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Apple Officially Unveils Siri Voice Assistant - Supports English, French and German

Following the iPhone 4S official announcement at its media event in Cupertino, Apple has formally taken the wraps off Siri, the new voice-based assistant Apple has been rumored to be building for quite some time. Phil Schiller kicked off the Siri demo saying he wished modern devices would understand the things we’re asking them. Natural language, normal questions like “Should I take an umbrella today?” or “Will it rain tomorrow in Cupertino’”. Siri will be able to respond to a user’s questions, and provide information and data in real-time in brand interface. The design looks largely similar to a mockup posted last week.

Siri will be able to check the weather, stocks information, find nearby restaurants and places, set alarms and even give you directions. Siri will also be able to send text messages and read them, which can be particularly useful if you have an iPhone in your pocket and using a Bluetooth headset.

Siri knows, and always remembers. For example, Apple gave a demo in which, upon receiving a text message, the user had to know whether he was busy on a specific day. From a single Assistant interface, which was brought up following the new text message, Scott Forstall had a “conversation” with Siri, asking it if he could schedule a meeting on Friday. Siri checked on the upcoming Calendar events, found a free spot, and “replied” a meeting at the previously specified time would indeed be possible. Siri then transcribed a text message, and sent it back in the original SMS conversation.

[images via]

Siri can look up words, currency conversions, email people, set reminders and calendar events, find addresses – it also integrated with Wolfram Alpha to check on information available on the popular online service. The interface uses a mix of linen – judging from some early screenshots – conversation bubbles, and textured paper objects. As previously rumored, systemwide dictation is also available through Siri.

Siri is a new feature of the iPhone 4S. The first “beta” period will support English (US, UK, and Australia), French, and German.

Here’s what Apple says about Siri in the official press release:

iPhone 4S also introduces Siri, an intelligent assistant that helps you get things done just by asking. Siri understands context allowing you to speak naturally when you ask it questions, for example, if you ask “Will I need an umbrella this weekend?” it understands you are looking for a weather forecast. Siri is also smart about using the personal information you allow it to access, for example, if you tell Siri “Remind me to call Mom when I get home” it can find “Mom” in your address book, or ask Siri “What’s the traffic like around here?” and it can figure out where “here” is based on your current location. Siri helps you make calls, send text messages or email, schedule meetings and reminders, make notes, search the Internet, find local businesses, get directions and more. You can also get answers, find facts and even perform complex calculations just by asking.

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iPod Nano Gets Update, iPod Touch Now in White

 

Phil Schiller just announced an updated version of the iPod nano. The new model allows users to swipe between much larger icons instead of the previous grid layout with Apple’s Multi-Touch™ user interface. Other notable features include the ability to track walks and runs using  the built in Nike+ fitness app without the need for the Nike+ adapter.

Apple has also added 16 new clock faces for customers that enjoy wearing the iPod nano as a wrist watch. The clock faces have a large variety including classic analog clocks as well as Disney characters that will surely be popular among young children.

The iPod nano models:

  • 8GB for $129
  • 16GB for $149

The iPod touch have some exciting new software features that ship with iOS 5 including iMessage, Game Center, Notifications and Wi-Fi Syncing to iTunes.

The iPod touch now comes in a Black and White model, and it will be available starting October 12th.

  • 8GB for $199
  • 32GB for $299
  • 64GB for $399

The iPod shuffle is also still available in a 2GB model for $49.[Apple Press Release]

Apple Announces iPhone 4S: A5, 8 MP Camera, 1080p Video Recording - Available October 14th

 

Apple’s Phil Schiller took the stage today at Apple’s media event in Cupertino to officially unveil the iPhone 4S, Apple’s latest entry in the iPhone family. As widely expected, the iPhone 4S looks exactly like the existing iPhone 4 model – industrial design with metal band in the middle, glass front and rear panels.

The iPhone 4S is powered by Apple’s dual-core A5 chip, which will allow for graphics up to 7 times faster. To demonstrate the 4S’ graphic capabilities, Apple invited Epic Games on stage to demo Infinity Blade 2, which will be available on December 1. In spite of the iPhone 4S’ faster processor and dual-core graphics, Apple is guaranteeing 8 hours of 3G talk time, 6 hours of 3G browsing, and up to 10 hours of video/40 hours of music.

The iPhone 4S comes with a new wireless system as well – downloads are faster over 3G with up to 14.4Mbps down. The iPhone 4S is a world-phone as previously rumored, integrating both GSM and CDMA technologies in a single, updated antenna design.

The camera has been improved: the 4S has an 8 megapixel sensor shooting pics at 3264 x 2448 resolution. That’s 60% more pixels that the old iPhone’s camera. The iPhone 4S’ camera has backside illumination, the new sensor will allow the camera to gather 73% more light, and it’s faster than the iPhone 4’s old camera. The new Image Signal Processor Apple designed will also enable face detection and 26% better white balance. Apple has compared the iPhone 4S’ camera loading times to other phones, and it turned out the iPhone 4S shoots the first photo in a second, with the second picture to follow in 0.5 seconds. Apple has touted the iPhone 4S’ camera as one advanced piece of technology producing beautiful shots, which can also be used for macro photography if the user wants.

The iPhone 4S does 1080p video recording with image stabilization and temporal noise reduction. Because the 4S is more powerful than the old iPhone 4, Apple has now enabled AirPlay Mirroring to mirror the display to an Apple TV (just like the iPad 2 already does), as well as video out. Read more

Apple Announces Location-based “Find My Friends”


Previously rumored to be an upcoming feature of iOS 5 and iCloud, Apple has just formally introduced Find my Friends, a new service to “find” the people that have opted to share their location with you. According to the presentation, you’ll be able to invite friends to share their location with you for a limited time, so, for example, you’ll be able to see them in real-time as they’re driving to your house; there are privacy options and parental restrictions to make sure the user has control over what’s being shared and how location appears on a map.

