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

[zeram1]

APPLE the new SONY?

Hmm, it appears as if Apple has been playing catch up lately on all fronts, and also has been putting out new items that aren't mega hits with the general populous. Therefore, is Apple the Sony of the 21st Century?

 

[MH01]

The article said Apple's been working on it since before the Echo was even released. As usual, Apple takes the time to get the product right and then releases it. When I tried an Echo, I was unimpressed. I hope to be impressed by another Apple product.

But Siri is the worst assistant on the markert. And each year we are told it will improve in rumours. If echo is unimpressive ,Siri is plain awful. I'm not a fan of assistants , but echo is damn good.

 

[webperfex]

Why is everyone complaining? Let them make it, who cares if it sucks. Just another product to laugh off. I personally think it will be awesome since Apple has been working on the software for years (Siri). So all they have left to do it wrap it in beautiful hardware.

But always remember, it costs $0 to not buy it.

 

[MH01]

APPLE the new SONY?

Hmm, it appears as if Apple has been playing catch up lately on all fronts, and also has been putting out new items that aren't mega hits with the general populous. Therefore, is Apple the Sony of the 21st Century?

Simple answer. Yes.

While TC runs Apple and penny pinches, careing only about the profit line and playing celebrity instead of being involved in product development Apple will continue down the path Sony took in its downfall to just a consumer company instead of innovator

 

[jeremiah256]

Three quick points that have been in my head since Google Home was announced.

First, how both Google Home and the Apple iHome handle notifications will be important. I want, maybe 10% of the notifications I get on my phone to go to my home device. The Home device needs to have a separate criteria for notifications than my phone, tablet, and computer.

Second, it will be interesting how or if Apple reacts to the cheaper hardware that Google has developed that Google Home can leverage. In the Google Home demo, dad was able to stream music to each room using a $35 device attached to, say, an alarm clock that has an auxiliary input jack, which can be had for less than $20. For every HDMI capable tv you are looking to equip, the Chromecast costs half the price of the Apple TV 3, 25% the cost of the Apple TV 4, and the Chromecast has the advantage of turning on your tv and changing the port vs the $70 Apple TV 3.

Last, but definitely not least, one killer app Google has that neither Amazon nor Apple has is YouTube. Two words jumped out at me as I watched the Keynote: "Show me". "Show me Alpha Centauri". "Show me how to change out a hard drive on a MacBook Pro." "Show me how to make a pecan pie". "Show me how to properly do pushups". If Google gets this part right, they win. I'm not saying they'd block Amazon or Apple from using YouTube if they tried to do something similiar, but Google definitely has the meta data and API hooks to make "Show Me" shine when using Google Home.

 

[kwikdeth]

Congratulations on showing your "Joint date". Is that the day you smoked out or something? You sound like you're baked based on how you're typing. Might want to check your memory while you're at it.

BTW, I do consider myself an expert.... Being a full-stack mobile developer (iOS, Android, Web). Just cause I don't flaunt posts since 2003 doesn't mean I don't know anything. Not sure that is something you want to brag.

well, lets see, there's the two people in this thread alone who are claiming Apple invented touchscreen phones

and actually, my post was backing you up. might want to check into some reading comprehension.
[doublepost=1464147898][/doublepost]

Then you start needing to define touchscreen phone.

The iPhone is the first fully functional keyboard-less touchscreen phone that anyone cared about and changed the entire cell phone market into the mobile computing market. So I think you can safely say first with a touchscreen phone. You could also say they were the first to make a touchscreen anything that didn't drive you up a wall within the first 5 seconds of interaction

now you're using semantics to back off your point. a touchscreen is a touchscreen. if you wanted to make that distinction you should have done so to begin with. apple did not invent nor were they the first ones to bring a mass-market touchscreen phone device to market. they simply did it much better than anybody had done previously.

 

[Crzyrio]

Why do they need stand alone hardware?

If they give Siri the same functionality across the Watch, iPhone, iPad, Mac and TV, most people will have a device than runs Siri to hand.

...and for those who don't own any Apple products, what will this new device do that entices them to buy?

Siri is not easy to use on any of those devices if your sitting across the room.

A standalone device would allow for a much better microphone

 

[Toltepeceno]

Clearly you don't interact with Windows very much.

