Tag Archives: aapl

Microsoft to Apple: Our virtual assistant is cooler than yours

Microsoft used its science-fiction video game franchise “Halo” as inspiration for its new voice-controlled personal assistant software. The software gets its name and voice from the artificial intelligence character Cortana from the game series. Microsoft’s speech recognition and response tool for Windows Phone 8.1 is the company’s answer to Apple ‘s (AAPL) Siri and Google ‘s (GOOG) Google Now services. While Siri is known for her corny jokes and lame comebacks, Cortana is a geek icon. In the “Halo” games, the sexy Cortana is a hologram who helps hero Master Chief kill hostile alien monsters by providing useful information when needed. Cortana makes Siri look like Clippy, Microsoft ‘s (MSFT) awkward, much-ridiculed first attempt at a digital assistant for its Office software.  

Apple product lull opens door for Android camp to make gains

Apple is likely to see market share declines in smartphones and TV set-top boxes as competitors roll out new devices this month, taking advantage of a lull in Apple’s product cycle. Apple ‘s (AAPL) iPhone 5S is facing its first serious competition in the high-end smartphone market with the releases of the Samsung Galaxy S5 and new HTC One, both of which use Google ‘s (GOOG) Android operating system. “With our surveys indicating gradually increasing consumer interest in and pre-order activity for these new Android smartphones, we anticipate new high-end Android smartphones will gain market share vs. the iPhone during the June quarter,” Canaccord Genuity analyst Michael Walkley said in a research note Thursday. “We believe Apple will win back meaningful high-end market share during (the second half of) 2014 based on our belief new iPhones with larger screen sizes could create a strong upgrade cycle among Apple’s loyal base.”

Amazon Fire TV Box Follows Already-Blazed Trail

Amazon.com (AMZN) on Wednesday unveiled its long-awaited set-top box for streaming Internet video and music and playing casual games, joining a crowded market. The e-commerce giant boasted that its $99 Amazon Fire TV has more horsepower and capabilities than rival devices from Apple (AAPL), Google (GOOG), Roku and others. Amazon says Fire TV has three times the processing power of Apple TV, Google Chromecast or Roku 3, and four times the memory.