Siri Dead?

Apple Siri

Apple Siri

Intel is rumored to have a new digital assistant that could blow Siri out of the water. Intel’s darling, Jarvis, will be earpiece-based and work off of the cloud. Though an internet connection is not exactly hard to come by, a constant need for a connection can be an issue. Siri can be rendered dead by a quick connection drop. Jarvis, on the other hand, is always ready to go.

Intel executive Mike Bell voiced his frustration at using digital assistants like Siri because they stop the user from even doing the simplest of tasks when the device is outside of the network. This could be a major boon for people who like to drift off the grid and, in a more everyday sense, the lack of internet reliance will translate to faster, more reliable service.

Jarvis was unveiled at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES) along with other wearable electronics including Intel’s Edison. The ultra-portable Edison, a computer the size of an SD card, was highlighted by the company in a Nursery 2.0 “smart bib” that sends data instantly from baby to mom.

While digital assistants are seen as an up and coming trend, they are not quite as popular as some companies would lead the public to believe. After the release of iOS7, Apple got a full picture of how many people are not actually using Siri. An estimated 500 million devices are running iOS at the moment. Within five days of iOS7’s release, 200 million devices were running the latest operating system. While Siri continues to be a feature in iOS7, not many people appear to really care about it.

In a recent survey of consumers around the United States by Intelligent Voice, 85 percent of iOS7-using respondents say that they have never used Siri in the latest iOS. In that same survey, 46 percent of iOS7 users said that Apple had oversold Siri’s usefulness and capability. 44 percent of users said that Siri’s capabilities were “hit or miss” at the best.

While not everyone is optimistic about Siri or the power of any digital assistant, Intel is confident that Jarvis is the future. In fact, the tech giant believes that all of the future lies in ultra-tiny, wearable electronics.

Siri Dead
Intel Corp. CEO Brian Krzanich

Intel entered the smartphone market late and never ended up making its mark. Because of their mixed results, Intel has decided to leave the smartphone game all together.

Intel has been pushing wearable technology since it revealed Quark back in September 2013. Using the same technology, they have created Jarvis. The new wonder assistant looks something like a Bluetooth headset and is ready for anything, anytime. Jarvis will connect to Android smartphones via Bluetooth and do everything from create calendar events to make phone calls on demand.

To accompany the headset, Intel also introduced a smartwatch prototype which will not require smartphone tethering and will have built-in GPS. Both devices are expected to be working with Intel’s new wireless charging bowl.Whether or not Siri will be dead by iOS8 is anyone’s guess, but most experts believe that the wearable market will only grow as the options expand with ever smaller technology.

By Nicci Mende

Sources:

IB Times

Intelligent Voice

Extreme Tech