DigiTimes: iPhone 8 to feature enhanced Siri capabilities

Apple’s next-generation iPhone is expected to feature enhanced Siri capabilities, according to unnamed industry sources who spoke with Taiwanese trade publication DigiTimes. The report states that other vendors aside from Apple are likely to launch new smartphones featuring artificial intelligence features as a means to ramp up market shares in 2017, including Samsung (their version of Siri is called Bixby), Huawei, LG Electronics and Xiaomi Technology.

The report states that Apple’s $200 million acquisition of Australia-based machine learning startup Turi in August 2016 should help further strengthen Siri’s functionality.

“Market sources have also indicated that Apple’s next-generation iPhone devices are likely to come with enhanced Siri capabilities,” reads the report. DigiTimes didn’t specify whether an improved Siri will be exclusive to the next iPhone or available on older devices via a software update, which seems more likely.

Huawei’s Huawei Mate 9 will sport Amazon’s Alexa voice services as the company aims to compete with Apple and Samsung for the number one title with various advanced personal assistant features.

Meanwhile, the Pixel smartphones run Google’s Assistant that might be coming to LG phones soon, according to a recent report in the Business Korea newspaper. Meanwhile, LG’s upcoming G6 flagship should integrate Amazon’s Alexa assistant, which currently powers LG’s smart household appliances.

Xiaomi, often referred to as the “Chinese Apple,” has already adopted Google Assistant.

Xiaomi’s Vice President of International, Hugo Barra, is leaving Xiaomi next month just as the Chinese handset vendor has been working hard to expand its international presence.

The firm should at long last begin selling its smartphones in the United States this year.

And lastly, Samsung bought Viv Labs, an AI startup by former Siri founders Dag Kittlaus and Adam Cheyer, and is expected to integrate that technology into the next Galaxy.

Source: DigiTimes