The artificial intelligence assistant war is heating up. As there is little room left for hardware innovation, artificial intelligence is expected to drive the next wave of innovation. Google Assistant, Microsoft’s Cortana, and Amazon’s Alexa have been trying to beat Apple’s Siri at its own game. Samsung is also planning to introduce its own AI assistant called Bixby with the Galaxy S8. A new report coming out of Asia claims that Apple is going to give Siri an AI makeover with the iPhone 8 to stay ahead of the rivals.
Can Apple stay ahead of rivals in AI game?
The Cupertino company has been consistently updating Siri since introducing the voice assistant with the iPhone 4S in 2011. But unlike Google Assistant, Siri can’t answer follow-up questions or access different apps. Samsung’s Bixby is also said to be more advanced than Siri. Asian publication DigiTimes reports that the iPhone 8 will come with “enhanced Siri.”
The report claims that Apple will use technology from Turi to help improve Siri. The tech giant acquired the Australian machine learning startup in August last year. Apple will have to make some major changes in its voice assistant to challenge the likes of Bixby, Alexa, and Google Assistant.
Enhanced Siri likely to be unveiled at WWDC
The iPhone 8 is rumored to feature big changes such as a glass-sandwich design, an edge-to-edge OLED display, and no physical home button. The fingerprint sensor and home functionality are expected to be placed underneath the display panel. The phone is also likely to feature long-distance wireless charging technology from Energous that will allow you to charge it from a distance of up to 18 feet.
Apple is likely to show off the enhanced version of Siri when it announces the iOS 11 at the WWDC in June, a few months before the iPhone 8 debuts. Siri is still limited to only a few third-party applications. The power of AI lies in how well it can be integrated with apps that consumers open daily.
iPhone 8 is over-hyped
Though consumers and investors are excited about the iPhone 8, one analyst says that the 10th anniversary iPhone is overhyped. In a research note to investors, Barclays analyst Mark Moskowitz said the iPhone 8 won’t have the kind of impact on Apple’s business as some expect. Moskowitz also slashed his price target from $119 to $117 and downgraded the stock from Overweight to Equal-weight rating.
Moskowitz believes that the iPhone 8 might not be able to overcome challenges that Apple is facing. Growth in China is slowing, and Apple is facing tough competition from local Android vendors in the Chinese market. The analyst said consumers increasingly prefer to buy older devices such as the iPhone 6S at more affordable prices instead of spending big bucks on the latest models.
