Apple Working on Amazon Echo Competitor, Opening Siri Up to Developers

[Tinmania]

For crying out loud...this is not innovation. And I already carry 2 Siri's around with me at all times. I don't need another in the kitchen or wherever.

Same here. I just can't imagine needing yet another. As it is I am impressed how my iPhone ignores hey siri if my AW's display is on. But even then there have been a time or two where I said hey siri before the AW was on and my iPhone responded as well. Now add yet another device? And one room would not be enough if it indeed was useful. (That said if this concept blossoms I could see networked microphones and speakers all connected to a central unit.)



Mike

 

[duffman9000]

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.

Apple's vision for Siri drastically differs from what the original developers envisioned. Witness how most of the original team are gone. Witness how ViV outright humiliates Siri. It's not even a contest. Apple would have to massively overpay to acquire ViV only to see the original team leave again as Apple changes its vision.

 

[davemchine]

Because it's always listening and you don't have to push a button first. Also, the phone is usually in your pocket so you have to take it out first.

I bet it would be integrated with the APPLE TV. You can sit down on the couch and just say turn the tv on and navigate by voice. No need to use the remote at all.

I thought about the appletv but it is stuck in a corner and not the center of th house where the microphone would work best. They could do a Bluetooth microphone puck and let the appletv do the heavy lifting though.

 

[samcraig]

I thought about the appletv but it is stuck in a corner and not the center of th house where the microphone would work best. They could do a Bluetooth microphone puck and let the appletv do the heavy lifting though.

As I said earlier though - at least with the echo - the mic (there are several) is very responsive even from other rooms and me talking at a normal volume. Would it work through an entire house - no. But the far field technology is pretty impressive

 

[yegon]

"What is today's date?"

"I cannot answer that question, Manchester."

That was earlier today, they've a long way to go.

 

[maceric]

apple has become a "ME TOO" company. They are so boring lately.

I agree - The iPad Pro is their consumer response to MS Surface line. And this is a bit too late. We asked for Siri integration a long time ago. One would think that Apple's experience with opening up iOS with the App Store would be a good model for everything they do moving forward… open it up! Siri, Maps, etc. They seem so slow to integration and innovation now.

 

[Chupa Chupa]

Apple's vision for Siri drastically differs from what the original developers envisioned. Witness how most of the original team are gone. Witness how ViV outright humiliates Siri. It's not even a contest. Apple would have to massively overpay to acquire ViV only to see the original team leave again as Apple changes its vision.

I don't really understand your point in relationship to my original post so I re-read my original post to make sure I wasn't missing something and still unclear to me what you are trying to say. My post was in regards to Apple's walled garden business model. How does that have anything do to with Apple's vision for Siri vs it's original developers? Who cares in this context anyway. When Apple bought it it was its to shape and strategize.

 

[LordVic]

"What is today's date?"

"I cannot answer that question, Manchester."

That was earlier today, they've a long way to go.

Mine today was "Hey Siri, will it rain today"

"Spain is a country in europe, here are some articles" and links to a search on spain.

so... close?

 

[Toltepeceno]

A year old opinion piece from the loudest anti-Apple in news hardly makes something true.

Yet an over opinionated anonymous irrelevant does? Post something to back up the hot air.
[doublepost=1464193855][/doublepost]

By definition all maps are wrong and only correct problems over time, never getting it right. Taking a single street on any mapping system and saying, it isn't there, therefore the service sucks, is ridiculous. Its more to do with the overall quality, and I contend it is a mixed bag. Users will use Apple Maps as long as it is good enough, but if it was unusable they would seek out other alternatives, as you have. For most users, that just isn't necessary, because it works just fine for them.

FYI - If your street isn't on the map you should provide feedback to the Maps team, I've found that in the last year it has become extremely responsive and on par with Googles responsiveness. The ability to handle business listings is actually better within MapsConnect than it is on Google, so again its a mixed bag.

People use apple maps because its integrated on their phone even though its inferior.

 

[Dydegu]

Excited to see how devs integrate Siri.

 

[samcraig]

Mine today was "Hey Siri, will it rain today"

"Spain is a country in europe, here are some articles" and links to a search on spain.

so... close?

The rain is spain falls mainly in the plains

 

[FieldingMellish]

Siri is so bad, it's gotten programming to know when the user is shouting expletives at it, and it expresses dismay at all the harsh words.

 

[sputnikv]

You're missing the point. This is all about home automation without having to pull out your phone or press a button. It's not just about search, but control of all devices.

