Apple is gearing up to make a comeback in artificial intelligence with a suite of innovative devices, including a tabletop robot, a smart speaker with a display, and home-security cameras, according to sources familiar with the plans, Mark Gurman reports for Bloomberg News. The centerpiece of this AI-driven strategy is a tabletop robot, slated for release in 2027, which will feature an advanced, lifelike version of Siri capable of engaging with users throughout the day. These devices aim to bolster Apple’s long-stalled reputation for innovation, positioning it to compete with rivals like Samsung Electronics and Meta Platforms in emerging product categories. CEO Tim Cook has described the company’s product pipeline as “amazing,” hinting that some of these advancements will be unveiled soon.
Mark Gurman for Bloomberg News:
The tabletop robot resembles an iPad mounted on a movable limb that can swivel and reposition itself to follow users in a room. Like a human head, it can turn toward a person who is speaking or summoning it, and even seek to draw the attention of someone not facing it.
The idea is for the device to act like a person in a room. It could interrupt a conversation between friends about dinner plans, say, and suggest nearby restaurants or relevant recipes. It’s also being designed to engage in back-and-forth discussions for things like planning a trip or getting tasks done — similar to OpenAI’s voice mode.
Apple is planning to put Siri at the center of the device operating system and give it a visual personality to make it feel lifelike. The approach, dubbed Bubbles, is vaguely reminiscent of Clippy, an animated paper clip from the 1990s that served as a virtual assistant in Microsoft Office.
Device prototypes use a roughly 7-inch horizontal display, approaching the size of an iPad mini. The motorized arm can extend the display away from the base roughly half a foot in any direction. Some people familiar with the product call it the “Pixar Lamp,” referring to the animated film company’s famous logo…
The smart-home push includes a standalone display poised to launch by the middle of next year. That device, code-named J490, is a stripped-down variant of the robot, lacking the arm and conversational Siri — at least to start. It will still have home control, music playback, note taking, web browsing and videoconferencing. It may also include the new Siri visual interface.
Both the smart display and tabletop robot will run a new operating system dubbed Charismatic, which is designed to be used by multiple people. The interface largely centers on clock faces and widgets — small software features that are typically dedicated to specific tasks.
Though the device will have a touch screen, the primary input method will be Siri and an upcoming upgrade to a feature dubbed App Intents. That software lets users precisely control the interface and applications via voice.
The hardware itself looks similar to a Google Nest Hub but is shaped like a square, with thin black or white bezels and rounded corners.
The non-robotic 7-inch display sits on a half-dome-shaped base, which includes some of the electronics and is perforated around the bottom edges for speakers and microphones. It can also be mounted on a wall.
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