Rumours ahead of Apple's annual Worldwide Developer Conference in San Francisco next week suggest its voice control system, Siri, will get a new boost when the tech giant announces its plans for the next 12 months.
Apple is expected to announce a software development kit for Siri, expanding the technology's capabilities by allowing it to be used by third-party apps.
Siri is also expected to become available on Apple desktop and notebook computers, after Web site Macrumours published a screenshot of a Siri menu bar icon from a leaked version of OS X 10.12, an upcoming version of Apple's OS X desktop and notebook operating system.
Overhyped?
While Siri has recently spread to more devices - namely the Apple Watch and Apple TV - the voice control system is seeing a growing number of rivals since its 2011 iPhone debut, most notably Amazon Echo, Google Now, and Microsoft Cortana.
Amazon's Echo system, which allows the user to ask for information or control their smart media or home devices using their voice, has shipped increasing numbers of devices since its public release date in mid-2015.
Google Home - Alphabet's rival to Amazon's device-enabled system - is slated for release later this year, while Apple's offering to the voice-controlled smart home market is only speculated at this point.
Yet while many commenters have suggested devices such as the Echo pose a threat to Apple's prominent ecosystem since the tech giant has yet to produce a rival, a report from Apple Insider points out that while iPhone sales are likely to have waned for the first time in over a decade by the end of 2016, these sales continue to far outrank those of the Echo, as do sales of the Apple Watch, released in the same year.
Furthermore, voice control technology may take some time still to take off to the extent that enthusiasts assume it will. ITWeb on Thursday reported on a study that suggests most consumers are put off by the embarrassment of using voice-activated technology in front of others, quoting analysts who weighed in on why consumers may still take a while to embrace the trend.
Share