Instead of whipping out my phone to turn on the phillips hue app to change the light, I can just say. Hey Siri, or Hey Google, turn the lights on in the bedroom.

And btw, I'm well aware you can just say the same thing while your phone is in your pocket, but I never leave my phone that unsecured.

you know what's going to happen when you want to issue a command? every single siri compatible device from, iphones to ipads to perhaps even macs now will ding and all in unison issue various responses of "i'm sorry i didn't get that"

 

[kdarling]

What they do need to do though is give you a way to identify what you're talking to. I have a 6S and iPad Pro. When I say 'hey Siri' both spring to life and usually whatever I say gets lost in the two devices arguing with 'I didn't get that', 'sorry' or some other automaton domestic.

Good point. It'd be nice if either the devices talked to each other and chose who would respond, or even better if we could give them different wakeup phrases/names.

(On Android devices, there is a phrase separation which helps. The phone only responds to "Okay Google Now", while an Android Watch only responds to "Okay Google".)

 

[American Hero]

(On Android devices, there is a tiny bit of separation because of this. The phone only responds to "Okay Google Now",

My phone responds to OK Google.

 

[kdarling]

My phone responds to OK Google.

I might have it backwards

Or different phones do different things. Yikes.

 

[wigby]

Don't tell me they are going to do it better, their QA has gone down the *******s, their ever tightening dumbing down of features and the interface is infuriating and they are neglecting many of their former values time and time again.

What's mostly still intact is their industrial design.
The rest has taken major hits.

Glassed Silver:mac

Said the Macintosh customer back in 1984... You guys sound like a broken record. Every year it's the same comments.

Apple's software stinks.
Apple doesn't support the pros anymore.
Apple is only a consumer company.
Apple only cares about iPhones.
Apple dumbs down everything.
Apple cares more about form than function.
Apple is just a fashion lifestyle company now.
Apple is doomed.

These comments weren't original back in the 80's so they are getting really old now.

 

[American Hero]

I might have it backwards

Or different phones do different things. Yikes.

They all run on Android software in which the same widget is used on every phone to provide that functionality. The feature is put in the software by Google and not removed by the carriers and manufacturers. Every phone responds to "OK Google" if they have the Google search bar widget on their phone.
[doublepost=1464197225][/doublepost]

Every year it's the same comments.

I don't remember nearly the volume of comments about Apple's lack of quality software or hardware between 2007 and 2011. I think those who voice their opinions about how the software and hardware quality has gone down hill are dead on target.

 

[falainber]

Said the Macintosh customer back in 1984... You guys sound like a broken record. Every year it's the same comments.

Apple's software stinks.
Apple doesn't support the pros anymore.
Apple is only a consumer company.
Apple only cares about iPhones.
Apple dumbs down everything.
Apple cares more about form than function.
Apple is just a fashion lifestyle company now.
Apple is doomed.

These comments weren't original back in the 80's so they are getting really old now.

Well, it looks like most pros left Apple (and this forum) already. I fail to see how exactly your complaint is relevant to this particular discussion.

 

[Gix1k]

I love my Echo. Alexa has skills to do so much!

 

[iChrist]

"Hey Siri, request an Uber X" Uber.
"Hey Siri, translate "Good evening" to Japanese" Microsoft Translate.
"Hey Siri, order my favourite pizza" Dominos.

So much yes!

Dominos? lmfao

 

[old-school]

I read this https://medium.com/@brianroemmele/has-apple-lost-its-way-with-ai-cde76172a630#.143hcwtlg and hope there will be some major innovation in Siri or whatever it will be called at WWDC.

 

[kiranmk2]

Hope they get the wake-up action a bit better than the current offering. With my 6s in my pocket, saying "Hey Siri" doesn't wake it. With the phone out saying "Hey Siri, what's the weather like today?" one of three things will happen:

1. Nothing
2. Siri will wake but not hear/process the actual question
3. Wake and give the answer

Sadly 1) and 2) happen much more frequently than 3). While I gave the example of weather this also applies to all the other Siri commands I've tried.

 

[LordQ]

Dominos? lmfao

Oh, I know, it was just an example

 

[iPhonetherefore]

I read this https://medium.com/@brianroemmele/has-apple-lost-its-way-with-ai-cde76172a630#.143hcwtlg and hope there will be some major innovation in Siri or whatever it will be called at WWDC.

That looks really good, here's hoping vocaliq is added to the mix to improve Siri, and much like teslas autopilot, as more people use it, it learns how to do better next time!