Apple to Bring Siri to Desktop, Laptop With OS X 10.12: Report

Siri could soon arrive on OS X. Apple is currently readying a new update for its desktop operating system that features the digital voice assistant, according to a media report. Siri is currently available for iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Apple Watch, and Apple TV.

For OS X 10.12, the next major update to Apple's desktop operating system, the company plans to bring Siri to it, reports 9to5Mac. The report claims that the Cupertino-based company could make the announcement public as soon as around June at this year's Worldwide Developers Conference.

9to5Mac claims that Apple has been exploring this feature for the desktop platform since 2012, but it wasn't until recently that Apple had managed to develop a clear vision for Siri's integration on the Mac. Microsoft on the other hand brought Cortana to the desktop with Windows 10 last year.

According to a mockup by the publication, Siri will have a dedicated button in the Menu Bar next to the Clock and Spotlight icons. Tapping on the button would bring up a small, dark, transparent and colourful sound waves, urging the user to ask their question. The report says that when the OS X-powered machine is plugged to a power source, user will be able to use hands-free "Hey Siri" command to activate Siri.

As we mentioned, OS X won't be the first desktop operating system to feature a digital voice assistant. Windows 10, which Microsoft released to the general public on July 29 of 2015, also features Cortana, its digital AI assistant. The feature enables a user to listen to messages, use voice commands to set reminders, and ask queries such as update on weather and traffic. Cortana for PC also works in conjunction with Cortana for smartphone, syncing all the updates and changes in real-time to offer a continuity.

Google's Google Now, while isn't available as a standalone application or integrated feature on any operating system, can be accessed using a Web browser.

Virtual reality set to transform filmmaking

Chris Milk stepped onto a TED Conference stage and took the audience on an awe-inducing trip into the future of movies. While much of the early attention on virtual reality has focused on use of the immersive technology in video games, Milk and his US startup Vrse are using it to transform storytelling and filmgoing. "We have just started to scratch the surface of the true power of virtual reality," Milk said. "It's not a video game peripheral. It connects humans to other humans in a profound way... I think virtual reality has the potential to actually change the world." He had everyone in the Vancouver audience at TED , which ended Friday, hold Google Cardboard viewers to their eyes for what was billed as the world's collective virtual reality experience. Google Cardboard gear is literally that -- cardboard

Explained: Camera Improvements in the New HTC 10

With the HTC 10, the Taiwanese company is promising to undo the past wrongs in the cameras of its previous flagship phones. The camera has long a weak point in HTC devices. At first, HTC sacrificed image resolution in the M8 and made the size of individual pixels larger to capture more light (what HTC called Ultrapixel). But the resulting 4 megapixel images were often fuzzy, especially when cropped or enlarged. To fix the issue, in its next flagship - the M9 - HTC went with smaller individual pixels in a 20-megapixel camera last year, but it still underperformed in extreme situations, such as indoors and close-ups. In the HTC 10, the company attempts to strike a balance with larger individual pixels (1.55µm), but not as large as before and a 12 megapixel sensor in its camera coupled with a ƒ/1.8 lens. HTC accepts that in the imaging performance in the M9 was not up to the kind of spec of what they really like to see in a flagship. HTC is giving a slight boost to the selfi...

Freedom 251: 30,000 Units Sold, Components for Up to 2.5 Million Will Be Imported

Ringing Bells, the makers of the Rs. 251 smartphone - the Freedom 251 - confirmed to Gadgets 360 on Tuesday that it has still only accepted payments for 30,000 units of the phone. It also added that the components for these phones will be imported, and only assembled in India, not made here. Ringing Bells stopped accepting orders on February 19, and claims to have received over 70 million registrations. The company President and Director both repeatedly stated that the price of the phone would be made possible through economies of scale, and making the phone in India to cut out import costs. Economies of scale? However, in a discussion with Gadgets 360 the company revealed that it had only sold 30,000 units of the phone on day one. The company has now confirmed that it has not sent out the payment emails to anyone else who registered - "we were working out details of cash on delivery, which we are announcing now, so we will be sending emails to the first 2.5...

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