Siri is expanding beyond iPhones
Move into app universe will boost capabilities of personal digital assistant
Siri is expected to expand beyond the iPhone and iPad to third-party apps and Macs, a move designed to hike the usefulness and IQ of Apple’s personal digital assistant.
Analysts who cover Apple predict an expanded role for Siri will be one highlight of Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference, which begins Monday in San Francisco. Apple did not respond to a request for comment.
The Cupertino, Calif., company has a big job ahead. Even though Siri was first among digital assistants, it has limited utility and risks putting Apple in second-tier status when it comes to make-orbreak technology of the moment: artificial intelligence and naturallanguage learning that can simulate human conversation.
“Apple needs to make a clear statement — that Siri is improving,” says Jan Dawson, an analyst with Jackdaw Research.
The voice-activated digital assistant is used mostly to operate the iPhone, like finding contacts and setting appointments and reminders. But while you can use Siri — which also is in Apple CarPlay — to open up the Pandora music app, you can’t direct it to play specific stations, for instance. It exists mostly to call up functions in the Apple ecosystem or open apps.
When Siri debuted 2011, it was cutting edge. Now, it’s got company: Alexa on Amazon’s hit Echoconnected speaker and Google’s “Ok Google” feature used on Android phones. Google is introducing an Echo-like speaker, Google Home, later this year. Plus, Facebook has launched a platform for commercial chat bots that simulate text messaging with a friend.