Apple's manufacturing partner Inventec has begun shipping the long-awaited HomePod wireless speaker after the accessory missed its original December 2017 launch date.
HomePods are reportedly rolling off the production lines
Siri
Hands-on with the iDevice Instinct HomeKit wall switch with built-in Amazon Echo speaker
iDevices built an Amazon Alexa speaker right into their upcoming Instinct wall switch, and while we didn't get to try it, we did get to check it out, as well as iDevices other new products, at CES 2018.
Siri gets knowledgeable about tennis and golf
Siri has just learned two new skills and will now be able to give you basic information about tennis and golf.
Users of the iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and Mac can now query Siri about tennis, ahead of the Austrian Open starting up this weekend. Users can also ask Siri questions about golf, ahead of the Sony Open starting today in Hawaii.
Survey finds that smart speaker owners use their phones less often for certain activities
Having conducted an online survey of 21,000 people across 19 countries in October and November 2017, tech consultancy Accenture and Harris Interactive discovered that people with smart home speakers like Amazon Echo or Google Home use their phones less often.
Siri may someday detect the difference between a whisper and regular speech
Apple's personal digital assistant Siri may someday be able to detect the difference between a whispered and regular speech, as well as whisper back when you need quiet.
Siri ad starring The Rock was the eighth most watched ad on YouTube in 2017
Apple's ad titled “The Rock x Siri Dominate the Day” and featuring actor and professional wrestler Dwayne Johnson is not just one of its best commercials to date, but also the eighth most-watched ad on YouTube this year.
Apple’s Universal Search can now search across 1.3 million TV episodes and movies
A side-note in Apple's press release announcing today's arrival of Amazon's long expected Prime Video app for Apple TV states that tvOS's Universal Search feature now lets you search 1.3 million TV episodes and movies on your Apple TV.
iOS 11.2 includes SiriKit for HomePod
Apple announced today that iOS 11.2 introduces SiriKit for HomePod, allowing developers to extend the wireless speaker's natural voice interaction through custom features.
Apple updates HomePod firmware ahead of December launch
With first betas of iOS 11.2, tvOS 11.2 and watchOS 4.2 now available to Apple's registered developers, the company on Monday updated the HomePod firmware ahead of the scheduled December launch of its Siri-powered wireless speaker accessory.
New machine learning article from Apple goes in depth on how “Hey Siri” does its magic
A highly interesting technical article published October 1 on Apple's Machine Learning Journal blog has gone unnoticed, until today.
Apple employees testing Apple Pay Cash internally with iOS 11.1
Select Apple employees appear to be testing the company's upcoming person-to-person money transfer service with iOS 11.1, which is not available publicly at this time.
Apple Pay Cash could launch in late October
Apple Pay Cash could arrive in late October, according to a footnote at the bottom of the Apple Watch Series 1 webpage on Apple's website, as first discovered by 9to5Mac.