Find my Friends will be available when iCloud launches – October 12th.

Update: Here’s a lot more information about Find my Friends available directly from Apple. First, the proper PR introduction:

Find My Friends is a new app available as a free download from the App Store that lets you easily share your location with people who are important to you. Friends and family appear on a map so you can quickly see where they are. Find My Friends also lets you temporarily share your location with a group of friends, whether it’s for a couple of hours for a dinner or a couple of days on a camping trip; when the time is up, the sharing ends. With Find My Friends, you get a notification every time you get a new friend request and if you give them permission, they can see your location. With a simple tap you can hide your location. Parental controls help you manage how your child uses Find My Friends.

Apple has also put up a dedicated webpage alongside Find my iPhone, detailing the features of Find my Friends. The new app is integrated with Contacts and Maps, has a preference panel inside Settings -> General, and will allow you to find friends on a map, but also control how your location is shared, and for how long. You can choose to “temporarily share your location with a group of people”, and when a notification for a new friend request appears, you can accept it to let the new friend see your location. Otherwise, flipping the switch to off will hide your location. And about the aforementioned parental restrictions:

Parental restrictions help you manage how your children use Find My Friends. Controls are quick and easy to set up and require a password to override your settings. That way your kids can have fun — and you can make sure they stay safe.

Apple Confirms: iOS 5 and iCloud Launch on October 12th

At its keynote in Cupertino, Apple has confirmed the next major version of iOS, iOS 5, will be available on October 12th for all customers.

iOS 5 is the next major release of Apple’s mobile operating system for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch, bringing new features like PC-Free setup, iCloud, Notification Center and direct Twitter integration to iOS devices.

Update: Alongside iOS 5, Apple’s new suite of cloud services, iCloud, will be available for free on October 12th.

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250 Million iOS Devices Sold, 18 Billion Apps Downloaded So Far

Tim Cook reported at today’s Apple keynote that iPod sales have exceeded 300 million units, with 45 million of those iPods sold since June of 2011. Also reported was that the iPhone 4 now accounts for over half of all iPhones sold.

iTunes has also seen significant growth. There are now over 20 million songs in iTunes. The number of features in the iTunes store has also increased; iTunes remains the number #1 music store worldwide and customers have downloaded over 16 billion songs.

Apple has sold over 250 million iOS devices. Tim Cook reported that 92% of Fortune 500 companies are testing and deploying the iPad. Apple’s Senior VP of iOS Software, Scott Forstall, reported over 500,000 apps are now available on the App Store, with 140,000 of them made specifically for the iPad. 18 billion apps have been downloaded so far, and over 1 billion are downloaded each month from the App Store. Apple has announced it has paid $3 billion to developers so far.

Apple Announces New “Cards” iOS App

Apple’s Senior VP of iOS Software Scott Forstall took the stage today at Apple’s media event to announce Cards, a new iOS app to create a card on your phone, with Apple printing it, embossing it, and mailing to you. Users can choose between 21 different designs, and the app will support iOS 5’s new push notification system. The app will be available on the App Store on October 12th; Apple says mailing cost for cards will be $2.99 in the United States.

We’ll have a more detailed look at Cards for iPhone once it’s available on the App Store.

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OS X Lion: 6 Million Downloads So Far, Apple Approaching 60 Million Mac Users

At Apple’s media event in Cupertino, CEO Tim Cook just announced that OS X Lion, released on July 20th, gained 6 million downloads so far on the Mac App Store, a 80% growth over the previous version, Snow Leopard. Tim Cook has also reported the iMac and MacBook Pro are the #1 desktop and notebook in the US, best representing the Mac’s 23% growth over the last year.

With the fast adoption of OS X Lion, which is sold at $29.99 on the App Store, and the popularity of the MacBook Air, Tim Cook announced Apple is nearing 60 million Mac users worldwide.

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iPhone 4S Name, Images, Launch Date Appear on Apple’s Website

We’re only 30 minutes away from Apple’s iPhone keynote, but it appears the company has already started uploading material for the new iPhone 4S on its website. First off, we noticed the following banner on a Japanese retail page: [Thanks, Ady]

A rough Google Translation for the banner says:

iPhone 4S, appeared.

October 14, from 8:00 am to launch the Apple Store. To help you choose the carrier and rate plan is right for you. staff because it sets the iPhone, and is ready to start using before leaving the store. Learn more

The link to the image, however, can’t be accessed from the Apple’s Japanese website. As MacRumors also notes, there seems to be another image detailing an upcoming iPod nano refresh with new user interface and more fitness functions. 9to5mac has found images for the black and white iPhone 4S somewhere else on Apple’s website, showing an iPhone 4-like device with iOS 5 screenshots. Changing the URL of those direct links from “4s” to “4” reveals older promotional images for the iPhone 4, suggesting these iPhone 4S images are indeed real, and that the device will run iOS 5 out of the box.

Update: Additionally, iDownloadBlog has found another image on Apple’s servers, this time for U.S. carrier Sprint. Sprint has long been rumored to be getting the next-generation iPhone, and this image seems to confirm that Sprint will be a new carrier option in choosing the new iPhone model. You can find the image here.

Stay tuned for more Apple announcements at 10 AM Pacific time.