Tim Cook at D10: Hints at Facebook Integration, and Siri Improvements

MacRumors · May 29, 2012

At this year's All Things D conference, Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher interviewed Apple CEO Tim Cook about a range of topics. We offer a transcript of the entire interview. During the talk, Cook provided hints at two upcoming features for Apple customers.

The first has to do with the possibility of Facebook integration into iOS. Apple and Facebook are believed to have previously been in tough negotiations about Facebook integration into Apple's products. As a result, tight Facebook integration has been absent in iOS while Twitter has seen service-level support.

When asked about Apple's relationship with Facebook, Cook suggests that there will be news in the near future:

For us, we want to provide customers simple and elegant ways to do the things they want to do. Facebook has hundreds of millions of customers. So, anyone that has an iPhone or iPad, we want them to have the best experience with Facebook on those platforms. So stay tuned.

Next, when questioned about Siri, Cook reports that customers love the voice assistant feature on the iPhone 4S, and that its one of the most popular features on the device. He goes on to report that they have a lot more coming:

But, there's more that it can do. We have a lot of people working on this. You'll be really pleased with the things you'll see over the coming months. The breadth that you're talking about -- we've got some cool ideas about what Siri can do. We have a lot going on on this.

Cook goes on to say that he thinks they'll be "really happy" with where it's going.

Article Link: Tim Cook at D10: Hints at Facebook Integration, and Siri Improvements

strausd · May 29, 2012

I would love to see apps take advantage of Siri. And I mean both Apple apps and third party apps. Also, being able to adjust settings via voice would be awesome.

SprodeBoy · May 29, 2012

I am very upset that siri hasnt been more integrated. Apple seems to push it under the rug at times. Keeping it from the iphone 4, in my mind, was a mistake. They should have brought it to the iphone 4 once enough people bouth the 4s. And why Siri isnt on any iPads is beyond me. Hopefully we will not see this amazing technology get dropped.

Undecided · May 29, 2012

Apple store down

Uh, the Apple store is down.

silroc · May 29, 2012

Agree on FB.
Even with all the "cool guy" dissing of Facebook, how can a consumer electronic giant ignore the staggering numbers of FB accounts. Just that alone is reason to look closer

makingdots · May 29, 2012

silroc said:
Agree on FB.
Even with all the "cool guy" dissing of Facebook, how can a consumer electronic giant ignore the staggering numbers of FB accounts. Just that alone is reason to look closer

Nope, it's Facebook not cooperating well with Apple last year.

Warbrain · May 29, 2012

Undecided said:
Uh, the Apple store is down.

Very likely nothing.

zzLZHzz · May 29, 2012

SprodeBoy said:
I am very upset that siri hasnt been more integrated. Apple seems to push it under the rug at times. Keeping it from the iphone 4, in my mind, was a mistake. They should have brought it to the iphone 4 once enough people bouth the 4s. And why Siri isnt on any iPads is beyond me. Hopefully we will not see this amazing technology get dropped.

there are some voice rendering that is being done via the hardware found in iPhone 4S which does not exist in iPhone 4. not sure why it doesn't exist in the new ipad.

people had done test and tried to use siri via bluetooth mic but the performance went down thus it is shown that if you are not using the built-in mic the ability to recongize the voice went down.

scrappledog · May 29, 2012

Got to admit ... I have zero interest in Facebook being integrated into my phone's OS. None.

Warbrain · May 29, 2012

silroc said:
Agree on FB.
Even with all the "cool guy" dissing of Facebook, how can a consumer electronic giant ignore the staggering numbers of FB accounts. Just that alone is reason to look closer

Facebook would want too much data about Apple users. Facebook wouldn't want to tie into iTunes for payments. Facebook would want to serve the ads.

Partnering with Facebook is nearly as bad as partnering with Google at this point.

sundragon · May 29, 2012

This explains why the iOS facebook app is awful!

It is by far one of the worst apps - it's slow, buggy, and hasn't had a proper update in ages.

I thought Facebook was too busy trying to make money to actually build a proper app for my iphone... But this makes more sense. They have ignored the app because they will be integrating this into iOS...

Hey Tim,

Now could we get iOS 6 already?

xoxo

Warbrain · May 29, 2012

zzLZHzz said:
there are some voice rendering that is being done via the hardware found in iPhone 4S which does not exist in iPhone 4. not sure why it doesn't exist in the new ipad.

people had done test and tried to use siri via bluetooth mic but the performance went down thus it is shown that if you are not using the built-in mic the ability to recongize the voice went down.

It's called two microphones for noise-cancellation.

silroc · May 29, 2012

makingdots said:
Nope, it's Facebook not cooperating well with Apple last year.

