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Apple 'Pressing Ahead' Into Prototype Testing for Echo-Like Smart Home Device Powered by Siri

I don't imagine a Siri device will work half as good, judging by how it's been already. It's not the best assistant for sure. And the price Apple would charge would make it more expensive, so less capable or reliable and more expensive, potentially.
I would also stick to a lock and key for home security, if someone wants in they'll break a window regardless.
 
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Siri will need to make several leaps forward to make this compete with Alexa right now IMO. I've used both, and Siri just doesn't seem to have the ability to do much besides let me send/read texts.
 
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Makes sense. A little behind the curve compared to competitors (not uncommon). I am sure it will be magical. Google should be releasing their "home" product early October. I'm looking forward to seeing what that actually does vs the Echo - which I have and love.
 
apolloa said:
You must wear one HUGE tin foil hat! But don't worry I'm sure Amazon will enjoy recording and analysing with a fine tooth comb every single thing you say to your Echo :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:
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I only wear an occasional baseball cap (and that's just when it's raining.)

It's not so much that I think Amazon might be recording what I say (which they will for voice-recognition purposes etc. and I know that can be managed) but also the possibility of third parties finding loopholes etc.

There's a similar potential for any such tech in your house of course, it's just what you're comfortable having.
 
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smacrumon said:
This feature could be built into current devices. Why does anyone need a seperate device? It could be built into Apple TV, iMac, Mac mini, it could, surprise, surprise, be built into iPhone!
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My iPhone already has always on "hey siri" and I barely ever use it (mainly becasue siri requires me to look at the screen) With my Echo I don't have to think about "hey where is my iPhone" or pull it out of my pocket where it is located 90% of the time, it is just there, in the same spot, waiting for commands (And responding to them with complete voice replies - ask for the weather and you hear the forecast, not "It looks nice today! - Look at the screen"

Having no screen sounds like a downside to echo, but it is actually the biggest upside. I don't have to look at anything, I can just keep to what I am doing while I add things to my todo list or tell it to turn on the TV or lights.

Siri will need a major upgrade to actually be useful in this context.
 
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great, just what apple needs - another product. they'll probably integrate it in the new apple - tv anyway, which will make it another 5mm taller.
 
jclardy said:
My iPhone already has always on "hey siri" and I barely ever use it (mainly becasue siri requires me to look at the screen) With my Echo I don't have to think about "hey where is my iPhone" or pull it out of my pocket where it is located 90% of the time, it is just there, in the same spot, waiting for commands (And responding to them with complete voice replies - ask for the weather and you hear the forecast, not "It looks nice today! - Look at the screen"

Having no screen sounds like a downside to echo, but it is actually the biggest upside. I don't have to look at anything, I can just keep to what I am doing while I add things to my todo list or tell it to turn on the TV or lights.

Siri will need a major upgrade to actually be useful in this context.
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This can all be resolved with software upgrades to Siri. It doesn't need Apple to follow the fad.
 
Alchemist said:
I'd really like to see Apple build one of these or possibly integrate the functionality directly into an AppleTV. I'm trying to go down the smart home route and the Echo is quite compelling. I want motion sensing as well as voice control so that lights can intelligently turn on as I move around.
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You know, maybe you are saying that in jest. But seriously, I do wonder why people are so comfortable with live microphones and web cams littering their houses. I am not a 'tin-foil' hat type, but it just seems like, at best, a recipe for "oh crap I said that and the conference call wasn't on mute!" moments or at worse, warrant enabled listening in. Yes, I have twisted my wrist once or twice and looked down to see that Siri was taking notes on my AW when I compressed the digital crown. Wasn't the red scare and Big Brother and all that partially in response to fears of oppressive surveillance? And here today, we go out of our way to build these things into our phones, cars, and homes. Wierd.
 
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jmpage2 said:
"Me too, me too, me too!!!"

-Apple CEO Tim Cook

Too bad Siri absolutely sucks at doing anything useful and this thing would be an epic flop.
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Not exactly. Apple was the first to market to integrate a voice operated system in a device. But TC definetly dropped the HomeKit ball and allowed Amazon to eclipse it. Even now while Apple seems to push Homekit (Homekit app in iOS 10) from what I see it makes integration much more difficult for manufacturers. You see a bit more Alexa compatible devices than Homekit. Even worse only geeks really even understand what Homekit is about. Apple's done a poor job selling it to companies and consumers.

