Why Apple didn’t include Siri in OS X Mountain Lion

(WIRED) — Apple’s latest OS X update, Mountain Lion, adds a slate of new features, nearly all derived from iOS 5. There’s one big omission, however: Siri, Apple’s voice-controlled virtual assistant, does not make the migration from mobile to desktop.

Now, technically, Siri isn’t a part of iOS 5. It’s marketed as the most game-changing feature of the iPhone 4S (which runs iOS 5), and Apple has remained mum on whether Siri will ever be ported to other devices — this to the pique of independent developers who’ve hacked the feature to run on everything from the iPod touch to thermostats.

Clearly, Siri is Apple’s most celebrated user feature. And, clearly, there’s interest to see it appear on other Apple devices. Indeed, companies throughout the consumer tech industry are exploring novel new user interface models, including voice-control and gesture-control.

But porting Siri to Mountain Lion desktops would pose several challenges. Apple was smart to leave it out of the latest desktop update, and here’s why.

Microphone logistics

Siri: Apple’s new voice recognition

Microphone positioning on MacBooks and iMacs would present technical challenges for any Siri desktop port.

The iPhone is designed to be held up to your face, and has a built-in mic that includes advanced noise reduction technology to ensure your voice is heard loud and clear, while street noise and the nearby guy shouting into his phone aren’t picked up.

In part, this is accomplished by using two microphones: one near your mouth to pick up your voice, and another near the headphone jack to identify and cancel out background noise.

Yes, your MacBook Pro has an omnidirectional microphone built-in. It’s very convenient for using FaceTime in conjunction with the notebook’s camera, or for the speech recognition function built into Macs for OS control.

The omnidirectional mic, however, doesn’t offer the same voice-processing sensitivity of the iPhone 4′s dual-mic arrangement. All told, Siri voice analysis would be far more challenging on a Mac computer, particularly when other voices or noises are in the room.

Granted, using an external mic, or even the mic on your throwaway iDevice earbuds, could provide a solution. But even though Siri is still considered a beta product, Apple wouldn’t resort to such an inelegant hack just to put Siri on Macs.

“Apple has been reluctant to put in features that require something like that,” Forrester analyst Frank Gillett told Wired. “It’s too fussy for what they like to do. Current speech-recognition products work pretty well if you wear a special high-quality microphone. What’s very clear is they need the mic on your face, right by your lips.”

Location detection

Siri is all about location-awareness. She wants to give you directions, provide local weather reports, and locate the closest sources of exotic cuisine. But desktop computers don’t include native GPS.

“I think the main challenge [in bringing Siri to Mountain Lion] would be the lack of an accurate location being available,” said William Tunstall-Pedoe, CEO of True Knowledge, which has developed a Siri clone called Evi. What’s more, as Tunstall-Pedoe points out, desktop computers are relatively stationary devices, so a Mac version of Siri may not even need location-awareness, as a large portion of Siri’s talents would never be engaged.

All of which begs the question, If a good portion of Siri’s functionality isn’t even germane to the desktop experience, why even deliver a port?

While MacBooks don’t currently include GPS services, various web services (like Google Maps) can figure out your location by using either IP geolocation, or by triangulating your position based on WiFi networks around you. These strategies, however, deliver location accuracy limited to about 150 feet, whereas GPS can peg you within 10 feet of your precise position on the Earth. Future MacBooks could easily include GPS chip built-in for more exact positioning, but for now, laptop and desktop geolocation capabilities aren’t accurate — or even that necessary.

Hands-free voice control isn’t needed

People tend to use Siri because their hands are tied, like when driving. Thus, “Siri, where’s the nearest gas station?” With Siri, you can find the answer quickly, and relatively safely, while keeping your eyes on the road. But these basic use cases just don’t transfer to the desktop.

“I think it is fair to say that the advantages that a voice-powered assistant give are stronger on a small mobile device,” Tunstall-Pedoe said. “PCs typically have a much larger screen and a keyboard and mouse.” Or, in Apple’s case, a trackpad or Magic Trackpad instead of a mouse, depending if you’re on a laptop or desktop.

Either way, hand-driven data entry is a familiar — and generally effective — method for using today’s computers. What’s more, as Tunstall-Pedoe points out, “PCs are also often used in environments where the use of voice would be awkward,” such as inside an open floor plan office.

Granted, if you’re disabled or injured, you could certainly make use of a hands-free feature. But in these cases, you would probably want a tool more robust than Siri. Which brings us to our next point:

Limited use cases

With Siri, you can do things like schedule reminders, look up restaurant and business information on Yelp, get information from Wolfram|Alpha, and ask general search engine-style queries. That’s not a large number of functions, and they’re not specifically suited to the desktop environment.