I hear you- not blaming apple (though who knows for sure what exactly went down?)
Just saying HARD to ignore FB numbers

Warbrain · May 29, 2012

silroc said:
I hear you- not blaming apple (though who knows for sure what exactly went down?)
Just saying HARD to ignore FB numbers

I'd argue a third of the Facebook user count is either spam accounts or non-participating. Still huge but a lot less impressive.

silroc · May 29, 2012

Warbrain said:
Facebook would want too much data about Apple users. Facebook wouldn't want to tie into iTunes for payments. Facebook would want to serve the ads.

Partnering with Facebook is nearly as bad as partnering with Google at this point.

Well that's why it's called a negotiation.

kirky29 · May 29, 2012

sundragon said:
This explains why the iOS facebook app is awful!

It is by far one of the worst apps - it's slow, buggy, and hasn't had a proper update in ages.

I thought Facebook was too busy trying to make money to actually build a proper app for my iphone... But this makes more sense. They have ignored the app because they will be integrating this into iOS...

Hey Tim,

Now could we get iOS 6 already?

xoxo

In some ways it does make a little sense, maybe even more now that Facebook have separate apps for their Pages, Photos & Messages..

Undecided · May 29, 2012

Warbrain said:
Very likely nothing.

Yeah, the timing is certainly odd. But I'm too bored to forego hope.

Warbrain · May 29, 2012

silroc said:
Well that's why it's called a negotiation.

I doubt it's likely to happen. Facebook has the API and the power. Not sure Facebook cares about tapping into iOS more than just an app does. They already have a huge install base on iOS devices at this time.

kiwiboi87 · May 29, 2012

iv got a feeling that with iOS 6, we will see Facebook intergration at some point and in some form.
maybe not like twitter, but close to it

with siri, i think we might see iOS builds offering siri to iPad iPod touch and maybe iPhone 4.
they can't withhold it anymore, if they really want siri to make its mark, they need to offer it to more people on more devices

SteveAbootman · May 29, 2012

scrappledog said:
Got to admit ... I have zero interest in Facebook being integrated into my phone's OS. None.

I agree with this. I use Facebook for a limited number of things now. I'd have no desire to give FB even more of my information than I already do.

Warbrain · May 29, 2012

kiwiboi87 said:
iv got a feeling that with iOS 6, we will see Facebook intergration at some point and in some form.
maybe not like twitter, but close to it

with siri, i think we might see iOS builds offering siri to iPad iPod touch and maybe iPhone 4.
they can't withhold it anymore, if they really want siri to make its mark, they need to offer it to more people on more devices

People will get it as they upgrade. As simple as that.

SprodeBoy · May 29, 2012

Is this what i am going to hear in the hallways at school now?
*booboop* Tell jenny she is a slut *beebeep*

nickn · May 29, 2012

zzLZHzz said:
there are some voice rendering that is being done via the hardware found in iPhone 4S which does not exist in iPhone 4. not sure why it doesn't exist in the new ipad.

Siri was successfully ported to even the 3GS, so there is no technical reason why it wont run on the iPhone 4. The only reason Siri was never was brought down to older devices is because Apple wants people to upgrade to the 4S. Apple has a long and pathetic list of keeping features out of earlier models to keep people upgrading, so this is just the same.

Warbrain said:
People will get it as they upgrade. As simple as that.

People shouldn't need to upgrade as often as Apple would like. The iPhone 4 costs at least $549 unlocked, and is still for sale. I would be pretty pissed If I spent more on a phone then a decent laptop, and either immediately, or within 1 year of purchase, was already getting features removed for no reason.

kiwiboi87 · May 29, 2012

SprodeBoy said:
Is this what i am going to hear in the hallways at school now?
*booboop* Tell jenny she is a slut *beebeep*

*ding*
"read Message"
*BoopBoo*
New Message from "jenny"
"Shut your Face, whore face"

Cougarcat · May 29, 2012

SprodeBoy said:
I am very upset that siri hasnt been more integrated. Apple seems to push it under the rug at times. Keeping it from the iphone 4, in my mind, was a mistake. They should have brought it to the iphone 4 once enough people bouth the 4s. And why Siri isnt on any iPads is beyond me. Hopefully we will not see this amazing technology get dropped.

Relax, it's in beta...also, the 4S has some mic hardware that the 4 does not. It'll work, but not up to Apple's standards.

Stop the presses: Apple is improving a beta product, and working on providing integration for the biggest social network on the planet. What a surprise!

The only thing mildly interesting from the interview was Cook's determination to "double down" on secrecy.

Tim Cook at D10: Hints at Facebook Integration, and Siri Improvements

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