iOS 6 gets official debut on the iPhone 5: Maps, Passbook, iCloud Tabs and more

Now that the iPhone 5 is officially out of the bag, it’s time to talk software. Apple hasn’t exactly kept its cards close to its chest in regards to iOS 6: Cupertino teased the software at WWDC, letting us in on the direct Facebook integration, the new Maps application, Passbook and “Do Not Disturb” in the process. Today the OS gets official, and Scott Forstall demoed the software on the iPhone 5.

Not too much new here, but the software is out of its beta phase and ready to ship. One of the most hyped additions to iOS 6 has been the Maps application, which includes Siri navigation, 3D building view and satellite imagery. In Safari, there’s now a full-screen mode and you’ll be able to share tabs from your desktop with your phone (dubbed iCloud Tabs). We’re also seeing Passbook in action once again, bringing up a plane ticket at the lockscreen when you get to the airport, for example. One new thing here: Delta is confirmed as a partner for this digital ticket service.

As we’ve already known, on the Siri front you can bring up sports ranking and Rotten Tomatoes movie ratings via the voice assistant. And, of course, one of the most welcome new features is FaceTime over cellular — no mention of whether that will be supported on all carriers, but it certainly looks that way. iOS 6 will be available on September 19th (also when the iPhone 5 will go on sale), and it’s coming to the iPhone 4S, iPhone 4, new iPad, iPad 2 and iPod touch.

Gallery: iOS 6 Siri

Check out all the coverage at our iPhone 2012 event hub!

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iOS 6 gets official debut on the iPhone 5: Maps, Passbook, iCloud Tabs and more originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 12 Sep 2012 13:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Adam Cheyer, Siri’s co-creator bids Apple adieu

Without Adam Cheyer, there would be no Siri. At least, Adam was the chief technical architect of Siri, Apple’s virtual personal assistant technology that debuted in the iPhone 4S so you know that he has a pretty big part to play in the development of Siri that millions of people have come to use and depend on today. According to Cheyer, “I left Apple for personal reasons some time ago.” and Apple has confirmed that Cheyer is no longer under Cupertino’s payroll.

So what is Cheyer up to these days? Probably just resting and taking a break from it all, as he has yet to take up a position with another company while claiming that he has no future plans for the moment. I don’t suppose he ever needs to work any more for a day in his life considering the amount of money he must have made from stock options over at Apple, but you know the entrepreneurial types, they work for the sake of loving it, and not because of the financial rewards that tend to follow in most successful cases.

There will still be Siri in iOS 6, which will be the next operating system version on the iPhone and iPad. Will Cheyer’s legacy continue in future iterations of Siri?

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Siri API to be introduced at WWDC 2012 on June 11?, Apple Siri falsely advertised?,

Insiders claim Siri co-founder Adam Cheyer has left Apple

Bloomberg Siri cofounder Adam Cheyer has left Apple

It’s not uncommon for executives of smaller companies to jump ship within a few years of the business selling to a larger firm, whether it’s out of entrepreneurial restlessness or unhappiness with the corporate status quo. We don’t know which of the two (if any) is a factor with Siri co-founder Adam Cheyer, but tipsters for AllThingsD and Bloomberg still say that he left Apple in June to “pursue other projects.” The reported departure follows that of Dag Kittlaus, who quit Apple a year earlier, and should leave the Siri team without the brunt of its early leadership two years after Apple bought the company. Although the impact is uncertain, this doesn’t necessarily mean Apple’s version of Siri is at risk: along with holding on to any remaining Siri staff, Cupertino will have had a long time to familiarize itself with the code. We’d also take it all with a grain of salt. Apple has declined to comment, and Cheyer’s LinkedIn profile still shows him as an Apple employee. Whatever’s the truth, the rumor’s sources don’t have the best timing.

[Image credit: Araya Diaz for TechCrunch, Flickr]

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Insiders claim Siri co-founder Adam Cheyer has left Apple originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 11 Sep 2012 21:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple Is Mixing Up Speech Recognition and Sound Processing in the iPhone 5 [IPhone]

Audience, the company responsible for developing the EarSmart technology which power’s Siri, has announced that Apple is “unlikely” to use the system in the next-generation iPhone. More »

IBM debuts new mainframe computer as it eyes a more mobile Watson

IBM debuts new mainframe computers as it eyes a more mobile Watson

Those looking for a juxtaposition of IBM’s past and future needn’t look much further than two bits of news out of the company this week. The first comes with IBM’s announcement of its new zEnterprise EC12 25 mainframe server — a class of computer that may be a thing of the past in some places, but which still serves a fairly broad range of companies. In addition to an appearance that lives up to the “mainframe” moniker, this one promises 25 percent more performance per core than its predecessor and 50 percent more capacity. The second bit of news involves Watson, the company’s AI effort that rose to fame on Jeopardy! and has since gone on to find a number of new roles. As Bloomberg reports, one of its next steps may be to take on Siri in the smartphone space. While there’s no indication of a broader consumer product, IBM sees a range of possible applications for a mobile Watson in business and enterprise — even, for instance, giving farmers the ability to ask when they should plant their crops. Before that happens, though, IBM says it needs to give Watson more “senses” in order to respond to real-world input like image recognition — not to mention learn all it can about any given subject.