Indeed, why would you have Siri look up something when you can more quickly run your own Google search?

“On the iPhone, people want to do short things, like quick dictation and sending a quick text message,” Gillette says. The use cases would be different on a Mac, and not necessarily centered around short phrases. Siri’s capabilities would need to expand in order to handle these different functions.

Always-on data

Lastly, Siri needs a constant data connection in order to interface with Apple’s servers. Until MacBooks include a built-in 3G, or more likely, 4G data connection, WiFi alone won’t cut it for consistent, high-quality network availability, Gillett says.

Gillett also believes Siri ties into unique hardware features that make chatter between one’s device and Apple’s data center more streamlined. “There seems to be special silicon within a special chip that has capabilities for voice recognition that a Mac wouldn’t have,” he said.

Gillett notes that Siri is sometimes able to analyze a query and provide a response extremely quickly, while other times, it takes 10 to 15 seconds of processing. “I think the chip does some pre-analysis, shrinks stuff it has to send, Apple’s data center gets a crunched answer, and Siri displays it on screen,” Gillett said.

“Apple may be working on Siri-enabling features [for Macs] in the future, but there will be some hardware enhancements to go with it,” Gillett said. “And they’ll think long and hard about the use case before they implement a voice feature in the Mac.”

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Article source: http://www.cnn.com/2012/02/20/tech/innovation/apple-siri-osx-mountain-lion/index.html

Leading iPhone 5 News Website iPhone5Latest.com Launches New Website Design …

The site currently serves over 50,000 visitors per day, with a peak of 62,000 visitors on February 12, 2012. The site is currently ranked number one for the search term “iPhone 5″ on Google, and also ranks highly for several other iPhone 5 related terms.

(PRWEB) February 19, 2012

iPhone5Latest.com, the number one ranked Apple iPhone 5 news website on Google, launched a brand new reader-focused website this week. The site, http://iphone5latest.com, was redesigned to deliver the latest news about the upcoming iPhone 5 in an easy-to-read, more interactive manner.

iPhone5Latest.com website owner and Internet Entrepreneur Farzad Taghavi says: “After looking extensively at the analytics data for the website, as well as taking into account feedback and suggestions from our readers, we decided to revamp the website and its content. Our focus is on providing the very latest news and rumors about the iPhone 5 in an easily accessible format. The website redesign–combined with a constant focus on providing content that our readers have told us they want to see–helps us to do this.”

Since its launch in October 2011, the number of visitors to iPhone5Latest.com has increased exponentially. The site currently serves over 50,000 visitors per day, with a peak of 62,000 visitors on February 12, 2012. Monthly visitors are estimated to be around 1.5 million. The site is currently ranked number one for the search term “iPhone 5″ on Google, and also ranks highly for several other iPhone 5 related terms.

iPhone5Latest.com features four full-length articles weekly on the latest iPhone 5 news, rumors, and images. In February 2012, iPhone5Latest.com released exclusive leaked iPhone 5 pictures and specifications for the potential iPhone 5 in a two-part article series. The iPhone 5 Latest site also featured a week-long series on suggested iPhone 5 features by both the iPhone5Latest.com staff and the site’s readers.

The new site design showcases a bright and easy to navigate layout. Visitors can now subscribe to iPhone5Latest.com for daily updates on the site’s news. Integrated Twitter, Facebook, and Google + icons make it easier for visitors to share articles read on the site with their friends. According to Farzad Taghavi: “The new design and integration of the feedburner RSS button for daily updates has already resulted in an increased number of subscribers on the website.”

Taghavi added: “We plan on posting additional iPhone 5 features articles in the future, as we receive more information about the new Apple device from our sources.”

About iPhone5Latest.com

iPhone5Latest.com is the number one iPhone 5 news and rumors site on the Internet. Launched in October 2011 by Internet Entrepreneur Farzad Taghavi, iPhone5Latest.com currently receives over 1.5 million visitors per month. iPhone5Latest.com is updated on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays of each week with new information on the upcoming Apple iPhone 5.

# # #

For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/prweb2012/2/prweb9210740.htm

Article source: http://www.timesunion.com/business/press-releases/article/Leading-iPhone-5-News-Website-iPhone5Latest-com-3343833.php

Apple could release iPhone 5 in Fall 2012

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Article source: http://www.gamezone.com/news/apple-could-release-iphone-5-in-fall-2012

iPhone 5, iPad 3 rumored to feature 4G LTE

As 2012 is said to be marked by the launch of the two iDevices, analyst predict that the handsets are likely to feature 4G LTE capabilities.

