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iOS 18 Siri will better understand people, events, locations – report

iOS 18 Siri report | Abstract image of brain on iPhone and MacBook

A new report says that iOS 18 Siri features will include a better contextual understanding of things like people, companies, events, and locations.

A new ‘catch-up’ feature is also said to be included in the AI feature-set, where you can ask Siri to bring you up to speed on notifications you’ve received while away from your phone …

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All of today’s generative AI is a beta – not just iOS 18

All generative AI is a beta | AI apps on an iPhone

Mark Gurman’s latest newsletter suggests that Apple may choose to label the AI features in iOS 18 as a beta or preview, similar to the way the company labelled Siri when it launched.

Gurman’s piece has a lot of impressive details about Apple’s plans for iOS 18, from customizable icon colours to AI-generated personal emoji. But it also contains a criticism I feel is unwarranted …

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Secret meeting between Apple and TSMC reported, possibly to reserve all 2nm capacity

Secret meeting between Apple and TSMC reported | Chip schematic shown

A new report says that there was a “secret meeting” between Apple chief operating officer Jeff Williams and the company’s exclusive chipmaker TSMC.

It’s being speculated that the meeting may have been to agree a deal for Apple to reserve all of TSMC’s 2nm capacity, in the same way it reportedly did with 3nm tech …

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What Meta glasses lack is what most excites me about Apple Glasses

Meta Smart Glasses Ray Ban

When I tried Ray-Ban Meta glasses last week, I described the AI features as largely a gimmick at this point, but still making me feel excited for a future Apple Glasses product.

Several commenters noted that the glasses do somewhat better when given follow-up questions, and I tried out this feature on another walk, to reveal a mix of hits and misses. But what’s really missing at present is integration …

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Amazing iPad AI tutor demo points to an incredible new world for students

iPad AI tutor demo | GPT-4o

If you haven’t yet watched yesterday’s OpenAI event, I highly recommend doing so. The headline news was that the latest GPT-4o model works seamlessly with any combination of text, audio, and video.

That includes the ability to ‘show’ the GPT-4o app a screen recording you are taking of another app – and it’s this capability the company showed off with a pretty incredible iPad AI tutor demo …

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Stanford tech may help the transition from Vision Pro to Apple Glasses

Vision Pro to Apple Glasses | Stanford holographic AR glasses

While an expensive, bulky Vision Pro headset undoubtedly has its place for some, Apple’s longer-term goal is believed to be a product dubbed Apple Glasses: bringing AR capabilities into something with a similar form-factor and weight to conventional eyeglasses or sunglasses.

Squeezing that much tech into a much smaller device is, of course, a huge challenge – but researchers at Stanford’s Computational Imaging Lab may have come up with at least part of the solution …

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Apple teases new AI features coming to Final Cut Pro for macOS

Apple teases new AI features coming to Final Cut Pro for macOS

Apple on Tuesday announced new iPads at its “Let Loose” event, but the company also took the opportunity to unveil a major update coming to Final Cut Pro for iPad. However, what the company didn’t mention at the event is that there’s also an update coming to the Mac version of Final Cut, which will introduce new AI-based features.

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iOS 18 rumored to include Humane Ai Pin-style iMessage summary feature using AI

Siri Apple AI iOS 18

We’ve been hearing a lot of rumors about iOS 18 having new AI-powered features, since Apple CEO Tim Cook himself has confirmed many times that the company has been working on generative AI features. Now a report claims that iPhone and iPad users will have the option of summarizing long text messages using AI.

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Tim Cook: Apple has advantages that will set its generative AI apart from the competition

Apple AI features iOS 18

Following on from the announcement of Apple’s second quarter fiscal 2024 results, Apple CEO Tim Cook joined the company’s chief financial officer Luca Maestri on a call with investors. During this call, Cook again teased Apple’s upcoming generative AI and said that the company has advantages over its competitors.

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Tim Cook to ‘hint’ at upcoming Apple AI features during iPad launch – WaPo

Tim Cook to 'hint' at Apple AI features | Abstract shiny silver and colorful image

A new report says that Apple CEO Tim Cook will “hint” at upcoming AI features during next week’s Let Loose event.

New iPads are the main focus of the event, but there are possible reasons for suggesting that Apple might also use it to outline new artificial intelligence features ahead of a detailed briefing at WWDC

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Poll: Might some Apple AI features be announced during the iPad launch?