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IBM debuts new mainframe computer as it eyes a more mobile Watson originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 29 Aug 2012 12:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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IBM’s Watson is a genius compared to siri


When Apple launched iPhone 4S with the voice-based personal assistant Siri, the world was mesmerized by the idea of Siri and this has popularized the concept of digital voice-activated assistant – in the real world, Siri wasn’t so hot (check our iPhone 4S review), but this is another story… Since then, many other vendors, such as Samsung, have tried to leverage their own voice-based assistants, but Siri is still considered the top-of-the-list by many.

However, that may change soon now. Compared to Siri, IBM’s Watson artificial intelligence system is a rather mega-project which has been designed to crunch massive amounts of data and act on them. Watson made a name for itself by winning the Jeopardy! TV show. Apparently, it can now answer voice questions too. (more…)

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Apple sued again in China, this time over Siri, IBM bans Siri on internal networks due to privacy concerns,

Siri’s Grandfather Is One Creepy Old Man [Video]

Even Apple’s Siri, arguably the cutting-edge of synthesized computer voices, sounds incredibly fake. To the point where you’d think that field of research has only been around for about 10 years. But shockingly it dates back to the 1930s—80+ years ago! More »

Google voice search heads to iPhone to take on Siri

Apple has agreed with Google that their Google Now voice search engine will be allowed on the iPhone in the very near future. This announcement comes this week as Google also revamps the rest of their search abilities with a new initiative for “one million users” to join in and allow the company to integrate their Gmail search results with their regular worldwide search results – this doesn’t mean your Gmail account it out for everyone to see, but does mean that you’ll soon have one integrated system for yourself. As for the mobile version of voice search, Google’s working with iPhone will make a huge splash on the Siri-loving fans across the globe soon, and very soon.

This step-up of voice-enabled search will be coming to iOS via the iPhone first for the big A, but will also continue to be developed for Android as well. We had our own hands-on look at Google Now, part of the Google voice search system, back at Google I/O 2012 when it was launched. This system is available on Android devices running version 4.1 Jelly Bean now and will more than likely be coming to the iPhone in its entirety very soon.

At the moment, however, it only appears that the voice recognition element of Google’s search engine for the mobile platform will be pushed. The Google Now element, being a rather enticing bit of software for Android users on the horizon, will be staying on Google’s Mobile OS for the near future. Below you can see the Google Nexus 7 showing off Google’s new voice search abilities courtesy of Android Community.

Google mentioned once again that they’re nearing “Star Trek” software for the future, but at the moment they’re still taking “baby steps” – this projection of the future coming from Google senior vice president Amit Singhal. Have a peek above at Google Now and prepare yourself for a whole new iPhone experience as the new device appears later this year as well. Google has been booted from the basic build of the iPhone in both maps and YouTube, so we’re expecting a full frontal assault from them in the software world for iOS in the coming weeks – Google made, Google updated.

[via Mercury News]


Google voice search heads to iPhone to take on Siri is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.


Google Now hits some rooted devices, adds topping to your Ice Cream Sandwich

Google Now hits rooted devices, adds extra topping to your Ice Cream Sandwich

If you can’t wait to subject Google Now to an epic interrogation of your own but don’t have access to Android’s Jelly Bean-flavored OS, then you may want to check out what’s cooking over at the XDA Developers forums. If you’ve got a rooted ARMv7 device with Ice Cream Sandwich and ClockWorkMod Recovery, it’s actually possible to start enjoying Google’s take on the virtual personal assistant on your smartphone right now. As usual, you’ll need to download the requisite file and partake in some good, old flashing action. Folks who appreciate having options can also take their pick between a fuller Google Now experience or a more stripped down version by hitting the source link below.

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Google Now hits some rooted devices, adds topping to your Ice Cream Sandwich originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 07 Aug 2012 22:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nuance’s Nina brings Siri’s smarts to customer service apps

Personal voice assistants such as Siri and S-Voice certainly help shift handsets, but their functions are limited in scope to what Apple and Samsung implement. That issue can be sidestepped thanks to Nuance, who have today introduced Nina, a voice recognition service designed to be implemented directly into customer service apps for iOS and Android. The service combines multiple technologies such as text-to-speech, voice biometrics, and natural language understanding, all processed in the cloud that helps carries out commands.

Nina is apparently the first voice assistant service that combines voice recognition with biometrics, enabling services and companies to implement the solution and potentially serve up information or allow customers to pay bills without ever requiring a password. In Nuance’s examples, users could interact with their banks to help find the nearest ATM, or ask more complex queries regarding household insurance policies.

One banking institution is especially confident in the new functionality provided by Nina, with USAA, a bank that serves the US military and veterans, announcing a partnership with Nuance that will see the new technology used in its mobile banking app. A pilot app is expected to be unveiled in August for certain members before full fledged functionality rolls out to all USAA members next year.

Anyone else who wants to make use of Nina can do so with the release of the SDK today. It will be available in US, UK, and Australian English, and Nuance says that more languages will be coming in the future.


Nuance’s Nina brings Siri’s smarts to customer service apps is written by Ben Kersey & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.