Siri for iPhone Definition

Siri - Siri is a voice-activated app that works with the iPhone 4S and iOS 5 to allow users to take action on their iPhone by speaking. Siri can understand not just basic commands, but also the colloquialisms that are common to human speech. Siri can both speak back to the user and take dictation--transcribing voice to text.

Siri was originally developed as a standalone iOS app by a company called Siri. Apple bought the company in April 2010 for an undisclosed amount of money (some have speculated that the purchase price could have been as high as US$200 million).

While Siri was iPhone 4S-only when it was introduced, iOS 6 in fall 2012 added support for the third-generation iPad.

Hardware Compatibility

• iPhone 5
• iPhone 4S
• Third-generation iPad (with iOS 6)
• iPad Mini
• 5th generation iPod touch

App Compatibility

Siri only works with the built-in apps made by Apple that come with the iPhone. Siri is not currently compatible with most third-party apps. Among the apps that Siri interacts with are:

• Address Book
• Calendar
• Clock
• FaceTime
• Find My Friends
• Mail
• Maps
• Messages
• Music
• Notes
• Phone
• Stocks
• Reminders
• Weather

The dictation feature, however, does work with third-party apps (Apple has, to date, mentioned Facebook and Instagram as compatible apps).

Siri also has some features that aren't app-specific, such as the ability to provide sports scores, stats, and other information and voice-activated launching of apps.

Third-Party Service Integration

Siri integrates with a number of third-party services to provide deeper information. These services include:

Wolfram Alpha to find deep data and process more complex requests

Yelp to find restaurants and provide feedback on them from Yelp users

OpenTable, via Yelp integration, to let users make restaurant reservations

RottenTomatoes, for movie reviews and locations

Facebook and Twitter for social media

Eyes Free Support

As of iOS 6, Siri supports Apple's "Eyes Free" features, which allow the iPhone to integrate with cars to let users interact with the phone without looking at its screen (and thus without taking their eyes off the road). In cars that support Eyes Free, Siri can be activated via a button on the steering wheel. The iPhone's screen doesn't light up, but instead Siri is the primary means of using the iPhone to get directions, read and send email and texts, choose music, and more.

Language Support

Siri works in the following languages:

• English (Australian, U.K., and U.S.) - iOS 5
• French (France) - iOS 5
• German - iOS 5
• Japanese - iOS 5
• English (Canada) - iOS 6
• French (Canada) - iOS 6
• Spanish (Mexico, Spain, U.S.) - iOS 6
• Italian (Italy, Switzerland) - iOS 6
• French (Switzerland) - iOS 6
• German (Switzerland) - iOS 6
• Korean - iOS 6
• Mandarin - iOS 6
• Cantonese - iOS 6

Example Uses

Some example uses of Siri include:

• Tell the iPhone 4S to set an alarm, find a kind of restaurant or add an appointment to your calendar
• Have Siri read text messages to the user and then take dictation for, and send, a response
• Create a reminder to perform an action based on your geographic location
• Dictate an email without touching the iPhone's keyboard.
• Search the web by speaking the search term
• Conversations with Siri

Source: The iPod About

Apple iPhone 5s performance review: CPU and GPU speed compared to top Android phones (benchmarks)

The Apple iPhone 5s is here and that means it’s time for some heavy duty benchmarking.

The iPhone has traditionally been the go to device for games as Apple steps up the graphics every time, and this year is no exception. Starting last year, however, Apple is also designing the CPU processor cores on its own and does not simply rely on ARM designs. Cupertino did a great job with the Apple A6 system chip in the iPhone 5 where it integrated its own Swift processor core. Now, in Apple A7, we have a brand new processor core called Cyclone that is among the best out there. Let's take a look at it all in detail.

1. CPU Explained: 64-bit and Cyclone core

1.1. Unmatched browsing speeds: Sunspider

1.2. The independent test: Mozilla Kraken

2. GPU explained

2.1. Top of the line: GFXBench - Fill test

2.2. Over 30 fps: GFXBench - T-Rex HD onscreen

2.3. Against Nexus 5: GFXBench - T-Rex HD offscreen

3. Conclusion

CPU

First, let’s look at CPU performance. Let’s note that the Apple A7 is most likely a dual-core chip, with two Cyclone cores clocked at up to 1.3GHz. The whole chip is likely made on a 28nm HKMG process by Samsung, a step up from the 32nm chip in the iPhone 5.

