Apple Inc acquired a UK software start-up that could give its digital assistant Siri a boost.
VocalIQ, based in Cambridge, England, has built software aimed at making it easier for people to speak to computers in a more natural way, an area in which Siri and other voice-recognition services have struggled. The company has been particularly focused on selling its product to auto manufacturers, including a partnership with General Motors Co, adding to speculation that Apple is developing its own car, according to the Financial Times, which reported the deal earlier.
Apple confirmed the acquisition. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
VocalIQ’s technology is based on machine learning, an area of artificial intelligence in which a computer improves as it ingests more information. As a person uses VocalIQ’s software, it helps a device become more accurate at predicting what commands to execute. Other technology companies, including Google Inc and Facebook Inc, have been conducting similar research in this area.
Apple has been steadily improving Siri since its debut in 2011. While at first criticized for understanding only the most rudimentary of requests, the company has been adding features for getting sports scores, setting reminders, searching for an iPhone picture or finding directions.
Meanwhile, Target Corp is to become the biggest retailer to offer the Apple Watch, throwing support behind a device that is fighting for mainstream acceptance.
The Apple product is to debut in some Target stores this week, before reaching all of its locations by Oct. 25, the Minneapolis-based retailer said on Friday. The Apple Watch is to go on sale on Target’s Web site on Oct. 18.
Target’s move follows the rollout of the Apple Watch at Best Buy Co in August. That chain has said that demand for the device outstripped its expectations. After initially being offered in 100 Best Buy locations, the company brought the Apple Watch to all of its 1,047 US stores.
Target has about 1,800 stores in the US and could be a key proving ground for Apple as it tries to show that the product, which costs US$349 to US$599, is more than a niche gadget.
Customers are to be able to choose from 20 Apple Watch models.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
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