John Giannandrea used to run Google’s artificial intelligence division, but now he works for Apple. He’s leading the drive to make the company’s Siri voice assistant smarter, a goal many would agree is overdue.
This is the most high-profile move yet in Apple’s ongoing drive to hire more talent for the Siri team.
HomePod owners no longer need to be a developer to test AirPlay 2.
Apple seeded the first public beta of iOS 11.4 to testers today, allowing anyone who signs up for the beta testing program to play with some of the new features coming out later this spring.
Apple wants to hire 142 people for Siri-related jobs, almost twice as many as this time last year. Clearly, the company is serious about turning around its troubled voice-driven digital assistant.
Apple Watch owners can finally download the first big software update of 2018 for Apple’s wearable. watchOS 4.3 launched to the public this morning, adding a bunch of small new features and performance improvements that make the Apple Watch tick better than ever.
The first major iOS update of 2018 has finally arrived, bringing a host of new features and improvements to the iPhone and iPad.
Apple initially released iOS 11.3 yesterday just for the only available to download on the new 9.7-inch iPad Apple. Now the software update is finally available to all users worldwide.
Apple has promised it will fix Siri’s newly-discovered privacy problem in a future software update.
The flaw allows anyone to read your unread messages and other notifications without your passcode — even those that you’ve chosen to hide. It’s not yet clear if Apple will have the fix ready in time for iOS 11.3, which is already on its sixth beta release.
A nasty new flaw with Siri has been discovered this week that could allow people to snoop on your messages.
iPhone users found that Siri can be used to read new messages from third-party apps, even when your iPhone is locked.
This week on The CultCast: Siri sucks, Apple knows it, and Cupertino isn’t sure how to fix it … but there’s still hope. Plus: Our 2018 WWDC hardware expectations!
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Any time you slate a product that a lot of people worked hard on, you’re bound to get some pushback.
In the wake of a recent damning report, suggesting that Siri is broken, and has pretty much been that way since the start, Siri’s co-founder Dag Kittlaus has hit back at one of the article’s claims.
Music service Spotify has added a voice search feature to its iOS app that allows users to find song tracks, albums, and playlists.
The new test feature takes Siri out of the equation. With Apple trying to grow its music streaming service, it never allowed Spotify to integrate with Siri, including with Apple’s first smart speaker, HomePod.
Siri is in trouble. Apple’s AI assistant is way behind the competition, and a new report indicates that Cupertino’s coders can’t agree on how to fix Siri — or even if it should be fixed.
Anonymous sources, supposedly from inside the Apple development team, say there’s no strong vision of what Siri should be.
Anyone wanting to try out Google’s rival to Siri can now do so on their iPad: A version of the Google Assistant optimized for iOS tablets just debuted.
With the press of a button, the application will answer questions and retrieve information from the internet, but that’s just the start.
HomePod’s arrival makes the smart speaker market even more confusing for the average consumer. Amazon and Google are dominating right now, but HomePod’s closest rival is actually the Sonos One.
It’s in a similar price range, it’s about the same size, and both speakers focus on sound quality above everything else. I’ve now spent over three weeks with both the HomePod and the Sonos One to help you figure out which one you should buy.
Check out our comparison video below.
Anyone afraid that the robot apocalypse is imminent might head to the panic room now: Reports are coming in that Amazon’s Alexa smart speaker has begun laughing all on its own.
People who claim to have experienced this generally say they’re not interacting with their Amazon Echo, but it will suddenly begin laughing. Many of the descriptions describe the robolaughter as “creepy.”
Microsoft is working to bring Cortana to its Outlook app for iOS. The virtual assistant will give users the ability to listen to their emails, which will be particularly useful in situations where you need to be hands-free.
Siri kind of sucks, despite its increasingly prominent role in the Apple ecosystem.
With the general verdict on the HomePod being “great speaker, shame about Siri,” what does Apple need to do in order to catch up with its rivals? Here are six Siri improvements we’d love to see Apple implement as soon as possible.
Apple’s new HomePod is one of the best-selling smart speakers ever, according to new sales data from The NPD Group.
Not only is the HomePod killing it, but Apple’s new AirPods and Beats headphones are dominating the market so well they reportedly account for 44 percent of all dollar sales for headphones in 2017.
Apple is hoping to convince Android users to switch to iPhone with its latest set of short ads that highlight some the iPhone’s best features.
Five new ads were published by Apple this afternoon covering everyone from ease-of-use to customer support. Most of the ads are less than 15 seconds long and similar in style to the simple campaign Apple launched last year.
Watch all five ads right here:
The HomePod takes a lot of flak for being the dumbest smart speaker around, but it can do more than you might think. In today’s video, I’ll show you 20 HomePod tips you need to know.
(Just a quick heads-up: I’m going to be saying “Hey Siri” a few times in this video.)
When the entire mobile phone industry heads to Barcelona next week for Mobile World Congress 2018, there will be one notable absence: Apple.
Cupertino doesn’t do trade shows. Not even really big ones like MWC. Yet, despite its absence from the massive Spanish trade show, Apple’s influence will loom large over Barcelona’s beautiful horizons.
Here are five things Apple fans should look out for at MWC next week.
Apple is working on upgraded AirPods with a new wireless chip and “Hey Siri” support, according to a new report.
The refresh will arrive “as early as this year,” according to sources familiar with the matter. A future refresh, pegged for early 2019, will also bring a water-resistant design.
Members of Apple’s public beta testing program can already get in on the latest iOS 11.3 beta build that was seeded to developers yesterday.
Apple released iOS 11.3 public beta 3 today that brings a number of new features to the iPhone and iPad as well as a bunch of bug fixes. There’s also a public beta available for macOS 10.13.4 beta 3 available this morning along with the third beta of watchOS 4.3 for developers.
iOS 11 is Apple’s most keyboard-friendly version of its mobile software yet, but that doesn’t mean you have to hook up an external keyboard to use its best new keyboard-centric features. Today we’ll look at Type to Siri, which can be used whenever you’d usually talk to your favorite digital assistant just by tapping on the usual on-screen keyboard.
Apple’s HomePod arrives in homes today. It’s already sold out online, but if you’re lucky you might still snap one up in an Apple store. And you probably should, because the HomePod looks to be just about the best small speaker you can buy — in terms of musical performance, anyway.
If you want to find out how to set up and get the best of your new HomePod, or if you want to read a bit more before deciding whether to get one, you’re in the right place. Below you’ll find all our HomePod coverage: how-tos, reviews, tips and opinions.
There are boatloads of smart speakers out there, but nothing quite like HomePod.
Like many Apple products that came before it, HomePod is here to revolutionize an industry. It’s certainly not first to market, but Cupertino’s plan is to make all HomePod competitors insignificant. The new Apple smart speaker uses cutting-edge technology that delivers outstanding sound quality to do just that.
You can’t buy another speaker of this kind for $349. That price tag is not exactly cheap, but if you love music, HomePod should be at the top of your shopping list.