siri

Siri's voice is probably one many of us are familiar with. Many iPhone users speak to Siri on a daily basis, but have you ever wondered where Siri's voice comes from? While these days Apple uses fancy machine learning and computer speech to generate Siri's tone and inflection, back in the virtual assistant's early days, her voice was based on a real person. We almost never found out who that real person is, either, and if Apple had anything to say about it, we probably still wouldn't know.

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In early June, we learned the ecobee SmartThermostat would be the first of its kind to offer integrated support for Apple's Siri digital assistant. However, when the device hit the market, support for Siri wasn't activated. Ecobee has now announced that the software update enabling "Hey Siri" voice control is rolling out to the SmartThermostat.

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Apple has introduced an expansive list of new features designed to help parents protect their children from potentially explicit and harmful material, as well as reducing the odds that a predator may be able to contact a child with harmful materials. The new features cover Messages, Siri, and Search, offering things like device-based AI analysis of incoming and outgoing images.

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Devices come and go, no matter how popular or how loved. Sometimes older devices are replaced by newer models, but there are also times when they are completely retired instead. The latter is the case for the first Apple smart speaker, the much-delayed HomePod that the company announced would be discontinued. Supplies of the full-sized speaker have finally gone out of stock but, while it can no longer be purchased from direct channels, nothing really changes for those who already own one, at least not yet.

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Soon after Apple's WWDC 2021 keynote today, ecobee revealed that its SmartThermostat with Voice Control will be the first smart thermostat device to get built-in Siri support. With this, customers who are heavily invested in the Apple ecosystem can use their HomePod mini and HomePod smart speakers to talk with the smart thermostat using the typical 'Hey Siri' command.

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Apple's offline Siri support won't be offered as a standalone ability on the Apple Watch, it appears, though watchOS 8 is shaping up to include much-requested features like multiple timers. Siri's ability to work even when you don't have a network connection was one of the highlights of iOS 15 and iPadOS 15, the new software coming to iPhone and iPad, at WWDC 2021 today.

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iOS 15 is bringing a number of privacy updates along with it, but among the most useful is heading to Siri. Apple confirmed today that Siri will be getting on-device speech recognition in iOS 15. Not only is this a big move for privacy as it regards Siri, but it also looks like it's going to be a big step forward on the usability front as well.

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HomePod users can now ask for music from streaming service Deezer, with the Apple smart speakers expanding Siri support. The new voice functionality works with both the original, discontinued HomePod and the newer, smaller, HomePod mini.

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Apple has a new Apple TV 4K with upgraded hardware, but if all you want is the redesigned Siri Remote then you're in luck. Addressing one of the biggest complaints about Apple's set-top box, the new remote promises to be far more user-friendly then the old version, and the good news is that Apple will sell it separately too.

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Apple is adding two new Siri voices, as well as changing which "gender" of voice is set as the default, in the latest iOS 14.5 beta released today. The update means that, for Apple device users in the US at least, their new iPhone, iPad, or Mac will no longer automatically set itself to the feminine Siri voice for English speakers.

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Apple is not allowing iPhone users to set their music service of choice, despite suggestions of that from the iOS 14.5 beta, dashing hopes that Spotify, TIDAL, and others might be given equal footing with Apple Music. It wasn't long after the iOS 14.5 and iPadOS 14.5 betas were released in February before people started noticing that Siri was expressing more interest in their music service preferences.

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This week Apple added a long-awaited feature to Siri, allowing a default music app choice for all users. This update will allow users to set a default music app when first requesting a play of a new track of music. This update arrives courtesy of the latest iOS 14.5 and iPadOS 14.5 delivered to users this week.

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