I bootcamp windows 10 and its much smoother and faster than osx.
[doublepost=1464149435][/doublepost]

Apple Maps wasn't very good on launch, fast-forward to today and it is quite good, but good is subjective. The fact is Apple maps is what most iOS users use on a daily basis.

If its fact then of course you have proof to back it up, right?

While 25% of ios users use google maps, minority but still a slap in tbe face for apple and according to this article it's because of integration, because its still nlt as good. I agree.

*Not that the Apple Maps app is as good as Google Maps—the clear market leader outside the Apple walled garden. Apple’s mapping service still doesn’t offer mass transit directions (they’re coming this fall, but only in selected cities). And only this month did Apple minivans start driving the streets that Google cars have been photo-mapping for years.


It’s not clear that Apple’s maps will ever be as good as Google’s, given Google’s head start and its natural advantages in the cloud services that drive its business model.

But Apple Maps come pre-installed on the devices that drive Apple’s business model, and it’s the default for thousands of iOS apps.

Default, it turns out, is a powerful attractor. It may even be powerful enough to keep Apple in the game if, as Dediu predicts, mobile mapping becomes increasingly integral to its business.

Dediu believes that the dominant map makers will eventually have to pursue adjacent markets—like cars and transportation services.*

http://fortune.com/2015/06/16/apple-google-maps-ios/


Apple maps is actually beyond horrible here, unusable. The street we live on is not even on it. Google is still way ahead. Like the article says, it's used because its integrated.

I don't use siri so I will stay out of that one.

 

[IlluminatiMyMindSoul&Body]

IK,r?

#me2!

 

[krfr]

I'm definitely interested to see what they come up with. I'm glad to hear they may open up Siri a bit more.

 

[daverso]

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

Man, I disagree. The best products they've come out with are just modifications of the old designs that were from the Jobs era. The current MacBook Pro is beautiful, but it's just a slimmed down version of the 2008 MacBook Pro. The current iMac is beautiful, but it's just a slimmed down version of the 2009 iMac. Seriously, look at those links. Years and years without a refresh and the design still looks great.

The prettiest iPhone was the iPhone 5 by far. Compare the back of the iPhone 6 to the iPhone 5. It's not even a comparison.

The G5 Mac Pro is the prettiest desktop ever made, while the new Mac Pro is a plastic trash can. Apple TV is basically a smaller, black Mac Mini from 2006 sans CD drive. Look at the iPod nano 1st gen compared to the latest iPod nano.

If anything, I think they've lost their way in their product design.

 

[HiRez]

"Hey Siri, order me an Echo from Amazon."

 

[tennisproha]

Apple already has a great voice assistant device: iPhone with 'Hey Siri'. The best thing they could do here is massively improve Siri's voice recognition and computation. The worst thing they could do is release a stand-alone device. The only thing worse would be if they integrate it into only Apple TV.
[doublepost=1464152552][/doublepost]

The prettiest iPhone was the iPhone 5 by far. Compare the back of the iPhone 6 to the iPhone 5. It's not even a comparison

Best iPhone design they have was the 4. But this is all very subjective.

 

[RemE]

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.

Frankly I don't care if Apple is involved, I love my iPhone and watch but am really beginning to resent Apple trying to lock things down their way. And... If they kill the headphone jack on the phone per the rumor mill, and kill off all of the cool 3rd party hardware besides headphones that use this jack, like Mics, card readers, laser pointers, wind meters etc. All while still being able to charge, it could be the last straw for me.

But I digress, as an owner of several Amazon Echos and Dots I can say that having a somewhat open system is getting to be very cool. Add an Insteon Hub, Hue Hub, Samsung Hub, and Logitech Harmony Hub to your router. Use the iPhone to configure everything wirelessly.
Now I do all of the following things and more

"Alexa turn on the living room lights", or turn the lights to some percent to dim them. Having most of the lights named and connected this way is very handy.

"Alexa turn on the TV" (this triggers the Harmony Hub to turn on the TV, switch inputs, power up a Ceton media center client and up comes the TV with the menu of our hundreds of recorded shows. Should you pick up the Harmony remote, its touch screen menu and keys are already set to this DVR mode, like I'd pushed that button. I can't express how powerful this is, and with very little configuring. Just say turn on the Apple TV or DVD, or Stereo and the Harmony hub executes the macro commands and the remote's buttons change context to match that mode, all wirelessly.

