Ford adds support for Siri Eyes Free to older vehicles

A new update for Sync infotainment system brings with it Apple’s Siri Eyes Free feature to second-generation Sync system. This is found in Ford cars made in 2011 or earlier. It’s a bit late since the feature was first introduced by Apple back in 2012 when iOS 6 was released but better late than never. Siri Hands Free has less features than CarPlay but it does let you operate your iPhone with Siri. It’s a boon since Siri’s gotten more new features with the release of iOS 9. Sync 3 platform is coming out in 2016 and Ford does plan to support CarPlay, too, but they won’t give any details yet.

Sync 3.8 also brings with it an improved pairing capability between the iPhone and Sync. It automatically reconnects your phone if it gets disconnected.

Source: Cult of Mac

Apple’s latest acquisition could help you talk with Siri better

If you’ve been wanting to have a more natural, human-like conversation with Siri, that might be in the cards for you. Apple just bought VocalQ, a company that works on letting voice assistants comprehend natural dialog. The technology they developed allows the voice assistants to ask follow up questions if they misunderstand your command. This is already miles away from the current digital assistants, such as Google Now, Siri, and Cortana, which can’t even remember your last question and ask you to incessantly repeat a misheard command. Apple won’t say what they plan to use the technology for but it wouldn’t be a surprise if they leverage it for Siri. Or at least we hope they do.

Source: The Next Web

Apple ‘iPhone 6s’ might come with always-on ‘Hey Siri’ functionality

Just ahead of the Apple Special Event, a source told Apple Insider that the upcoming phone from the company will come with always-on “Hey Siri” activation, much like “OK Google” service on Android. Siri can do that too but it must be connected to a power for voice activation to work. The current iOS 9 beta doesn’t support the unplugged “Hey Siri” feature making us speculate that they integrated it at the hardware level. Some Android phones have a specialized voice activation monitoring chip to support “OK Google” feature without it eating too much battery life. Well, we just have a few more hours to wait before we find out what Apple’s cooking in its kitchen.

Source: Apple Insider

Apple’s Siri will supposedly be able to transcribe your voicemail

A new report claims Apple will be expanding the capability of Siri, turning it more into a virtual secretary. This voice assistant will reportedly get the ability to transcribe your voicemails into text. When someone calls you you, the calls will be redirected to Siri instead of the audio recorder and a beep. Siri will then give select callers a message as to why you can’t be reached at the moment and even give your location if needed. Siri will then transcribe the message it received. This is reportedly in limited testing at Apple now and should be released by next year, possibly in time for iOS 10.

Source: SlashGear