Apple, Amazon and Google are all in a battle to create the next great breakthrough with microphones in order to make their digital assistants more powerful.
While machine learning and artificial intelligence are getting all the hype lately, few industry analysts say microphone technology will play just as key a role in taking Siri and Alexa to a new level.
The second largest ride-hailing service in the U.S., Lyft, has reportedly been trying to find relief from its fierce competition by approaching Apple and other top tech companies regarding a possible acquisition.
Are you one of those people who is forever forgetting where you left your iPhone? Now Amazon Alexa can help you find it, thanks to TrackR integration.
In a new wide ranging interview, Apple’s senior VP of internet software and services, Eddy Cue, revealed how the company fixed a lot of mistakes it made with the launch of Apple Maps in 2012 by utilizing data from the hundreds of millions of iPhones around the globe.
Cue and Apple software chief Craig Federighi sat down to talk about the troubles with Apple Maps, the difference between working for Tim Cook and Steve Jobs, Apple’s competition with Facebook and Amazon and learning from failure.
July 6, 2011: Amazon wins a landmark verdict against Apple over its proprietary use of the term “App Store” — opening up the possibility of other rival services calling their own app stores by the phrase Apple had helped popularize.
The case highlights just how central the concept of downloadable apps had become to the mobile experience, only three years after Apple launched its iOS App Store.
Amazon will host its second annual Prime Day on Tuesday, July 12, the retail giant confirmed today. It promises to be the “biggest Amazon event ever,” with big discounts to be had worldwide on over 100,000 products.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren took shots at Apple, Google and Amazon during a speech in Washington today, claiming Silicon Valley’s big fish are making it impossible for the small fry to compete.
“The opportunity to compete must remain open for new entrants and smaller competitors,” said Warren. During her rant against Apple, the senator specifically mentioned the unfair advantages Apple Music enjoys against its competitors.
After the speech, Spotify rallied behind Warren with some Apple bashing of its own.
A worrying flaw uncovered in Google Chrome makes it even easier for pirates to download movies and TV shows from the web. Google was made aware of the issue a month ago, but the company is yet to release an update that fixes it.
Spotify now has more active users than any other music streaming service on the planet, but when it comes to paid subscribers, it looks like growth has stalled.
The Swedish music streaming service revealed today that it now has 100 million active users — up from the 75 million it had last year — however its paid subscribers total hasn’t budged since March.
Apple is one of the top 5 companies in the U.S. when it comes to attracting and keeping talent, but its rivals Facebook and Google are even better.
LinkedIn has come out with its first ever Top Attractors list based on insights from tracking billions of data points of its 433 million members and discovered that in the employee perks arm race, few can top Google.
You won’t be forced to use Apple’s teeny tiny Siri Remote to play games on Apple TV much longer.
Apple is turning its little black box into a more serious gaming console with tvOS 10 by giving developers the ability to require a third-party controller for games.
We’re all stoked for our first previews of iOS 10 and macOS from WWDC, but according to sources familiar with Apple’s plans, it’s going to be Siri that steals the show.
The virtual assistant is expected to make the leap to the Mac for the first time, and could also open up to third-party apps and services — allowing users to check in for flights, book Uber rides, and do more using only their voice.
Amazon Alexa, the powerful virtual assistant found inside the retail giant’s Echo speaker, is now available in your browser. It can answer your questions and even control your smart devices, and all you need is an Amazon account and a microphone.
Details of Apple’s upcoming Amazon Echo competitor are starting to surface, and it sounds like it could be both Apple’s most futuristic and creepiest product yet.
The iPhone-maker is considering adding a camera to its Echo rival, according to a new report that claims the device will be able to tell who is using it just by looking at you.
Apple is planning to open Siri up to third-party developers and it appears that Apple TV could be the biggest benefactor from the expanded platform.
In order to better compete with Amazon’s Echo devices, Apple reportedly plans to update the Apple TV with more Siri features that will hopefully turn the device into the hub of everything.
The next evolution of Siri could feature a new Apple product designed to directly compete with Amazon’s successful Echo device.
Apple is reportedly planning to make a rival to the Amazon Echo, but the in order to compete with the device’s incredible array of features and services, Apple plans to open up Siri to third-party apps.
At its I/O conference in California this week, Google gave us a preview of the new Google Assistant that’s coming later this year. It’s like Siri, only it’s vastly more intelligent. It does everything you want a digital assistant to do and more.
And just like a lot of Google services, Assistant will be available on iOS — not only in the official Google app, but also inside the new Allo messenger. It will be competing with Apple’s AI in its own backyard, and the Cupertino company should be worried about that.
But can Siri catch up, or have Apple’s rivals now too far ahead in artificial intelligence? Join us in this week’s Friday Night Fight as we battle it out over digital assistants.
The fourth generation Apple TV experienced the largest increase in unit sales last year among streaming media players but it hasn’t been good enough to supplant Roku as the top streamer in the U.S.
Apple TV’s biggest weakness appears to be its price point. New research shows that smaller stick streamers made up half of last year’s sales and Apple’s competition reaped the rewards.
Amazon is already battling Netflix and Spotify and plenty of other content providers, but it wants an even bigger challenge. The retail giant today unveiled Amazon Video Direct, a sharing platform that’s taking the fight to YouTube.
Hollywood’s top filmmakers held secret meetings with Apple at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, according to a new report that claims Apple is planning to make a big play to take on Netflix and Amazon Prime Video by creating its own original TV shows and movies.
Apple hosted a secret ‘iTunes Lounge’ at Sundance for a number of invitation-only events for film makers, producers, actors, and other A-list talent to hear the company’s pitch on how it plans to create a ton of original content that will be exclusively available on Apple TV.
Looking for a new tablet but don’t need all the whiz-bang features that come with Apple’s pricey new iPad Pro?
Amazon may have just what you need when it reveals the 8th-generation Kindle next week. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos teased the new tablet on Twitter today, giving readers a heads-up on something wonderful coming their way.
Apple’s nearly three year legal battle over charges that it conspired with publishers to raise the price of e-books is finally coming to end.
This morning the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear Apple’s appeal, which leaves the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling in place. Apple will finally have to pay $450 million as part of the settlement.
As it turns out, Apple is not ready for some football.
The iPhone-maker was expected to be among a number of tech giants bidding for the streaming rights to 18 regular season football games this year, but it appears the company has decided to pass on the option to bid, figuring it wouldn’t be a big enough draw for the Apple TV platform.
The Amazon Echo has quickly become one of our favorite gadgets thanks to its accompanying digital assistant Alexa that makes it easy to do everything from ordering new laundry detergent to checking the news. Today the service is getting even better with two new gadgets that essentially split the Echo into two parts: Tap and Dot.
Amazon divvied up what the original Echo did by creating the Echo Dot ($89) that can hear your commands from anywhere in the room, it just doesn’t have great speakers like the original, while the Amazon Tap boasts great speakers for only $129, but you have to push a button on the top of the device to give it commands.
If you’re hoping to get your hands on an Echo Dot you’ll need to own an Alexa device (the original Echo, or a Kindle Fire tablet). However, anyone can pre-order the Amazon Tap right now.
Here’s a teaser:
Keeping up with the latest information on the current presidential election just got easier if you’re an Amazon Echo owner.
NBC News has created a new “skill” for Alexa, the Echo’s virtual assistant: Now Alexa can read you top election headlines, candidate bios, election calendar events, and even the latest delegate counts.
Let’s see Siri do that, eh?