. Appsfire, an app discovery service, has created a little hack that allows iPhone 4S users to find apps with their voice.
The good thing about being a parent is that it’s okay to be an old fart. Your kids will keep up with tech, and they’re already exploring it in fundamentally different ways. Observe them closely, and you’ll learn quite a bit about the future of technology.
After I wrote my recent article about Bluetooth integration with car audio, Ford contacted me about the Microsoft SYNC system. I took it for a test drive (literally). A new Ford may just be about the best (and probably most expensive) iPhone accessory out there.
I’ve never been great at keeping tabs on scheduling. Siri has been a great help for setting appointments, but a new app called TouchBase aims to make staying in touch with those you’re meeting with, and keeping track of where you’re headed even easier still.
Now that Siri is baked into an iPhone, Dag Kittlaus seems to have decided that his work at Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) was complete. The co-founder o…
In addition to the apparent acquisition of Yahoo’s former head of Global Data Center Infrastructure, Apple’s recent staff shifts apparently also include the departure of one of Siri’s co-founders. Don’t worry, though, the iPhone 4S’s personal assistant remains in good hands.
Siri may be the hottest personal assistant since I Dream of Jeannie, but Apple’s artificial intelligence is only the tip of the iceberg as we combine ubiquitous connectivity, sensor networks, big data, new AI and programming into a truly connected network.
For iPhone 4S users out there, you probably know that Siri can search the web for keywords of your choosing. But did you also know that you can tell it on the fly which specific search engine to use to find your results?
New hardware helped Apple sell 4 million iPhone 4S handsets over the weekend, but Siri, the personal assistant software, may be the most groundbreaking aspect. Here’s a closer look at the difference in voice command and intelligence between the two largest mobile platforms: iOS and Android.
Vlingo, a voice recognition start-up, isn’t sweating the introduction of Apple’s Siri voice action and AI system. In fact, the start-up saw its best week last week with five consecutive days of record usage with voice actions up 50 percent daily over the previous high.
During the three-day outage last week that affected data services for millions of BlackBerry users, RIM (NSDQ: RIMM) executives were focused…
Siri, watch out: Apple’s personal assistant is getting competition from a Russian startup, whose founder is currently touring the Valley as part of a roadshow for Russia’s Skolkovo IT park. I met with him and three other of the Skolkovo startups this week, and left impressed.
Though Steve Jobs said he didn’t consider Siri a search company, but instead an artificial intelligence company, the rollout of Siri on the iPhone 4S can serve to divert some search traffic away from Google, which could eat into Google’s mobile revenues.
The next iPhone’s biggest difference, according to an extensive profile by 9to5Mac, may not be any hardware feature. Instead, the Siri-based “Assistant” system-wide software coud steal the show. Assistant could make talking to your phone as natural as touchscreen based controls are now.
Apple and Google have both picked up multiple smaller companies in recent years, and even some larger ones like Motorola(s mmi), and both can afford to grab more. It can be hard to keep straight who bought what when, but this graphic should set things straight.
If there was any doubt that mobile and the cloud will eventually converge, Google is putting it to rest. The company today showed off two applications that leverage Google’s back-end infrastructure and its Android OS to bring a powerful new mobile user experience.
Apple’s not hesitating to put a dent in its gigantic cash horde.
A day after the New York Times reported that the Cupertino, Calif. company…
Apple has apparently bought Siri, as documented in a FTC file flagged by Robert Scoble. Siri makes a really cool, almost magical tool that could easily be core to the iPhone experience.
“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic,” said Arthur C. Clarke. And that’s what Siri, a new virtual personal assistant that’s going live in the App Store tonight, is going for. At the least it will be an excellent party trick.
San Jose, Calif.-based startup Siri has raised $8.5 million in a first round of funding from Menlo Ventures and Morgenthaler Ventures. The s…
It was starting to look like the merger that time forgot. For months, there had been chatter about a possible corporate coupling…