Subscribe

iOS 6 to bring Siri to iPad


Johannesburg, 05 Jun 2012

The pending release of iOS 6 will bring deep Facebook integration to Apple mobile devices, and will introduce intelligent voice assistant Siri to the iPad, according to reports.

A 9to5Mac report cites “trusted sources” as saying the next operating system update will bring the complete version of Siri to the iPad. The Voice Dictation feature was introduced to the third-generation iPad and to iOS 5.1.

According to the same report, Siri appears on the iPad as a small window that slides up over whatever the user is currently doing.

It is speculated that Siri functionality for the iPad may come as an exclusive release for the new iPad only. This would be for the same reasons that Siri was only made available for the iPhone 4S - in order to allow for Siri servers and functionality to grow at a scalable pace.

As yet, it is unclear whether Apple will unveil Siri for the iPad at its Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) event next week, or if the company will wait until September.

Another highly-anticipated update, expected to come with iOS 6, is deep Facebook integration. Until now, Apple has favoured Twitter as its social network of choice for its mobile devices.

Facebook and Apple engineers have been rumoured to have been working on iOS integration for some time, while the companies' executives have also been thrashing out the terms of the agreement.

Reports say the integration appears to be similar to the way in which Twitter is integrated into iOS 5. Features are said to include the ability to send photos directly from the Photos app to Facebook. There is also said to be a single sign-on section for all Facebook connected apps.

Another element that could be added as a result of the integration is the embedding of the Facebook “like” button within app pages in the App Store. This is anticipated to allow users to share apps directly on Facebook.

Last week, it was also reported that Apple would drop Google Maps and is finishing its own redesigned iOS Maps application - rumoured to include 3D functionality. Apple acquired 3D mapping solutions company C3 Technologies at the end of last year.

Share