Alexa, play Pandora, Play Spotify, Play iHeart Radio (a zillion radio stations).

Calculations, conversions, timers, the list goes on. I do much more but this is just a taste.

I'm living with voice control and it's much better than I imagined and FAR simpler to implement than any previous system. With Amazon and probably Google, this is pretty open which is key to home control as there are many best of kind add-on's that Apple won't ever bother to do.

Apple makes great stuff but their Apple TV which I have faithfully purchased several are nothing compared to the power of sharing these 3rd party systems.

My wife and daughters thought Alexa was a joke, now they use her every day. Most of my friends now have Alexa in their homes as well. The new small "Dot" with internal speaker and external audio out now makes a perfect bedside companion and home stereo driver.

It's no small wonder that these things are hard to keep in stock. As an Apple stockholder, please Apple you don't need to own the world, just make great stuff, that plays well with others, your war chest is big enough.

 

[BvizioN]

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

But you didn't answer his question.

 

[palmerc]

I bootcamp windows 10 and its much smoother and faster than osx.
[doublepost=1464149435][/doublepost]
If its fact then of course you have proof to back it up, right?

While 25% of ios users use google maps, minority but still a slap in tbe face for apple and according to this article it's because of integration, because its still nlt as good. I agree.

*Not that the Apple Maps app is as good as Google Maps—the clear market leader outside the Apple walled garden. Apple’s mapping service still doesn’t offer mass transit directions (they’re coming this fall, but only in selected cities). And only this month did Apple minivans start driving the streets that Google cars have been photo-mapping for years.


It’s not clear that Apple’s maps will ever be as good as Google’s, given Google’s head start and its natural advantages in the cloud services that drive its business model.

But Apple Maps come pre-installed on the devices that drive Apple’s business model, and it’s the default for thousands of iOS apps.

Default, it turns out, is a powerful attractor. It may even be powerful enough to keep Apple in the game if, as Dediu predicts, mobile mapping becomes increasingly integral to its business.

Dediu believes that the dominant map makers will eventually have to pursue adjacent markets—like cars and transportation services.*

http://fortune.com/2015/06/16/apple-google-maps-ios/


Apple maps is actually beyond horrible here, unusable. The street we live on is not even on it. Google is still way ahead. Like the article says, it's used because its integrated.

I don't use siri so I will stay out of that one.

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

Critical path / asymco, also don't f

well, lets see, there's the two people in this thread alone who are claiming Apple invented touchscreen phones

and actually, my post was backing you up. might want to check into some reading comprehension.
[doublepost=1464147898][/doublepost]

now you're using semantics to back off your point. a touchscreen is a touchscreen. if you wanted to make that distinction you should have done so to begin with. apple did not invent nor were they the first ones to bring a mass-market touchscreen phone device to market. they simply did it much better than anybody had done previously.

It wasn't my point. I have no idea why you're struggling to understand the idea that technology existed long before company X made it relevant. By making it relevant it becomes or 'invents' the thing. It isn't absolutely correct, but it is common usage. In truth, invention and discovery are very weak concepts that have little meaning in reality.

So, Apple invented the GUI in the sense they made it a viable product and in a compelling way. Sure technically Xerox PARC did the research and of course interacting with the world in a GUI paradigm had been kicked around in academia. They also invented touchscreen computing by making it useful and changed the entire industry at the same time. Again devices with touchscreen existed, even Apple's Newtons had one, but until the iPhone nothing was interesting to the overwhelming majority beyond engineering novelty and gadgety gadgets.

 

[BvizioN]

Not to mention, Siri is just so tainted to me. It fails at everything from playing music to simple queries to understanding me when I'm speaking perfectly fine.

Ironically, I have a quite broad Albanian accent and to my surprise it hardly ever fails on me. The only complain I have is that sometime it takes longer then usual to deal with queries. But I do get it that moaning about anything have become quite trendy on the last few years, particularly in this forum.

