"Opening Up" is completely contrary to what Apple represents. They built an empire that resides in their own walled garden. To suggest that it's being opened up is to suggest that the old business model is floundering.
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Apple Working on Amazon Echo Competitor, Opening Siri Up to Developers
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You should note that in the past, apple was the first to establish law suit against companies who supposedly infringe their patents: back then, everyone was copying apple, according to apple.
They had patents for most anything imaginable (gestures, how something looks, etc.)
True, Windows, Samsung, LG, etc. just figure out how to do stuff overnight. Ironically, apple is nowhere without Samsung, lg, and alike. Any "innovation" or upgrade they bring to their phones, apple profits of that: OLED, AMOLED, chipset.
In business, all are followers. We do not follow competitors, but the market trend. If you don't participate, then you will find yourself stuck in the stone age.
To the topic of this thread: The more choices I have the better. However, you cant argue siri is way behind compared to say google now. Hope apple bring some major tweaks/upgrades to siri, otherwise I don't think this will last for long.
You - "Siri please send text to John saying I will be late"
Siri - "I've ordered Papa John's for late pick up"
Not to mention it sounds like a robot more than any of the other voice services. Perhaps Apple should work on getting a voice assistant that actually sounds like a human.
Even with that it'll seem like a "me too" experience.
Look at Apple Pay... It was a "me too" experience even with the extra privacy.
late to this party it seems, but I did want to say something. My assumption that Apple will continue to expand Siri (maybe even license the successor that just came out). And with Hey Siri, the software foundation is there, so all we need is a hardware platform for it to run on......
Wait, it already runs on the phone, and rumor is that Siri will run on the Mac. Oh and the ipad. Even better, it already runs on the ATV (but is not enabled for always on... yet).
Basically, I am not convinced that Apple needs another hardware platform. What I believe it needs is to continue to improve Siri, integrate it across all it hardware/OS platforms (with always on option) and open some APIs for developers. This would solve the problem without needing a separate device. Amazon needed the device because it has no other platform where to land this feature.
Wait, it already runs on the phone, and rumor is that Siri will run on the Mac. Oh and the ipad. Even better, it already runs on the ATV (but is not enabled for always on... yet).
Basically, I am not convinced that Apple needs another hardware platform. What I believe it needs is to continue to improve Siri, integrate it across all it hardware/OS platforms (with always on option) and open some APIs for developers. This would solve the problem without needing a separate device. Amazon needed the device because it has no other platform where to land this feature.
What they are working on is irrelevant. Given their R&D budget, it's a fair bet that they are working on many things that never see the light of day. What matters is what is released. Here, Apple necessarily would be a "me too" entrant in that this idea is obvious (decoupling a Siri-type service from mobile devices so it is available anytime) and Amazon's execution has been excellent. Indeed (and much to my surprise, to be honest) the user comments about the Alexa have been overwhelmingly positive. People don't complain about its failures, they rave about ways in which it has actually created conveniences for them.
Thus, whatever Apple has been cooking up with Siri, it now sees from a competitor that this type of device is popular and that people are using it in really cool ways. In particular, people are using it for home control, which means it not only is a Siri competitor but a HomeKit competitor, too. Assuming Apple doesn't want to slowly cede these markets, it *needs* a device in this space.
I therefore think it's stilly to test every Apple device by whether it "innovates," especially when innovation is defined (as many here seem to define it) as creating something entirely new. Innovation certainly must be part of Apple's blood, and they will deserve criticism if they lose that spirit, but that particular standard can't be applied on a device-by-device basis. Here, a device that's as good as Alexa (which in itself would represent a major leap forward for Siri) that is integrated with services such as HomeKit and AirPlay would be a great addition to the field. I would rather the focus be on quality with this one, because the principal innovation already happened.
No. A walled garden is not a locked garden. No one is held captive in the garden, no one forced to develop for it, buy Apple products compatible with it.