Apple AI features | Existing iPad Pro boxes shown

It’s clear that we’re going to see some exciting new Apple AI features this year, and the usual way for the company to announce major new iOS features would be to preview them at WWDC, and then launch them in September with the new iPhone line-up.

But there could be a couple of reasons to hope for some kind of preview of these new features on the new iPad Pro during the May 7 Let Loose Apple event

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AI hardware is like trying to invent the iPod after the iPhone

AI hardware: Humane AI Pin and Rabbit R1

For some reason which utterly eludes me, 2024 seems to be the year of AI hardware. We’ve had the Humane AI Pin, the Rabbit R1, and even former Apple design chief Jony Ive reportedly seeking a billion-dollar bet for his own attempt.

Reviews of Humane were brutal, with those who tried it as unimpressed by its performance as they were bemused as to its purpose – and the Rabbit R1 isn’t faring too much better, with Marques Brownlee describing it as “barely reviewable” …

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Apple has ‘secretive’ advanced AI lab in Europe; poached specialists from Google

Apple advanced AI lab | Illustrative photo of engineer

A new report today says that Apple has created a ‘secretive’ advanced AI lab in Europe, and it’s this facility which is responsible for some of its most ground-breaking artificial intelligence work.

The same report suggests that most of Apple’s AI specialists have been poached from Google, though this isn’t a great surprise give the background of the Cupertino company’s AI chief …

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Apple has reportedly resumed negotiations with OpenAI to power AI features in iOS 18

Apple AI features iOS 18

Some reports last month revealed that Apple was in talks with Google to use Gemini to power new AI features coming to iOS 18. Earlier this year, 9to5Mac also reported that Apple had been running internal tests with OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Now a Bloomberg report claims that Apple has resumed negotiations with OpenAI for a potential partnership.

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Apple Singapore campus getting two more buildings for new AI work

Apple Singapore campus AI plans | Reception area shown

We’re expecting 2024 to be the year Apple builds generative AI features into iOS 18, and the company has announced a $250M investment to support ongoing work in this field. The Apple Singapore campus is growing from one building to three, to provide space for ‘new roles in AI and other key functions.’

Apple says that the expansion and refit will allow for greater collaboration between its growing teams in the country …

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iOS 18 Siri: Three clues about what it may be able to do

iOS 18 Siri – three clues | Abstract image reminiscent of Siri animation

People have been complaining about Siri for years now, arguing that it’s fallen behind the likes of Alexa and Google Assistant. With clear evidence that 2024 is going to see dramatic improvements in Apple’s AI features, will iOS 18 Siri finally turn things around?

I’m very much hoping the answer is yes, and think there are three clues which provide some reason for optimism …

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Apple teaching an AI system to make sense of app screens – could power advanced Siri

Ferret-UI could power advanced Siri | Concept image of Siri logo in thought bubble | Siri AI

An Apple research paper describes how the company has been developing Ferret-UI, a generative AI system specifically designed to be able to make sense of app screens.

The paper is somewhat vague about the potential applications of this – likely deliberately so – but the most exciting possibility would be to power a much more advanced Siri

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Jony Ive AI device could get $1B funding from Laurene Powell Jobs

Jony Ive AI device | Blue cube image

We first heard last year that former Apple design chief Jony Ive and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman were working on some kind of AI hardware project. It was later reported that Tang Tan, Apple’s chief iPhone and Apple Watch designer, was also joining the project.

A report now suggests that the pair are now seeking a billion dollars in funding, and are in talks with Steve Jobs’ widow, founder and president of the Emerson Collective, Laurene Powell Jobs …

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Spotify AI Playlist joins AI DJ, to create playlists from text prompts

Spotify AI DJ now supports text prompts

Spotify’s AI DJ feature launched more than a year ago now, but users had little control over it. A new AI Playlist feature changes that for beta uses, as you can now create playlists from ChatGPT-style text prompts.

Spotify recommends specifying a combination of genres, moods, artists, and decades – but you can also try off-the-wall things like “beats to battle a zombie apocalypse” …

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Grok AI chatbot | Abstract image of masked figure against colorful background

Grok AI chatbot coming to all premium X subscribers this week

The Grok AI chatbot, which was previously going to be exclusive to X’s top-tier Premium+ subscribers, will instead be coming to all premium subscribers this week.

The move is likely geared to boosting revenue in the face of falling usage and an exodus of advertisers, but it’s leading some Premium+ subscribers to question what they are now getting for their money …

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