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.
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.
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.
This morning TCL revealed a pair of "true wireless headphones" called MOVEAUDIO S200. These headphones will cost under 100 (Euro) and look shockingly similar to Apple's AirPods. This is a bit a bummer for those looking to TCL to differentiate from industrial design already in-play, given their leadership with products like ACTV wireless headphones and the incredibly wild colors of the wireless headphones called SOCL.
iPadOS 14 brings a lot of big changes to Apple's biggest mobile device but it also has one change that ironically takes a small form. In the next version of iPadOS, actually also in iOS 14, Siri will no longer take up all of your screen when you use it. Unfortunately, previous beta builds made that advantage pointless since you can't use the rest of the screen anyway but it seems that Apple has finally fixed that in iPadOS 14 Beta 5.
Apple has long been trying to woo the Chinese market, its second-largest after the US, even going as far as making compromises it would not even consider doing for any other region. Given the tensions between the US and Chinese governments, however, the Cupertino-based company might feel like it's walking on eggshells. It doesn't help that it is constantly bombarded with lawsuits, the most recent of which could see it not only pay billions of dollars to the plaintiff but also temporarily halt the sales of almost all its devices in China.
Apple, unsurprisingly, led its WWDC 2020 press conference with the announcement of iOS 14. In the next version of Apple's latest operating system, we'll see some improvements to Siri, Translate, and Messages. The Siri improvements should prove to be very exciting for iPhone owners who make heavy use of the AI assistant, as the days of Siri hijacking your entire display when you ask her a question are over.
![Apple acquires Inductiv [UPDATE: Another Christopher Re group]](https://www.slashgear.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/machinelearning-1280x720.jpg)
A startup company called Inductiv was acquired by Apple to improve the abilities and functionality of their voice assistant system Siri. Inductiv worked with artificial intelligence (AI) to automatically identify and correct errors in raw data. Engineers have begun working with Apple, according to one report, to improve Siri's speed and accuracy.
For a company loathe to admit it may have made a mistake, you can imagine Apple is pretty eager to redeem the HomePod name. The Siri-powered smart speaker was meant to be Cupertino's retort to Amazon's Echo and Google's Home, not to mention a new foundation in the smart home. Problem is, things didn't turn out quite that way.
The COVID-19 situation has produced so much information, misinformation, fake news, and confusion that people are naturally at a loss for what to do. The biggest question on people's minds may be whether they are infected or not. In normal circumstances, seeing a professional is the advised course of action but health workers are already spread thin trying to care for confirmed cases. To help take a load off their shoulders, some, like Google sister company Verily, have created tools to help triage cases and Apple's Siri is one of the latest to be added in that arsenal.
The Samsung smart speaker called Galaxy Home Mini leaked in a release-ready configuration today tossing a jab at Apple's smart assistant Siri (unofficially, of course). The video comes courtesy of an unnamed source* who would appear to have been at a location where several new Samsung products were being shown. This new smart speaker will apparently allow you, the user to "make it say literally anything you want" - like what we see in the video below: "At least I'm better than Siri."
NEON is an artificial intelligence project, aka "artificial human" project from a Samsung-backed group called STAR Labs. This is not the same as S.T.A.R. Labs from DC Comics, and the artificial human isn't an android. Instead, it's more like a chat bot. Lots of jargon and buzz-words were shared today by the head of the project, Pranav Mistry.