Apple unlikely to develop an Echo-like standalone Siri speaker - report
Apple doesn't appear interested in developing a standalone Amazon Echo-like speaker utilizing Siri, as the company's vision is instead linked to devices like the iPhone, Apple Watch and AirPods.
Apple has "no apparent interest" in replicating the Alexa family of devices, according to Time's Tim Bajarin. Citing discussions with unnamed Apple executives, the future goal of the technology is to utilize Siri as an "omnipresent AI assistant across devices" rather than have a central hub.
The report comes close to one claiming that Apple's Siri will see another revamp soon. What Apple has in mind for the improvements are unknown, though the company did buy machine learning startup Turi in August, DigiTimes noted, citing market sources for the iPhone plans.
"Look at the core technologies that make up the smartphone today and look at the ones that will be dominant in smartphones of the future -- like AI," Apple CEO Tim Cook said in an interview in August discussing artificial intelligence company acquisitions. "AI will make this product even more essential to you."
Any Siri improvements would presumably be tied to iOS 11, which should be announced at the recently announced June Worldwide Developers Conference and launched in the fall, if Apple follows traditional schedules. The company is thought to be working on three new iPhones which would launch with iOS 11, including two modest "iPhone 7s" upgrades and a flagship "iPhone 8," possibly using a 5.2-inch curved OLED display made by Samsung.
Regardless of competitor's products current successes, voice recognition technology is only effective if it is constantly available, and ubiquitous. The Amazon Echo speaker, powered by Alexa, is tethered to a single location in the home, where Siri in the iPhone is not.
"No technology is as omnipresent in our lives as the smartphone," writes Bajarin. "And Amazon's high-profile attempt to make one was a flop."
Apple has "no apparent interest" in replicating the Alexa family of devices, according to Time's Tim Bajarin. Citing discussions with unnamed Apple executives, the future goal of the technology is to utilize Siri as an "omnipresent AI assistant across devices" rather than have a central hub.
The report comes close to one claiming that Apple's Siri will see another revamp soon. What Apple has in mind for the improvements are unknown, though the company did buy machine learning startup Turi in August, DigiTimes noted, citing market sources for the iPhone plans.
"Look at the core technologies that make up the smartphone today and look at the ones that will be dominant in smartphones of the future -- like AI," Apple CEO Tim Cook said in an interview in August discussing artificial intelligence company acquisitions. "AI will make this product even more essential to you."
Any Siri improvements would presumably be tied to iOS 11, which should be announced at the recently announced June Worldwide Developers Conference and launched in the fall, if Apple follows traditional schedules. The company is thought to be working on three new iPhones which would launch with iOS 11, including two modest "iPhone 7s" upgrades and a flagship "iPhone 8," possibly using a 5.2-inch curved OLED display made by Samsung.
Regardless of competitor's products current successes, voice recognition technology is only effective if it is constantly available, and ubiquitous. The Amazon Echo speaker, powered by Alexa, is tethered to a single location in the home, where Siri in the iPhone is not.
"No technology is as omnipresent in our lives as the smartphone," writes Bajarin. "And Amazon's high-profile attempt to make one was a flop."
Comments
Control of a fixed devices requires a fixed control. You never want to have to go find your light switch.
Unlike Apple, Amazon does not have a ubiquitous phone thus an AI assistant speaker does makes sense for Amazon. It's cheap and centralized.
For people in the Apple ecosystem, most already have an iPhone. If you also had a stationary Echo-type device and you invoke Siri, does your phone respond or does the Echo-ish thing do it, or do both, making things confusing? If you talk to Siri on your Apple Watch, (most of the time) your iPhone will defer and remain silent, because it's linked to the watch. The logic flow-chart for when to prioritize the phone or a stationary device becomes more complicated and problematic. If the stationery device always deferred to a nearby iPhone, it wouldn't take very long before its owner would wonder why they bought it. If it didn't defer, well why wouldn't it? You'd either have too many instances of dual response, or of the screenless echo-thing responding when you really wanted to access your phone.
A stationary device would also overlap with traditional tech, like the television or home stereo. If it's the only speaker in the room, it's fine. If not, it quickly becomes redundant, and in many cases inferior to the other available sources of audio.
So I can certainly see why Apple would take a pass at that sort of a hot mess. There are too many opportunities for such a thing to fail to 'just work.' It makes a lot more sense to have something like AppleTV and Airport combined into a HomeKit hub, with Siri control available through networked iPhones and (at the push of a button) the ATV remote. That's a better recipe for seamless interactions.
I dont feel like Apple has had a SW or HW hit product in years. Cook keeps rambling about how amazing AI is, please just shut up and prove it.
Anyone that doubts the the efficacy of voice assistants for the home clearly didn't pay attention to the holiday season and the momentum Echo has.
Siri is not omnipresent. I have 2 Google Home and an Echo dot and both crush Siri
Interesting. I think guests will be just fine manually flipping the light switch. Does anyone really want to give a visitor or even an overnight houseguest full access to all the things that HomeKit can control? I think I'm a reasonably hospitable person, but I certainly wouldn't. Presently, visitors to my home can have access to (password protected) guest WiFi, but not to my home WiFi network that's linked to backups, printers, security cameras, etc. To do otherwise would just seem foolish.
I might try an alexa dot. For $40 it seems worthy of a try. But Apple is not going to make a $40 anything. Unless it is a dongle.
Still, the Echo is amazing, which is why I now have them in nearly every room.
If you're truly happy with your talking Google and Amazon gadgets, why do you "fear for" Apple? This rumor says they aren't going to directly compete. Unless you think a talking speaker in your kitchen will somehow replace the smartphone and computer in the future, I think Apple has nothing to worry about.