Category Archives: News

News

Apple’s acquisition of VocalIQ: Siri improvements on the way

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Apple have quietly acquired an artificial intelligence-based, self-learning, voice recognition startup, VocalIQ. Based in Cambridge in the UK, VocalIQ has put ten years of research and development into their intelligent API. Apple most likely will use this API, that learns from your language usage and semantics, to increase the functionality of voice assistant Siri. Whilst Siri is in dire need of improvement before being accepted as a fully-functioning virtual assistant, Apple’s VocalIQ acquisition is also set to be used across a wide range of other applications.

Bright Future Ahead

Apple’s not-so-secret automotive project, code name Titan, should benefit greatly from this new speech recognition technology. According to Forbes, VocalIQ had already been working with General Motors in 2014 on the integration of voice commands with existing and future automobiles. When considering that VocalIQ learns from all interactions, all recorded voice samples, it should be safe to say that big advancements to Siri are on their way! Apple’s voice-activated assistant currently receives a billion voice requests in a week, this data is sure to be invaluable to their new API. VocalIQ have supplied Apple with an API that is set to develop rapidly, thanks to its contextual learning capabilities. The sheer volume of data that Apple is sure to feed into their new API will hopefully bring breakthrough developments in voice recognition.

siri-apple-vocaliq

Global Advancement in Voice Recognition

Enhanced voice command functionality can benefit many of Apple’s productivity boosting-devices. Although the acquisition was confirmed by a statement in the Financial Times, no other official statements have been made from Apple, as is the case with most of their acquisitions. Despite the lack of information available regarding future plans for the VocalIQ API, one thing is for certain. Should Apple successfully engineer fully-functional voice recognition in pain-and-effort free manner, the way we use our devices will change completely on a global scale.

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Apple lands 777,000 square foot Central Expressway Campus in Sunnyvale

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Apple Inc. has sealed a deal, winning them Landbank Investment’s new Central & Wolfe campus. This LLC planned campus spans eighteen acres and will have 777,000 square feet of office space, this is approximately as large as fourteen football fields. The mammoth complex stands at the Central Expressway and North Wolfe Road intersection in Sunnyvale, California and is set to be a marvel of the engineering world. Whilst the date that construction will begin has not yet been declared, the renderings of the new Sunnyvale campus are amazing to say the least.

Utterly Amazing Design

This curvaceous modern campus has many intelligent design elements in place. At any place within the building you will find yourself within forty-five feet of a window, and if not, within fort-five feet you will have a view of nature. This amazing new development is environmentally-conscious, having many “green” elements integrated into its design structure. Reclaimed water will be used for irrigation, whilst the roof provides roughly 90,000 square feet of space to be utilized for plants and nature. Solar panels are also planned to be mounted to the roof of Apple’s new campus. Not only will Apple’s new “spaceship-esque “ complex be technologically advanced and magnificent to see, but its impact on the environment is non-detrimental. Green developments have been at the forefront of Apple’s recent  expansion and this awe-inspiring complex aims to excel in all regards.

Apple Sunnyvale Campus Overview
Apple Sunnyvale Campus Overview

An Icon of Green-Conscious Living

According The Silicon Valley Business Journal, Apple has most likely leased the project, with this transaction being seen as indicative of Apple’s massive expansion across recent months. Apple recently purchased land to the value of over $300 million  in north San Jose, this being amidst their currently development Apple Campus 2 at a cost of over $160 million! Apple appears to be acquiring land at a rapid rate and this Central Expressway campus stands to be a testament to Green construction and an icon of Silicon Valley.

 

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Apple iRing – New patent for smart ring

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Apple certainly leads innovation through the creation of smart devices, as has been recently seen through WatchOS 2.0. Now that the Apple Watch has reached a peak of development, their R&D team have their gaze focused upon an intelligent ring! Patents for the iRing reveal a smart ring that is capable of similar functionality and performance, to that of your iPhone! Whether we, the consumer, will see this unique device anytime soon is left to be seen, with many of Apple’s patents never reaching production. What have in the pipeline is however enough to peak interest, and leave many hoping for the arriving of the Apple iRing.