It is also the first ever to use an ARMv8 64-bit design and that’s an important step forward. You’ve heard about that before, but let’s explain why this is important. The transition to 64-bit processors first started on desktops around 2005 with a clear goal to allow for more RAM. 32-bit systems are limited to supporting only around 3GB of RAM, and 64-bit systems allow for 4GB and more. However in Apple’s case that’s hardly the reason. The iPhone 5 used 1GB of LPDDR2 RAM and the iPhone 5S remains at 1GB but LPDDR3 RAM. It will be no less than 2 years until Apple needs 4GB of RAM. There thus must be another reason for Apple to move to 64-bit than RAM and there indeed is. Adopting the ARMv8 64-bit design comes with backwards 32-bit compatibility, but Apple’s software tools already allow for apps to be 64-bit aware. In a few years when Apple completes the 64-bit transition, this means it will already have a huge number of compatible apps. Other tangible improvements from the move to ARMv8 and 64-bit are the bigger number of general purpose registers, FP/NEON registers, and new SIMD instructions. iOS 7 itself and all included apps have already made the move to 64-bit.

The 1.3GHz clock speed might look low in comparison to top shelf Android devices, but keeping it relatively low allows for optimal power efficiency. The Cyclone core itself seems to be an evolution of the Swift core. In it, Apple has doubled L1 cache from 32KB/32KB (two separate caches for instruction and data) to 64KB/64KB. Level 1 cache is a static and very fast memory where often accessed data is stored, and it’s key to improving the overall and multitasking performance of a chip. L2 cache remains 1MB, but comes with faster access latency.

Now, on to the tests

The first test we run is the Sunspider Javascript Benchmark that measures javascript performance. The iPhone 5s achieves around 75% better js performance than the iPhone 5, and easily tops the list beating even Cortex A15 competitors.

Mozilla Kraken is an even more stressful javascript benchmark. Sunspider’s popularity has forced companies to optimize their devices, and thus skew the picture, but there seems to be none of that in Kraken. Again, the iPhone 5s tops the charts with extremely fast js processing. The performance gain is more than double that of the iPhone 5.

GPU

The iPhone has traditionally pushed the envelope for graphics and gaming including the best of Imagination Technologies’ graphical chips. This time, Apple has outdone itself and it has indeed included the newest PowerVR Series 6 chip with support for OpenGL ES 3.0. The particular chip is the PowerVR G6430 that makes the switch from a vector to a fully scalar architecture. It is a four-cluster chip that is advertized to deliver 2x the performance of the iPhone 5. In reality, the iPhone 5S probably delivers much more graphical oomph. Double the performance should be reached at around 200MHz, and Apple has likely clocked the G6430 much higher.

Looking at the pure GFlops measurements, we see that Apple’s iPhone 5s is easily the most powerful platform currently available. The graphical performance of the iPhone 5s actually matched the iPad 4 at 76.8GFlops, and starts to approach console grade level. In comparison, gaming platforms like the Sony Playstation 3 score around 230GFlops. The currently available top shelf Android devices like the Samsung Galaxy S4 and the HTC One score around 50GFlops.

On to the benchmarks, we start with Basemark X 1.0. This test runs game simulations running on-screen and at 1080p off-screen. The test is very complex and that explains the low results, yet the iPhone 5s approached very closely the coveted 30fps.

GFXBench, formerly known as GL Benchmark, is one of the most GPU-intensive tests out there and it gives a detailed breakdown of a video card’s performance. Fill rates are the first thing we measure and you’d see that Apple managed to double the performance in the 5s compared to the iPhone 5. The 5s emerges as a clear leader, beating all existing devices.