I use Siri for some of my (Hue) lights. It mostly works great but agree Siri's handle of at least the English language is poor and frustrating. Whether an Apple branded stand-along speaker system would be a flop or not, hard to say. It certainly has to compete $ wise with Amazon and I'm guessing Amazon is either selling near cost or taking a small loss b/c its business model is as a retailer, not CE company.
 
smacrumon said:
The best way to face dwindling returns on the iPhone line could easily be resolved by introducing an ALL-NEW iPhone, in all three sizes 4-inch, 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch sizes, dropping the protruding camera and finally dropping the antenna lines.

Apple needs to get back to making great iPhones, not shiny third generation iPhone 6 models.
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You really think somebody isn't buying an iPhone because of a camera bulge or an antenna line? Especially when most people stick their phones in cases right away? BS. People aren't buying phones as often because the phones now are really good and the leaps in technology improvements are less and less. Also a lot of Apple's iPhone growth was due to new markets, new carriers coming on board. That also is slowing down. None of that has to do with aesthetics.
 
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Rob_2811 said:
"Hey Siri, Turn the lights on"

"Here is what I found on the web for Hey Siri turn the lights on.."
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Exactly. At the moment Siri cannot do much which is dissappointing.

Maybe Apple will bring out something like an Echo combined with a Sonos Speaker.
 
smacrumon said:
This feature could be built into current devices. Why does anyone need a seperate device? It could be built into Apple TV, iMac, Mac mini, it could, surprise, surprise, be built into iPhone!
Click to expand...
Maybe it will be built into those devices, in addition to a separate device.

My friends have an Amazon Echo in their kitchen, which is where they like to use it. They don't have any devices with screens that stay permanently in the kitchen.

For Siri to work as a home-automation device, it needs to be reliably available. It needs to work from the bedroom, the kitchen, the garage, the bathroom, the conservatory, the library, the dressing room, the laundry room, the workshop, the parlor, the lanai, the Lido Deck, the yoga room, the rooftop garden, the mud room, etc. And it needs to work when your iPhone is, surprise, surprise, surprise, on its charger in the butler's pantry while you are in the solarium.

Amazon has the right idea. I don't mind if Apple copies it.
 
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smacrumon said:
The best way to face dwindling returns on the iPhone line could easily be resolved by introducing an ALL-NEW iPhone, in all three sizes 4-inch, 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch sizes, dropping the protruding camera and finally dropping the antenna lines.
Click to expand...

So your definition of a great iPhone is purely based on subtle visual differences? And you'd rather have a worse camera that didn't bulge? Interesting. You're right, having a phone faster than a MacBook with a better display, better cameras, conservatively rated water-resistance and 256 GB storage. All uninteresting. You should run Apple, I'm sure they are dying for your input.
 
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Apple bought beats who was working on a Sonos killer but Apple put that project on hold.

I doubt Apple would simply create an Echo clone, since we already have echo's on us 24/7 (our iPhones and now our wrists Apple Watch and even soon next to our mouths with the AirPods). However they could release an Echo Clone that also doubles as a Sonos competitor utilizing a variation of their W1 chip to avoid the common issues of Bluetooth, and then they would have a massive hit on their hands and would further fuel Apple Music which Apple is spending so much time on.
 
These things sound cool, but except for the one or two evenings when my family gathers for a movie night in front of the tv, we live kind of old fashioned when I stop and think about it. I think it would be fun to see this kind of new technology in action but I just don't think it would have much to do in my house. Which is really odd because I'm a gadget freak. But none of us is really into this level of automation.
 
Rogifan said:
Right because Apple has only a few engineers and they can only work on one thing at a time...
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Yep that is the way it seems. They put their best engineers on the current fad. The rest just seem to not do much. If this is not the case then one has to ask themselves why can't Apple release both iPhones, and Macs around the same times? There is no technological reason why new macs could not have been release at WWDC, or in August, or in September? I think it is because all of the good engineers wanted to work on the new Apple car or the Apple Echo.
 
doelcm82 said:
Maybe it will be built into those devices, in addition to a separate device.

My friends have an Amazon Echo in their kitchen, which is where they like to use it. They don't have any devices with screens that stay permanently in the kitchen.

For Siri to work as a home-automation device, it needs to be reliably available. It needs to work from the bedroom, the kitchen, the garage, the bathroom, the conservatory, the library, the dressing room, the laundry room, the workshop, the parlor, the lanai, the Lido Deck, the yoga room, the rooftop garden, the mud room, etc. And it needs to work when your iPhone is, surprise, surprise, surprise, on its charger in the butler's pantry while you are in the solarium.

Amazon has the right idea. I don't mind if Apple copies it.
Click to expand...

So , you need 15 Echo's?
 
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