According to Sterne Agee analyst Shaw Wu, the upcoming iPhone and iPad are bound to offer such technology.

In a note to clients, Wu said, “We are frankly not surprised as this is consistent with our supply chain checks inmid-January. As we had commented then, we believe the upcoming iPad refresh could be significant with notable new features including a 4G LTE wireless, beefed upprocessor, higher resolution screen, and Siri voice recognition.”

A recent report from the Wall Street Journal, which cites the usual “people familiar with the matter,” states that Verizon Wireless and ATT Inc. will sell an iPad 3 that will run on 4G LTE technology. The two top carriers both currently sell 3G versions of the iPad 2.

The report also speculated that the next iPad will revert to 3G tech, which doesn’t carry LTE, before the end of 2013 when analysts expect that 80% of Americans will enjoy LTE.

However, Wu estimates that the technology will help boost sales.

“We believe this significant refresh will likely help drive higher iPad sales and help further differentiate from arguably the only real competitor in the market, Amazon’s Kindle Fire and not to mention the myriad of Android offerings out there,” Wu wrote. “We are currently modeling 51million iPad shipments for CY12 and believe this could turn out conservative.”

As for the iPhone 5, the analyst believes the handset will likely feature LTE.

“We view the potential inclusion of 4G LTE for iPad as a positive and a good indicator that the upcoming iPhone 5 refresh in the fall time frame will likely include this key feature as well,” the analyst estimates. “We continue to believe that AAPL is positioned to outperform in this tough macroeconomic environment with its defendable strategic and structural advantages and its vertical integration.”

Article source: http://www.inrumor.com/in/technology/iphone-5-ipad-3-rumored-to-feature-4g-lte/

Leading iPhone 5 News Website iPhone5Latest.com Launches New Website Design …

The site currently serves over 50,000 visitors per day, with a peak of 62,000 visitors on February 12, 2012. The site is currently ranked number one for the search term “iPhone 5″ on Google, and also ranks highly for several other iPhone 5 related terms.

(PRWEB) February 19, 2012

iPhone5Latest.com, the number one ranked Apple iPhone 5 news website on Google, launched a brand new reader-focused website this week. The site, http://iphone5latest.com, was redesigned to deliver the latest news about the upcoming iPhone 5 in an easy-to-read, more interactive manner.

iPhone5Latest.com website owner and Internet Entrepreneur Farzad Taghavi says: “After looking extensively at the analytics data for the website, as well as taking into account feedback and suggestions from our readers, we decided to revamp the website and its content. Our focus is on providing the very latest news and rumors about the iPhone 5 in an easily accessible format. The website redesign–combined with a constant focus on providing content that our readers have told us they want to see–helps us to do this.”

Since its launch in October 2011, the number of visitors to iPhone5Latest.com has increased exponentially. The site currently serves over 50,000 visitors per day, with a peak of 62,000 visitors on February 12, 2012. Monthly visitors are estimated to be around 1.5 million. The site is currently ranked number one for the search term “iPhone 5″ on Google, and also ranks highly for several other iPhone 5 related terms.

iPhone5Latest.com features four full-length articles weekly on the latest iPhone 5 news, rumors, and images. In February 2012, iPhone5Latest.com released exclusive leaked iPhone 5 pictures and specifications for the potential iPhone 5 in a two-part article series. The iPhone 5 Latest site also featured a week-long series on suggested iPhone 5 features by both the iPhone5Latest.com staff and the site’s readers.

The new site design showcases a bright and easy to navigate layout. Visitors can now subscribe to iPhone5Latest.com for daily updates on the site’s news. Integrated Twitter, Facebook, and Google + icons make it easier for visitors to share articles read on the site with their friends. According to Farzad Taghavi: “The new design and integration of the feedburner RSS button for daily updates has already resulted in an increased number of subscribers on the website.”

Taghavi added: “We plan on posting additional iPhone 5 features articles in the future, as we receive more information about the new Apple device from our sources.”

About iPhone5Latest.com

iPhone5Latest.com is the number one iPhone 5 news and rumors site on the Internet. Launched in October 2011 by Internet Entrepreneur Farzad Taghavi, iPhone5Latest.com currently receives over 1.5 million visitors per month. iPhone5Latest.com is updated on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays of each week with new information on the upcoming Apple iPhone 5.

# # #

For the original version on PRWeb visit: www.prweb.com/releases/prweb2012/2/prweb9210740.htm

Article source: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2012/02/19/prweb9210740.DTL