Next comes the extremely heavy game simulation test in GFXBench - T-Rex HD. The iPhone 5s is the first device to actually break the 30fps barrier here and deliver smooth framerates at 35fps on-screen. The G6430 chip scores a 2.5x performance gain over the PowerVR SGX 543MP3 GPU in the iPhone 5.

The offscreen test shows how the G6430 compares with other platforms independent of a particular device. The G6430 still scores in the tops, but the Adreno 330 in a Snapdragon 800 configuration is close or bests it. The new Adreno 330 is expected to arrive in the Nexus 5 and we’re already seeing how the new Google handset will match or even beat the iPhone 5 in that department. The Nexus 5 GFXBench results have surfaced pre-maturely, and are not verified by us yet.

Conclusion

The Apple iPhone 5s brings is one of the biggest under-the-hood upgrades to ever happen to the iPhone line. Apple’s A7 chip comes with a new Cyclone core that is very well optimized in terms of power consumption and still manages to deliver great performance. It’s a dual-core unit, but we don’t yet seem to have enough optimized software to consider this a downside compared to other quad-core chips. Moreover, the A7 is the first 64-bit chip and that brings tangible advantages and opens up the opportunity for developers to build 64-bit aware apps much faster. Another plus for the great Apple ecosystem.

In terms of graphics, the Apple iPhone 5s is the new phone to beat. It comes with the new 6-series Imagination Technoligies’ GPU that delivers more than double the graphical punch of the iPhone 5 and comes with OpenGL ES 3.0 support. It is the first phone to deliver smooth over 30fps framerates on the most stressful graphical tests.

Overall, the A7 is an impressive chip. The average user will notice its incredible speed in loading webpages and how it resolves amazing detail in games. It’s future-proof. Now, if only Apple could listen and bring us all this in a similarly well designed package with a bit larger display...

Via: PhoneArena

Apple’s iPhone 5s And 5c Launch Draws Big Crowds, Including Biggest Ever Line At NYC Flagship Store

Apple’s iPhone 5s and 5c are now on sale at retail and online stores around much of the world, and the general impression from consumers is one of high anticipation. In North America, lines are being reported at Apple retail locations everywhere, including what analyst and Apple watcher Gene Munster (via Mashable) calls Apple’s longest ever lineup for an iPhone device.

The line at Apple’s 5th Avenue NYC flagship store was 1,417 people long at 8 a.m. ET, according to Munster, which is 83 percent longer than the iPhone 5 line at the same time. Munster’s been keeping tallies on iPhone queue length since 2008 with the iPhone 3G, and that line was 549 people long. The next-longest after the iPhone 5s/5c was the iPhone 4, which attracted 1,300 to the flagship New York location.

Of course, Apple didn’t allow pre-orders for the iPhone 4, which is bound to drive more people to retail since they weren’t able to order early and just wait for the FedEx person to drop off their new devices. One good theory about why Apple didn’t offer pre-orders for iPhone 5s is because of supply constraints, owing to the technical challenge of building the new A7 64-bit system-on-a-chip, and the sophisticated new fingerprint scanner built into the 5s Home button.

Images and video have been coming in on social media channels from around the world showing long lines at various Apple retail locations, including the following shot from TUAW depicting an army of Apple employees preparing for the deluge:

Canadian queues also appear to be much longer than last time around, indicating there’s a strong appetite for the iPhone 5s in that market, too:

Just under an hour and a half remains before the store doors open in San Francisco, but there’s plenty of anticipation there, too:

All reports also seem to be echoing a common refrain of the new gold iPhone finish being the rarest and hardest to get your hands on, which is likely to do with a combination of that model being in relatively short supply to begin with, and it being attractive to buyers because it’s so different and unique from previous iPhone color options.

Apple hasn’t yet reported any numbers regarding its early iPhone pre-order amounts, but it’s almost guaranteed they’ll offer up some kind of figure of cumulative iPhone 5s/5c pre-orders after this initial launch weekend.

Via: Tech Crunch

Apple Touch ID fingerprint tech 'broken', hackers say

Touch ID fingerprint recognition system provides a "very high level of security"

Hackers claim to have broken Apple's iPhone 5S Touch ID fingerprint recognition system just a day after the phone was launched.

