Month: October 2016

Walt Mossberg calls Siri ‘Too Limiting and Unreliable’ in coming A.I. Wars

siriicon2016Popular tech guru Walt Mossberg evaluated Siri to see if Apple's A.I. can complete in the coming Artificial Intelligence wars between Amazon, Samsung, and others.

In his article entitled "Why does Siri seem so dumb?" covers several topics that Siri could not answer.  The questions ranged from who were the current political candidates, to the date of this year's World Series, to what was the current weather in Crete.

The verdict?  In each instance, Siri failed to provide the correct answers.  He then compared Siri to Google Now, a Siri competitor, and that service could answer all of the above questions.

In recent weeks, on multiple Apple devices, Siri has been unable to tell me the names of the major party candidates for president and vice president of the United States. Or when they were debating. Or when the Emmy awards show was due to be on. Or the date of the World Series. When I asked it "What is the weather on Crete?" it gave me the weather for Crete, Illinois, a small village which -- while I'm sure it's great -- isn't what most people mean when they ask for the weather on Crete, the famous Greek island.

According to Mossberg, Apple has fixed many of the above Siri shortcomings thanks to his feedback, and has "stressed" to him that the company is "constantly improving Siri." Apple says it focuses more on tasks like placing phone calls, sending texts, and finding places rather than "long tail" questions, which aren't as popular with iPhone and iPad users. Mossberg speculates that such questions aren't popular anymore because people "just give up" on asking Siri these types of things due to failed responses.

Mossberg also outlines several failures with Siri's cloud-based services, from searching through iMessages to locating photos to finding calendar appointments, drawing the conclusion that Apple has "wasted its lead" with Siri, which is now forced to compete with services from Google, Amazon, and Microsoft. Mossberg believes that Siri "seems stagnant" and is "too limited and unreliable" compared to other services.

Though it may not seem like it, Apple has been putting a lot of effort into improving Siri. Back in August, Apple executives Eddy Cue, Craig Federighi, and Phil Schiller explained that machine learning techniques have cut Siri's error rate by a factor of two, improving understanding. Since 2014, Siri and other on-device features, like the QuickType keyboard, Spotlight, autocorrect, Maps, and more, have been powered by a neural net-based system that is able to provide users with more personalized responses and actions.

Recent rumors suggest Apple aiming to improve Siri's functionality even further in an effort to build the personal assistant into an Echo-like Smart home device that would do things like control smart home accessories. Apple is also said to be working on an "Invisible Hand" initiative that would allow users to fully control their devices through a Siri command, something that could debut within three years.

Mossberg's full article on Siri can be found here.

Samsung starts sending postage paid fire proof boxes to Galaxy Note 7 customers

cardboardboxIt seems that Samsung is taking things to a whole new level to make sure they get all of the Galaxy Note 7s back from customers in the safest way possible for all parties involved.

The company is sending fire-proof boxes which includes a static shielding bag for the phone, safety gloves, and detailed safety packaging instructions.  The actual box is lined with a thermally-insulated lining to make the box legal for sending lithium ion batteries via U.S. Mail or other package carriers.

In a statement that's included with the box, the company said:

A device containing lithium ion battery subject to a recall must be shipped in accordance with government regulations, and these special boxes are required by government regulators."

On the actual box, it is labeled with a strict warning about pick-up and delivery procedures.

Persons with the phone are asked to contact either Samsung or their cell carrier for exchange information.

Hurricane Matthew Flood Victim Saved thanks to Drone and Social Media

dronerescue(CNN) - A North Carolina flood victim trapped in his attic for 14 hours was rescued thanks to a drone operator, the perseverance of family and the cross-country reach of social media.

When floodwaters hit Hope Springs, North Carolina, Chris Williams, a Navy veteran, didn't get out in time. He retreated to his attic with his dog Lana as the waters rose, CNN affiliate KXAN reported.
He texted his parents on Sunday that he was stuck. They told Chris' brother, Craig, who was home 1,300 miles away in Austin, Texas. The family immediately started working to alert rescuers in Hope Springs, but to no avail.
"We called local emergency services, we called the fire department, and nothing would go through," Craig told KXAN.
Click here for the rest of the story.

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