The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday that Nuance Communications has been in talks with Samsung and private-equity firms about a possible sale of the company. The report, which cites sources with knowledge on the matter, claims it is unclear where sales talks currently stand, or whether these talks will actually materialize into a sale…
As a prominent iOS developer noted on Twitter, looks like Apple is actually toying with a standalone iTunes Radio app, as previously suspected.
In addition, Apple looks to be prepping new stock iOS 8 apps - TextEdit and Preview - as well as potentially enabling third-party Siri access.
Code hooks and hidden assets discovered in the iOS 8 Beta code seem to support these findings, largely corroborating much of the earlier findings by prominent Apple blogger Mark Gurman.
Note that this is no guarantee that Apple will roll out these features - that is, it will only introduce them when they're ready for prime time. For example, The New York Times previously reported that split-screen functionality didn't make the cut in iOS 8. With that in mind, it's fairly safe to speculate that Preview, TextEdit, third-party Siri access and a standalone iTunes Radio could be slated for the iOS 8.1 update...
Adding to the long list of new features in iOS 8 is a handful of Siri improvements. The digital assistant didn't get a ton of stage time, but iOS/OS X chief Craig Federighi did take a moment to run down some of its new capabilities.
In iOS 8, Siri will be able to handle dictation—where you talk, it types—in 22 new languages (not sure which ones yet, but will obviously be available on Apple.com soon), and will feature Shazam ID technology for identifying songs...
One of my favorite things about Android is the "OK Google" command that allows you to perform quick voice searches on a whim. Now iPhone users can (sort of) join in on the fun.
OkSiri is a brand new jailbreak tweak that brings always-on voice recognition to iOS 7 devices. Have a look at our video walkthrough inside for a demonstration of how it works.
Apple on April Fool's Day released iOS 7.1 with CarPlay, Siri/Touch ID improvements and more.
As part of the launch, the company has posted the final version of the official iOS 7.1 software development kit (SDK) that programmers use to take advantage of new features.
Enthusiasts frequently comb through iOS code in search of leads that would indicate upcoming new features or devices and iOS 7.1 SDK is no exception. In fact, eagled-eyed fans have spotted a couple interesting references in the iOS code possibly pointing at Apple's digital personal assistant coming to Apple TV boxes...
Siri within iOS 7 can be limited sometimes, thanks to Apple's "walled garden", but a new tool called GoogolPlex wants to change that by opening the voice assistant to new commands.
Self described as the "App Store for Siri", GoogolPlex opens Siri to work with Spotify, Philips Hue, the Nest Thermostat and more, just by an iOS user changing a few proxy settings...
Just a day after Microsoft unveiled its digital assistant 'Cortana' to rave reviews, news has surfaced that Apple has been making moves to bring its own assistant up to speed. TechCrunch is reporting this morning that the Cupertino company has purchased speech recognition firm Novauris, and the group is now working on the Siri team.
Novauris is highly-regarded in the world of speech recognition. Founded in March 2002 by well-known speech researchers and ex Dragon Systems engineers, the firm's technology is used in a variety of products by companies like Verizon Wireless, Panasonic, Alpine and BMW, and can be operated in both the embedded and server space...
It's been nearly three years since Apple unveiled Siri on its iPhone 4s, and Microsoft finally has its answer to the digital assistant: Cortana. Named after a virtual character in the company's popular Halo gaming franchise, the feature is powered by Bing and offers a mix of Google Now-ish and Siri-like characteristics.
We first got a glimpse of Cortana earlier this year courtesy of a developer leak, but Microsoft officially unveiled her this morning at its Build Developer Conference in San Francisco. The assistant will ship alongside several other new features in the Windows Phone 8.1 update, expected to launch in the next few months...
Siri is a personal assistant feature found on the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, that allows you to use your voice to control your device. You can use Siri to send messages, emails, tweets, and more. You can also use Siri to get movie showtimes, sports scores and times, make dinner reservations, etc.
The great thing about Siri is that it doesn't require you to look at your device's screen in order to interface with it. And Siri is smart enough to consider your location along with the context of your commands and conversations. By doing so, Siri can respond intelligently to your requests.
Inside, we'll teach you some of the history of Siri and show you some of its basic usage features. We'll then present to you with an exhaustive list of voice commands, and discuss Siri's dictation features. Check inside for all of the details...
According to a new report by The Information, a technology blog former WSJ writer Jessica Lessin started recently, Apple will open up Siri to third-party developers.
Such a move would let folks use the smart personal assistant to control their favorite apps. The development is believed to be closely tied to Apple's work on its rumored wearable project, the iWatch.
This would mark a significant advancement for Siri, which since its October 2011 inception has been expected to allow for spoken commands and interactions in third-party iPhone and iPad applications...
After Volvo yesterday posted a nice hands-on video highlighting Apple's newly launched in-car system dubbed CarPlay (previously known as iOS in the Car), Mercedes-Benz (one of the three CarPlay launch partners) has posted a video tour of its own which gives us a hands-on demo of CarPlay in its new C-Class and showcases real-world Siri integration.
The clip depicts a driver using Siri to get visual directions with a little help from Apple Maps and using a dedicated hardware button to interact with Apple's smart voice assistant. As previously stated, CarPlay does not allow for third-party mapping apps such as Google Maps...
The Windows giant Microsoft will be introducing its upcoming Windows Phone 8.1 update at the Build conference next month.
With it comes Cortana, a Microsoft-branded personal digital assistant that includes functionality provided by Apple's Siri and Google's Google Now voice-activated assistants.
It also has a few nice features not provided by Apple so perhaps competition from Microsoft (and Google) will prompt the iPhone maker to roll out new Siri features sooner than later. The Verge has an exclusive look at Cortana's interface and some of its features, here are the highlights...