Germany's Chaos Computer Club claims it "successfully bypassed the biometric security of Apple's Touch ID using easy everyday means".

By photographing a fingerprint left on a glass surface and creating a fake finger they were able to unlock the phone, the hackers claim.

But Apple maintains Touch ID is secure.

On its website the iPhone maker says there is a one in 50,000 chance of two separate fingerprints being alike and the technology provides "a very high level of security".

Karsten Nohl, chief scientist at SRLabs, a German hacking think tank, told the BBC: "It would have been incredible if Apple had managed to do something the rest of the biometrics industry has failed to achieve after decades of trying, so I'm not surprised it was hacked after just one day.

"Claiming this system offers a high level of security is just ridiculous," he added.

Convenience

Apple does not suggest that Touch ID is a total replacement for traditional passcode security, simply a more convenient way of unlocking the phone.

The Chaos Computer Club believes fingerprint biometrics "should be avoided"

"Touch ID is designed to minimise the input of your passcode; but your passcode will be needed for additional security validation," Apple says.

But it does not address the ability of hackers lifting individual prints and creating fake fingers, as the Chaos Computer Club claims to have done.

Mr Nohl says a five-digit password would be more secure than a fingerprint and believes Apple should have focused on convenience rather than security in its marketing of the Touch ID feature.

On Friday, an influential US senator called for Apple to answer "substantial privacy questions" arising from the technology.

Apple did not respond to the BBC's request for a comment.

Read more....

Dozens wait in line for latest iPhone release

WESTLAKE — Critics and investors may have been underwhelmed at the announcement of the two new iPhone models, but that didn’t stop more than 100 people from lining up in front of the Apple Store at Crocker Park, early Friday morning, to be among the first to get their hands on the new phone.

Friday marked the first day consumers could purchase the iPhone 5s or the iPhone 5c. Most of the people in line were there to get the higher end iPhone 5s with its new security feature of a fingerprint reader.

John Booth, of Westlake, was the first person in line, as he arrived at 1 p.m. Thursday afternoon to start waiting.

“On the launch day, you never know what kind of line you’re going to have,” he said. “I was more surprised that the line didn’t really begin to form until the wee, wee hours this morning. A couple launches ago there were a hundred people line up at 8 p.m. the night before.”

Booth said this was the second time he’s stood in line for a launch, the previous time coming for the release of the iPhone 4, as he usually orders his phone online because he’s out of town for work. This time around, though, Apple didn’t offer orders before the launch of iPhone 5s, so he had to wait it out.

For others, waiting in line was an opportunity to spend time with family, with the added bonus of being one of the first to get the latest Apple product.

“Waiting in line today gave me the opportunity to spend time with my sister,” Alli Harden, of Avon, said. “She’s young and pulls all-nighters all the time, but me being a mom, I don’t to do this very often. This was kind of an opportunity for us to hang out. Besides, I’m kind of a geek, and I want a new iPhone every year. Might as well hit two birds with one stone.”

Standing in line waiting for the latest and greatest gadget from Apple wasn’t anything new to many of the people there, as most people said they do it regularly.

“I’m here every year when they release a new iPhone,” said Jeff Robinson, of Cleveland. “I come here every year. This is a normal thing for me. I like the new devices; it’s new and exciting each time.”

The Apple Store was prepared for the large number of people waiting in line, as they had part of the sidewalk roped off for those who wanted to wait. They also had coffee, water and snacks for those who waited as well.

So why exactly is it so important for people to stand in line for hours, or even sometimes days, to get the new phone?

“They’ve only got about 100 phones in the 5s model and there’s about a hundred people in line,” Booth said. “If you don’t get here first, you don’t get the phone you want.”

Booth said he had his heart set on getting a black 64 GB model.

Toward the end of the line, Apple employees were breaking the bad news to people who were just showing up that they were already out of stock of a number of the models.

For at least one of the people waiting in line, Apple products have become a way of life.

“I’m a die hard Apple fan. I love Apple, and I appreciate Apple and what they’ve done for my life — making things easier, more innovative and more intuitive,” said Nick Piller, of Amherst. “I just need the new iPhone because my iPhone 4 is getting rather out-of-date.”

