Siri

Car Tech Live 241: Alcohol testers in every car? (podcast)

Alcohol testers in every car? Congress is considering it. Pioneer aims to beat Siri in the car, Ford Sync update to be mailed to you on a USB drive, and another step toward in-car streaming ubiquity.

Subscribe with iTunes (audio) Subscribe with iTunes (video) Subscribe with RSS (audio) Subscribe with RSS (video) EPISODE 241 SHOW NOTES

The 404 950: Where we hang it on our dongle (podcast)

Leaked from today's 404 Podcast Episode

Wolfram Alpha Travel Assistant app answers the question, " Where's that plane going?" Who knew Rotten Tomatoes is owned by Warner Brothers? Canada unveils new plastic $100 bills with high-tech security features: changing colors, hidden text, and backward numbers. Tomorrow the world will join Singapore to celebrate the 10th annual World Toilet Day, as decreed by the World Toilet Organization (WTO), the World Toilet Summit, and the World Toilet College.… Read more

Buzz Out Loud 1567: Galaxy Nexus hands-on, copyright freakout, and Computer Love (Podcast)

On this week's show, Jessica Dolcourt joins us for some hands-on time with the Galaxy Nexus--and that peek is all you get, since there's still no U.S. release date for that sucker. Ridiculous. Also, Google Music recapped and a tag-team SOPA rant, plus Stephen Beacham's awesome new segment: Into It or Not Into It. You will love it, and you will dance. All that and Computer Love, to boot! Settle in!

Subscribe: iTunes (MP3) | iTunes (320x180) | iTunes (640x360)

RSS (MP3) | RSS (320x180) | RSS (640x360)… Read more

Will iOS 5.1 give Siri hardware access?

According to German Web site Macerkopf.de, iOS 5.1, the first major update to Apple's mobile operating system, will give Apple's voice-controlled assistant Siri the capability to access certain hardware features of the iPhone 4S.

The Web site's source is listed as an Apple developer commenting on a forthcoming iOS 5.0.2 update that will address battery issues yet again, as well as the future iOS 5.1 update that will contain the Siri updates.

If you're a power user, this news should be fairly exciting. Giving Siri the capability to adjust hardware settings … Read more

The 404 947: Where we are the keyboard cowboys (podcast)

Apple's update to iTunes 10.5.1 brings a new scan-and-match service for music that gives users a way to stream their entire collection across multiple devices in the Apple family.

Even better, Apple will actually fill in the blanks of your files' metadata and replace your "matched" files with high-quality 256k-encoded AAC files--an audiophile's dream!

The three of us are so excited that it sounds like we're hosting an infomercial, but check out today's episode to hear more details about iTunes Match.

Also leaked from today's episode: LivingSocial gets into home food delivery with Room Service, PETA puts Mario and his Tanooki suit in its crosshairs, and more events unravel in the ongoing War Against Infographics!… Read more

Autonomy's wizardry: Bringing still images to virtual life

Autonomy CEO Mike Lynch took to the stage of at Techonomy 2011 and gave a glimpse of some amazing stuff that phones and tablet cameras will soon be able to do.

Autonomy, which Hewlett Packard just acquired for almost $12 billion, bills itself as a leader in "meaning based computing," a tagline that's easy to dismiss. Then Lynch brought out an iPad to demonstrate Autonomy's technology, and he wowed the audience. And this was a jaded crowd, folks.

Lynch had an assistant hold up poster-size images--an ad for a Harry Potter move, a front page of … Read more

Siri's security sabotaged, developer releases crack tools

The security protocol that enables Siri to communicate with Apple's servers and return information via speech recognition has been cracked by developer Applidium.

What does that mean?

In a nutshell, according to Applidium, "anyone could now write an Android app that uses the real Siri!" The technology that Siri uses to communicate with Apple servers is not HTTP, as many developers may suspect. In fact, Apple uses TCP to connect with Siri.

After some more digging, Applidium had discovered the server name and address that Siri uses. After finding the server, a valid certificate was needed. By … Read more

When Siri met the Terminator

Look out Siri, there's a new virtual assistant in town--and you definitely don't want to get on his bad side.

YouTube user programmer4fun has created his own virtual personal assistant using a 3D model of the Terminator T-800 cyborg and his Microsoft Kinect.

In his video description, programmer4fun explains that he used the Kinect SDK to make use of the head tracking and speech recognition software. The Kinect sits behind him, though he notes it can be anywhere, while a small LED projector beams the Terminator's head onto the wall. He's even built in code to support anaglyph 3D if you really want to get up close and personal with the Terminator. … Read more

Steve Jobs prevails over Adobe's Flash

week in review Steve Jobs apparently was right about Adobe Systems' Flash.

The company this week announced it is abandoning its work on a mobile version of the Flash Player and will now concentrate its mobile software development efforts on HTML5. The move breaks with what had been Adobe's defiant embrace of its venerable Flash technology, a symbol of its strength on desktop PCs, in the face of the surging adoption of a wide variety of powerful mobile devices, from the iPad to countless smartphones.

But the cancellation wasn't a complete surprise. Flash has plenty of opponents, and … Read more