Apple's model has consistently released public SDKs for it's operating systems and s/w projects - OS X, iOS, WatchOS, ATV, HomeKit, & HealthKit. There is also Swift code that developers freely use. Releasing Siri is not an admission of a failing business model, it's just the release of one more tool for devs. If anything it's proof that it's walled garden business model continues to flourish, not sag.
My Nexus 6P is simply wonderful. Fast, fun, smooth and ever so reliable. That I also have an iPhone 6S Plus as my secondary smartphone, only makes my Nexus 6P look even better.
In 1991 when I became a serious Apple user / enthusiast / shareholder, Apple was hyper focused on the consumer experience. Sadly it's a new era of "good enough" as Apple ships products that are sub-par to Apple's once high standard.
We are so concerned about our privacy, yet everything is for the grabs on Facebook. Hence, Apples' security is as good as a car without engine.
So you've seen this product and know it's the "same stuff" and doesn't work?
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Apple should just buy Crazybaby and improve on Mars. It pretty much looks like an apple product right out the box, so adding siri integration to it shouldn't be too hard.. Perhaps even adding a projector function to replace TV?
With my iPhone and Watch having "Hey Siri", idk how useful this would really be for someone already in the ecosystem. And I would think that most people buying something like this would have to be somewhat in the ecosystem, and will likely buy something at some point that already has "Hey Siri" functionality. But something like this could be incredible if it was integrated throughout an entire home. Think of the computer in Star Trek. Whoa! I think it would be useful as little $30-50 listening hubs in the form of a wall plug for each room of your house. They could either use WiFi or a BT mesh network to communicate. All you would need is something that could listen for you to ask a question, send that audio to any device on the network (iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV) and get a response, which is played back on a speaker.
That being said, none of this matters if they don't improve Siri. There was that recent story about Apple finally adding a public SDK at WWDC. But that doesn't go far enough. It needs to be like Viv and have context. For instance yesterday I asked a question about a baseball player, and asked a follow up question of "How many home runs did he have today?" and Siri got so confused. Why can't she just realize I'm still talking about the same thing when I don't specify? If I were addressing someone IRL, I wouldn't say "Hey Mike, how many brats did you buy for the BBQ on Saturday?" He answers 16. "Hey Mike, how many bags of chips did you buy for the BBQ on Saturday?" I would say "And how many bags of chips?" because Mike understands context, like Viv, and from what I can tell other AIs as well. When talking to AI, I call this specificity fatigue. When you have to ask questions repeatedly in similar ways, it just becomes faster to Google it yourself. Siri started out so far ahead, and yet has barely gone anywhere save for adding a few services and system functions. It's by far the most disappointing Apple product I've ever used because it had the potential to become incredibly advanced and just didn't and then the people behind it left the company. It's so unfortunate. Hopefully they right their wrongs and dump a crapload of cash on the Viv team to license or buy the tech.
That being said, none of this matters if they don't improve Siri. There was that recent story about Apple finally adding a public SDK at WWDC. But that doesn't go far enough. It needs to be like Viv and have context. For instance yesterday I asked a question about a baseball player, and asked a follow up question of "How many home runs did he have today?" and Siri got so confused. Why can't she just realize I'm still talking about the same thing when I don't specify? If I were addressing someone IRL, I wouldn't say "Hey Mike, how many brats did you buy for the BBQ on Saturday?" He answers 16. "Hey Mike, how many bags of chips did you buy for the BBQ on Saturday?" I would say "And how many bags of chips?" because Mike understands context, like Viv, and from what I can tell other AIs as well. When talking to AI, I call this specificity fatigue. When you have to ask questions repeatedly in similar ways, it just becomes faster to Google it yourself. Siri started out so far ahead, and yet has barely gone anywhere save for adding a few services and system functions. It's by far the most disappointing Apple product I've ever used because it had the potential to become incredibly advanced and just didn't and then the people behind it left the company. It's so unfortunate. Hopefully they right their wrongs and dump a crapload of cash on the Viv team to license or buy the tech.