 

[palmerc]

As usual? If that were true Siri would have been in the oven at least another 2 years.
[doublepost=1464139871][/doublepost]

Blunted only in the sense that Apple Maps is used more than Google Maps just because it's the default app. Blunted in data? No. Blunted in search to locate the correct location? Hell no. Not only hell no it's laughably no. Attach laughter to any product that uses Apple "search".

You clearly don't like Apple Maps, but Google Maps has just as many issues as Apple's mapping product. I have spent quite a bit of time comparing and contrasting the two and editing issues - in both. The satellite imagery can go either way, the POIs can go either way, and in fact adding and improving Apple Maps is actually easier with mapsconnect.apple.com, Yelp, and the feedback system which incidentally now gets you email responses (takes roughly a week) from the maps team. Google's system for updating mistakes or deficiencies is actually much harder and in the case of businesses requires a postcard be mailed to your address which is problematic if your business moved more than a year earlier and they have you on the other side of town.

 

[thekeyring]

Siri is not easy to use on any of those devices if your sitting across the room.

A standalone device would allow for a much better microphone

I would disagree with the Watch and the Apple TV (because of the remote) however I get your point. It will be interesting to see how this works then - because Siri has never been audio only. If you ask it to schedule a meeting it will say 'okay, here's your meeting' and show you.
[doublepost=1464156375][/doublepost]

I agree with this. Also if I have Siri listening all the time I don't want to say "Hey Siri" or any junk like that. I want to say, "Computer"...and have it make the noise like in Star Trek.

When you raise your watch, Siri starts listening. There's a button on the TV remote. Your iPhone is listening and ready. ... Hopefully on the Mac it'll be programmable for you (like dictation is).

 

[drumcat]

Apple pulling a Samsung here? Oy vey...

 

[Col4bin]

Better late than never, eh Tim?
[doublepost=1464157352][/doublepost]

Because they were first to which product or market exactly?

I'm as big a cynic as any on these forums, but the 2007 iPhone was a revolutionary game changing device as far as smartphone technology at that time was established. (And please don't say Blackberry Storm or Nokia N95 as neither of those devices or anything like them were even anything close to the iPhone when it launched.) We're talking shades of gray here of course, and I understand your main point, but the iPhone completely disrupted and forceably changed the smartphone game back then by a gargantuan margin, sending Nokia into an endless tailspin and running RIM right out of the market.

 

[Karma*Police]

In the iOS space, I think you mean. Perhaps you're right. But I still no plenty that were and are completely soured over Apple Maps and won't switch back.
[doublepost=1464132795][/doublepost]


Well - if you've ever used an echo - you would know that you don't have to remotely scream. I can be in the other room and talk at my normal voice to ask "alexa" something and she can hear and respond.

If I have my bathroom door closed, Echo can't hear me from the living room unless I yell whereas my iPhone is usually with me. Also, I can practically whisper when my iPhone 6S is next to me to turn off the lights so as not to bother anyone. You can't do that with an Echo in another room. There's a reason why Amazon released a smaller, cheaper version.

And that's my point. With all these personal devices which are usually close by or worn in the case of Apple Watch, I don't think an Echo clone makes sense for Apple. It makes sense for Amazon because they don't sell a lot of mobile products.

Also, Echo's speakers are crap compared to good AirPlay speakers so I'd rather Apple expand Siri and HomeKit so I can tell any Apple device to play whatever song/artist/album on any Airplay speaker I have in the house which would be a far more powerful solution than another Echo clone.

 

[jsmith189]

If they can pair it with Sonos, I'll be in. Otherwise no thanks.

 

[Col4bin]

Ugh, I hate to be so negative. But yep, it's a little too late.

Not to mention, Siri is just so tainted to me. It fails at everything from playing music to simple queries to understanding me when I'm speaking perfectly fine. I just wish the Echo wasn't on constant backorder.

Not to mention Sucki has to annoyingly "dial home" every time you go to use it. Even for mundane device-level commands such as "speak-to-dial". No signal, sorry, you're SOL. The worst.

 

[Popeye206]

If it understands my Flemish i'm in.

If Siri can understand anyone's Flemish that would be a technology breakthrough! Tough language for sure.

BTW... Heading to Bruge today on holiday. I hope the weather is nice!