Source: News Herald

Apple tops PC satisfaction ratings for tenth straight year

Apple has now remained atop the American Customer Satisfaction Index of personal computers for 10 years straight. After consistently ranking behind Hewlett-Packard throughout the 1990s and then subsequently failing to outpace Dell, Apple finally scored the highest rating in ACSI’s personal computer category in 2004 and has never dropped below its competition since.

Some of the factors that ACSI uses when ranking the companies include the perceived quality and value of the computers, customer loyalty and the number of complaints registered. 9to5Mac points out that although the ACSI’s report is called titled “Personal Computers,” ACSI also includes tablets when deciding a score, which means iPads are included as well as Macs.

Via: BGR

Apple's big bet on iOS 7 gaming to play out this fall

There's a good reason why a significant portion of Apple's iPhone announcement last week was dedicated to showing off the flagship iOS game series Infinity Blade. That's because with iOS 7 -- rolling out to the public Wednesday -- and the new A7 chip's 64-bit architecture, Apple is signaling to the world that it's dead set on remaining the preeminent mobile-gaming ecosystem.

iOS has long been the leader in that space thanks to its robust platform and the ease with which developers of all sizes -- from single-app makers to triple-A studios with sprawling mobile suites -- can monetize games. Game apps have heavily populated the most downloaded and highest grossing charts since the advent of the App Store and have launched entire studios to stardom, from Rovio with Angry Birds to King with Candy Crush.

Maintaining this edge means delivering not only full-blown Bluetooth controller support -- initially announced at this year's WWDC as part of Apple's MFi (made for iOS) accessory certification -- but urging developers to round out new hardware with top-notch apps that take advantage of the A7. Both strategies are well under way, and Apple is in a strong position to keep the mobile-gaming crown as it brings them to fruition this fall.

Apple has long had its sights set on making handheld gaming devices less appealing, a battle mobile apps have been winning. Apple's success against traditional gaming has always hinged on whether or not it can convince iPhone owners that devices like the PlayStation Vita, Nintendo 3DS, and Nvidia Shield cannot keep up with the pace of iOS game development and its impending hardware offerings.

Or, at the very least, that those devices are not worth the money. After all, why cast out large chunks of change on a Nintendo or Sony-owned gaming ecosystem, Apple logic goes, when one exists on your smartphone that's steadily catching up to the gaming juggernauts?

While 64-bit smartphone chips will be flooding the market come next year -- as well as updated and cheaper portable gaming devices -- Apple is gunning to be there first, with developers at its side and a line of impressive controllers to boot. If it succeeds, it will be a battle already won.

Optimizing for the A7 has already begun

When iOS 7 goes public, game developers will have already optimized apps waiting for download. It makes sense too when you note that iOS adoption is typically quick and widespread. (One month after iOS 6's release last September, more than 60 percent of users had installed the update.)

"The updated versions of Dungeon Hunter 4 and Playmobil Pirates have cleared Apple approval and are up on the iTunes store," said Thomas Price, a representative for mobile game developer Gameloft. The studio also has a dozen more apps waiting for Apple approval, all optimized for the jump to 64-bit with the iPhone 5S and the more minute software tweaks present in the updated Game Center app.

More are on the way from a number of high-profile developers. At Electronic Arts, developers are taking advantage of the OpenGS ES 3.0 interface, a cross-platform API -- currently supported only by the Samsung Galaxy S4, HTC One, updated Nexus 7, and Sony Xperia Z -- widely used for smartphone graphics rendering.

With the iPhone 5S, Apple joins that batch with the added benefit of being the only one of those smartphones to push a 64-bit processor.

"OpenGL ES 3.0 delivers stunning visual experiences, which will be immediately apparent on EA's graphically rich 3D titles such as Real Racing 3 and Madden NFL 25, as well as FIFA 14 by EA SPORTS and Heroes of Dragon Age, which will launch this fall," said Bernard Kim, SVP of Mobile Publishing at EA.

Developer Kabam, makers of the popular Facebook-integrated Kingdoms of Camelot series, is also prepping a number of updates for iOS 7.