The 6P is a wonderful device - inside and out - it's buttery smooth and I agree as reliable as it gets. I've never had an experience like this with a phone. Just stunning!
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Does this website need a 'Safe Space' for those perturbed by constructive criticism?
Some of us have been here plenty long. Some of us have been using Apple products since the glory days. Get over yourself!
The Echo, from everything that I've heard, is only great once you learn exactly how to ask it do what you want it to do. Google and Apple are going to do so much more.
I'd urge you not to be so quick to dismiss these.
I don't know how old you are, but I'm about 50 and I've seen a LOT of supposedly stupid UI's catch on OVER TIME. The thing you have to remember is that people cannot change direction on a dime --- it takes time (measured in years) for people to slowly adapt to a new way of doing things.
OK, CLI to GUI was an obvious example, but that's far enough in the past that plenty of you weren't even born then. But look at how people reacted to the first iPhone, in particular the BlackBerry crowd insisting that nothing would ever be as good as their micro-keyboards.
Or look at FaceTime. In the 90s it was widely believed that videophones were a waste of time --- they'd be tried in the 60s and Bell, supposedly, had proved that people for various reasons just didn't want this functionality. So all the effort at the time was in business-driven video conferencing. But, turns out that once people become used to video conferencing at work, and once it is free and easy to use, they rapidly become very comfortable with it.
Look at the Apple Watch. I've had mine for about a year now, and it's only in the last three months or so that using it in lots of small ways (especially voice interaction) has become comfortable. It's one thing to know, in theory, that every time you have to do something in a few minutes (eg when cooking) you can say "set a timer for 5 minutes"; it's another for this to become automatic behavior. Likewise for "when I get home remind me to ..." or "when I leave the Pasadena library remind me to ..."
I suspect home speakers are in the same category. There's not enough (yet!) that they can do, and they seem strange enough that it's even easier to dismiss them than to dismiss the Apple Watch. But that's NOT a well-thought analysis of why they're stupid; it's a gut reaction to something new and different.
On the technical side, especially the Apple Watch, but also phone Siri, are limited in how well they can perform because of power and physical size constraints. A speaker (certainly one that is plugged in, but even just one with a large two-week/month battery) can do much better because of lack of these constraints. Add in 3rd party APIs and you start to have a lot of options available for interesting cross device interactions. Of course much that can be done can also be done with a phone, or with a watch --- but if that's your logic, who needs SMS because most of what that does you can do with a phone and voicemail. The point is not bare minimum functionality, it is easier more convenient ways to do everyday tasks.
And yes, if you cannot afford $250 (or whatever Apple's speaker costs) then it's a frivolous luxury. So then, don't buy it. There are other people who consider your alcohol budget (or coffee budget, or hair dresser budget, or cable TV budget, or whatever) a frivolous luxury --- that's the way the world works; we spend money as we want, but most of us don't go around telling other people how they should spend their money and what they should and should not consider important.
This site is about Apple/Mac rumors. There are many reasons why users of non-Apple products might be here. It's not a rah-rah club for users of any particular platform.
Yup, they most certainly are.
Microsoft is also a "me too" company. So is Samsung, Sony, LG, Ford, Honda, Hyundai, Best Buy, McDonalds, Walgreens, Dunkin Donuts...
It's just that most are not as sanctimonious as the Cupertinoians when it comes to their "magical" offerings and my (admittedly unscientific) sampling of tech site opinions likens them mid 90's Microsoft - arrogant and resting on their laurels.
Hopefully they have something truly innovative ready to go. The entire industry benefits from from having multiple, concurrent innovators.
Of course I reported the issue. I've reported over a dozen issues over the years. I remember when it used to take weeks for an update to occur. There was one POI update that took months to update.
I tire of reporting issues and using Apple Maps because the fundamental search "algorithm" still sucks. The city search I posted about is a naive test case that Apple Maps fails.