Details of the Patent Application

Apple’s Patent Application details a ring featuring a finger-mounted touch-screen, multiple processors, memory, built-in GPS microphone, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi network devices and a biometrics sensor, all of which hold extensive capabilities. The patent highlights hand writing recognition, voice commands and even wireless charging. Wireless charging functionality looks to have interesting implementations planned as can be seen in Apple’s patent application:

“ In other embodiments, the wireless power source is incorporated or integrated into an object or item upon which the user would place his or her hands on, or hold, for performing some other task, such as the steering wheel of a car, a computer mouse, a glove… “

Apple Ring Patent
Apple Ring Patent

Many Time-Saving Benefits

Plans to provide remote control and access to the iRing via cell phone are also covered in the patent. It is clear that Apple looks to expand upon their Apple Pay platform as their patent also explains utilizing NFC chip-set capabilities. Mobile payments are not the only planned benefit provided by the iRing, NFC functionality may provide user recognition to home appliances such as fridges, seen in this patent. Detailed biometrics are also planned, giving this intelligent ring the capability to deport heart rate details and more! Apple’s future iRing is a well thought-out technology that will bring many advanced, productivity enhancing benefits. A ring (that you cannot lose thanks to it’s built-in GPS) that enhances daily life more than a smart phone? I want one!

 

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Apple’s not so hidden car project, code name Titan

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Last week a few exciting Apple rumors circulated the internet. Chief among them was the Apple car (code-named Project Titan) discussion, sparked from a Guardian exposé documenting Apple’s securing of facilities to test self-driving cars.

Unfortunately, it’s unlikely that a self-driving/electric Apple car would be in production soon, and very possible that Apple is indeed working on a car-related project like a car software platform, or other technologies to sell to carmakers.

However, there are a few indications that Apple might be going full on into the car manufacturing business with Project Titan. The partnership between Apple and German auto manufacturer BMW seem completely legitimate and very serious. According to The Verge Apple CEO Tim Cook met recently with BMW and toured the i3 facility. Further, The Guardian reported that Cook met with the head of Fiat, and that Apple vice-president Jeff Williams said the car is “the ultimate mobile device” and also noted that Apple is “exploring a lot of different markets”. The Guardian and Bloomberg also reported on Apple’s acquisitions of Silicon Valley auto experts, engineers from Tesla and Mercedes, and power experts from battery maker A123 Systems. Bloomberg reported on Project Titan, suggesting that Apple car is unlikely to see production until 2020.

If Apple really intends to make a car, partnering with an experienced car manufacturer is a necessity. Car making is very much a “brick-and-mortar proposition” for the electronics giant, as Kelly Blue Book analyst Mark DeLorenzo told Bloomberg. Apple has poached the talent (reportedly offering 250k signing bonuses and 60 percent raises to Tesla employees), but making a car is a different proposition.

Despite the tech giant having the cash resources for paying talent and R&D, it isn’t a foregone conclusion that Apple will be a success at car making, if that is indeed what they’re up to. Just look at the Tesla crossover, the Model X. It first debuted in 2012 and is only going to be available to consumers this fall. With all massive projects things take time, and if the incredible rumors and reports about Apple’s Project Titan are true, we’ll wait a bit longer for our Apple branded electric and fully autonomous car.

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Is Apple considering becoming a mobile carrier?

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On August 3, in a now unavailable page, Business Insider reported that Apple might becoming a mobile carrier by launching a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) service in the US and Europe. This rumor got a lot of attention, because it would be amazing if it were true. Using an Apple SIM card to hop around mobile carrier networks depending on signal strength seems like a good business decision for Apple, and a good service for consumers. Apple, however, denied the rumors.

Apple already has Apple-SIM for iPads, which let Apple act as an MVNO, but has yet to expand this service to its iPhone. Although Apple has thus far denied the rumors, it is still very possible they may in the future launch a MNVO.

Currently there are many MNVOs regionally available, like Boost Mobile, TracFone, FamilyTalk Wireless, and many others. Apple becoming an international MNVO would be a serious move in this industry. Unfortunately, this rumor is still in “rumor” stage, where companies will publicly deny everything. Hopefully the Apple mobile carrier rumors will develop like the Apple car/Project Titan have, into real projects substantiated by more than unnamed sources.

Apple’s strong denial of the MNVO report suggests to some at The Verge that Apple might not be involved in becoming an MNVO at all. The usual response to a “true” rumor from the Cupertino company is silence.