Siri Gets Much Smarter as Apple’s Investments Pay Off

Siri Gets Much Smarter as Apple’s Investments Pay Off

Apple’s digital assistant, Siri just vaulted past Alexa and Cortana in an 800-question test.

Siri
HomePod / Apple

 

Over the recent few years, voice-controlled digital assistants, like Siri, have popular in our everyday life. For more examples there are Amazon’s Alexa, Alphabet’s Google Assistant, and Microsoft’s Cortana inhabit all kind of electronic devices.

When Siri got back in 2010, this digital darling was revolutionary, but other companies started to follow this new sensation. Plus, Apple didn’t move fast to adapt the artificial intelligence (AI) that powered its digital assistant. On the other hand, competitors invested aggressively and gained acceleration from the beginning.

Over the past couple of years, however, Apple has been working to restore Siri to her former glory. New data released by Loup Ventures shows that Siri is quickly gaining ground.

A comprehensive exam

Longtime Apple follower Gene Munster and fellow analyst Will Thompson set out to test the performance of the digital assistants. These are four of the most widely used smart speakers: Amazon Echo (Alexa), Google Home (Google Assistant), HomePod (Siri), and the Invoke (Cortana) by Harman Kardon, a division of Samsung Electronics.

The process of the test was asking a series of 800 questions to each. They observed how the digital assistants answered the questions which held in five categories.

  • Local: Where is the nearest coffee shop?
  • Commerce: Can you order me more paper towels?
  • Navigation: How do I get to uptown on the bus?
  • Information: Who do the Twins play tonight?
  • Command: Remind me to call Steve at 2 p.m. today.

Dramatic improvement

Siri took second place, and this was just right behind Google Assistant. Also, the report revealed that Siri’s score improved by more than 22 points — more than any other competitor. Siri answered 74.6% of questions correctly, and it is an improvement from the 52.3% tested in February 2018.

The report cites HomePod’s tight integration with Siri on the iPhone and its ability to access email, calendar, and messaging as contributing to its victory in that category. It took second place in three of the remaining four categories, but came in last in the Information segment.

Those investments are paying off

Earlier this year, Apple hired John Giannandrea to let him take the lead its recently reorganized AI, machine learning, and Siri teams.  Also, Giannandrea had got promotion to the  executive team, as senior vice president of machine learning and artificial intelligence strategy.

Apple has long been behind in the AI field, because the company primarily had rigid stance on user privacy. AI uses  large data sets but at the same time, involves transferring user data to the cloud. Apple has been trying to develop alternative ways. For instance, they can process data at the device level, which keeps user data more secure by keeping it out of the cloud.

This article is written by reference of: here

Slightly bent iPad Pro, but Apple says it’s normal

Slightly bent iPad Pro, but Apple says it’s normal

Apple said the bend didn’t lower the iPad Pro’s performances.

iPad Pro
iPad Pro / Apple

 

Apple has confirmed that some of 2018 iPad Pros have a very slight bend in the aluminum chassis. But according to the company, this is just a side effect of the device’s manufacturing process. So it doesn’t negatively affect the iPad’s performance. In brief, Apple does not consider it to be a defect. The bend has occurred from a cooling process involving the iPad Pro’s metal and plastic components during manufacturing. Both sizes of the new iPad Pro can exhibit this condition.

Some customers have claimed on their social media that their iPad Pros developed a small bend without any abnormal mistreatment. They believed it happened gradually in everyday use — or after transporting the iPad Pro in a backpack. And other were insistent that their iPad Pro came that way out of the box. Apple is now saying that in some cases, the latter is true.

This situation happens more commonly on the LTE model, as there’s a plastic strip that breaks up the iPad’s flat aluminum sides.

It’s where the antenna line divides two parts of metal, and some users have noticed a bend. Although some owners of the Wi-Fi model also claim to have this situation, but many are straight as designed. Somebody may consider this as a minor problem — not even a problem. But actually perceived issue matters for Apple, beacuse it has been known for its reputation in manufacturing devices.

The customers who had a trouble with bent iPad Pros should be able to get exchange or return their iPad Pro at the Apple Store or other retailers within the 14-day return window. But it’s not clear if swaps will be possible outside that policy. Some employees said there is AppleCare for this kind of situation. However, this system isn’t for just a slight bend which came with initially.

BUT APPLE SAYS THAT CONCERNS OVER THE IPAD PRO’S STRUCTURAL RIGIDITY ARE UNFOUNDED

That confidence shows us that this is not going to be a “bendgate” controversy again. In 2014, there was a similar problem with iPhone 6 Plus. So its next iPhone switched over to a sturdier aluminum. But then, Apple had some trouble dealing with that, eventually launching a repair program. So at this time, Apple might know that trying to assure consumers is important, telling the fuss is over nothing.

This article is written by reference of: here

 

An Apple Watch saved a man having irregular heartbeat

An Apple Watch saved a man having irregular heartbeat

When Ed Dentel updated his Apple Watch on Thursday night, he didn’t expect it to upend his weekend, much less change his life.

Apple Watch
Ed Dentel, a man saved by an Apple Watch / abcNews

 

The 46-year-old communications consultant from Richmond, Virginia, does taekwondo with his family three times a week, bikes and skis frequently. He said he has exercised steadily and had no disease before. And then Apple Watch gave him an alert about his heart irregular heartbeat with the electrocardiogram app.

Ed Dentel received an alert from his Apple watch about an abnormal heart rate. On Friday morning, over breakfast with his 7-year old daughter, he put his watch back on. And the Apple Watch kept saying the same thing even he switches left to right again and again: “AFib.” Then he started to get a little bit alarmed about his health.

Atrial fibrillation, commonly called AFib or AF, is a specific kind of irregular heart rhythm. If left untreated, it can damage heart muscles and increase the risk of stroke. So it’s important to catch the symptoms at the initiatory stage. And this is what Apple Watch did.

Dentel drove to a nearby urgent care center while thinking it’s silly. But the one last time he checked his watch, it said ‘AFib’ again. Even Checking in, Dentel felt like a hypochondriac explaining that his watch told him that his heart has a probem. But after an exact exam, the doctor confirmed his diagnose.

After that Dentel started learning about AFib and what its impact and how important it is to get an early notice of it.

This article was written by reference of: here. Click the link if you wanna know more about atrial fibrillation.

A new report suggests that Apple’s New AirPods will come in early 2019

A new report suggests that Apple’s New AirPods will come in early 2019

There are also rumors that Apple will redesign new AirPods for 2020

Would New AirPods be different?

There might be a chance to see a upgraded version of new AirPods in the first quarter of 2019. According to Ming-Chi Kuo, an Apple analyst, the demand for the devices will roar in the upcoming years.

Some rumors said that there would be the debut of the new AirPods during Apple’s product launch in 2018 fall. But sadly, it didn’t appear yet. In Kuo’s predictions, the upgrade rumor about “wireless charging support” could both mean an upgraded case or earpieces themselves. Kuo also says that the next model will come with upgraded Bluetooth specs and an upgraded hinge on the case. Of course it could be more expensive than former version. Also, water resistance and noise cancelation are in the expectations as well. This will make the new Airpods more high-end products.

Kuo notes that there will be an “all new design” for the 2020 AirPods, after the potential 2019 upgrade. He also reportedly says that AirPods are Apple’s most popular accessory ever.  So he predicts that the company will go from selling 16 million in 2017 to more than 100 million by 2021.

This article was written by reference of: here