"Kabam will release new game content for its most popular titles, including The Hobbit: Kingdoms of Middle-earth, Fast & Furious 6: The Game, and Dragons of Atlantis: Heirs of the Dragon," said a company representative, though no timeline or specifics on the updates were made available. More notably however is Kabam's plan to utilize iOS 7's unique parallax effect -- a pseudo-3D motion most recognizable in Apple's new wallpapers -- in its upcoming Heroes of Camelot title.

Leading the charge is Infinity Blade 3, which hits the App Store in tandem with iOS 7. Users won't be able to access the graphical capabilities baked into the game that optimize for the A7 chip until they get their hands on an iPhone 5S (sales start September 20). Still, the graphical marketing push from both developer Epic Games and Apple marketing chief Phil Schiller last Tuesday shows that the iPhone maker wants the best and most aggressive mobile gaming advancements to take center stage on iOS.

iPhone controller on horizon, but questions remain 

While new titles and app updates will be rolling out en masse following iOS 7's release, don't expect official controller announcements until right before the holiday season. Most models are in development right now, with expected unveilings estimated for late October and early November.

PowerA, makers of the Moga line of portable and console-style Android controllers, has iPhone controller announcements in the pipeline, though company representatives won't say exactly when we'll see our first iOS 7-optimized handheld or what it will look like.

It's unclear whether the company's current portable offering -- an Xbox-style controller with a flip-out holster to fasten in your smartphone -- will simply be ported over to iOS, or if we'll see an entirely new Moga design. PowerA also offers a pro model in which the device mirrors the smartphone screen to a television through proprietary software. That's an unlikely option with Apple given that a mirroring function conflict directly with the Apple TV's AirPlay.

It's also worth noting that the idea of controller support, despite piquing the interest of hardware makers and game developers alike, is a bit of a turnaround for Apple, who built its smartphone reputation with the launch of the original iPhone on a touchscreen that forgoes the need for physical buttons. But the company sees the value in competing with handhelds not just in experience with low-cost, easy-access apps, but in functionality. An A7 chip means near-console level performance capacity, making an add-on controller a no-brainer, especially if its of third-party make and Apple can test the waters by casually urging developers to add support.

Perhaps the most anticipated iOS controller is in the works at Logitech. The company made headlines in June when leaked images of early handset prototypes hit the Web and the hardware manufacturer confirmed its plans. Early concepts show a diverging design from PowerA wherein the iPhone is fitted inside a controller, turning the device into something akin to a PlayStation Vita.

"We'll support Apple's new MFi game controller framework, and plan to deliver a compelling gaming experience to iOS gamers this fall," said a Logitech representative, though the company declined to elaborate further, as has been the case with many hardware manufacturers since WWDC.

But while the iPhone announcement and A7 unveiling have done little to tip the controller manufacturers into spilling more secrets -- let alone try and speed up the delivery of the hardware -- Apple is still sitting pretty at the forefront of the mobile gaming industry thanks to the marketing bump of the A7's capabilities. It will only further its lead in the coming months with more and more iOS 7-optimized apps and the influx of new 5C and 5S devices running its latest software.

Integral to Apple's lead is the developer-held mindset that iOS marks the cutting edge playground for the newest advancements in mobile gaming. It lets them optimize for the small subset of users who can enjoy the latest and greatest graphics and functionality while the widest audience -- those with the current iPhone 5 and 4S -- gain last year's touted advancements in trickle-down fashion. The "rinse and repeat" annual iPhone strategy will continue to drive the iOS ecosystem's role on this front.

"Important to gamers and game developers like Kabam, which has had four games among the top 25 grossing apps on the Apple App Store, the new interface provides a better game-playing experience," Kabam's CEO Kevin Chou said on September 10 as Apple unveiled the iPhone 5S. "And the new controller puts Apple at the forefront of bridging the ever-shrinking gap between consoles and iOS devices."

Kabam may be bias toward Apple's success, given its tied to the success of its own apps, but the point is still valid: The gap is shrinking, and iOS is up front by a wide margin.

Source: The Cnet News