iPhone 8 To Release Non-Voice-Operated Siri With Text, Image, Video Recognition

An improved Siri accompanies the new iPhone 8 at release date and adds value to iPhone 8’s hefty price.

We’ve just learned from Forbes that Apple is poised to release what could be the most expensive smartphone to date. The anniversary iPhone, which the internet has dubbed the iPhone 8 or iPhone X, is said to release to the market with a $999 price tag for the 128 GB version and $1,099 for the 256 GB. If a 5.8-inch “no bezel, all OLED” screen and an A11 chipset doesn’t sound good enough for that huge a price for the iPhone 8, then maybe an all new and improved Siri could add some value to the package.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is all the rage now in various tech products, ranging from Samsung’s Bixby, Microsoft’s Cortana, Amazon’s Alexa, and, of course, Apple’s Siri. Siri has been a handy and novel piece of work that has been with the iPhone since the iOS 5 that shipped with the iPhone 4S. Ever since Siri released in 2011, Apple’s AI has already penetrated various Apple products from the iPhone and iPad, to the Apple TV and Apple Watch, and even in select cars through CarPlay.

The current version of Siri available on iPhones and other Apple products right now provides conversational interaction with many applications. But according to Apple Insider, Apple is cooking up a new version of Siri for the iPhone—one that can interact with text messages and commands, images, and videos. Think Alexa cross SimSimi.

This text-based Siri for the iPhone was first spotted in an Apple patent application published by the US Patent and Trademark Office, which reads the following.

“Systems and processes for operating an intelligent automated assistant in a messaging environment are provided. In one example process, a graphical user interface (GUI) having a plurality of previous messages between a user of the electronic device and the digital assistant can be displayed on a display. The plurality of previous messages can be presented in a conversational view. User input can be received and in response to receiving the user input, the user input can be displayed as a first message in the GUI. A contextual state of the electronic device corresponding to the displayed user input can be stored. The process can cause an action to be performed in accordance with a user intent derived from the user input. A response based on the action can be displayed as a second message in the GUI.”

If that’s not quite clear, Mac Rumors explains that essentially, it’s going to be a version of Siri that could respond to text, audio, images, and video fed to the iPhone app by the user.

In a sample conversation between Siri and an iPhone user that accompanies the patent, it shows how you can ask Siri to perform regular functions through inputting text like “Tell John Smith I’ll be late” and asking for information like “Calories in a chocolate bar.”

.@Apple invention details #Siri integration with #Messages https://t.co/A18Ot6lB7P pic.twitter.com/3l2vwhDkcM

— AppleInsider (@appleinsider) May 11, 2017

What’s more interesting, however, with this new version of Siri for the iPhone, is that you can send images and videos as well and ask questions or assign tasks related to the media you feed your iPhone. An example would be a photo of a calling card that you can ask Siri to add to your contacts, or a photo of a car which you can ask Siri for its name and price. Mac Rumors also specifies other possible image-related inquiries such as “Where is this place?” and “What insect is this?” just like a more intelligent Google Images search engine.

Another feature to this improved iPhone AI assistant is that conversations with Siri could now be saved, much like personal messages, so you can go back to previous inquiries made on your iPhone at any point.

The Next Web also notes that this new patent is especially useful when accessing Siri on noisy environments or the library. It also makes Siri useful for hearing-impaired iPhone users.

In January, DigiTimes first published a report via Mac Rumors about an “enhanced Siri” for next-generation iPhones and this could probably be it. We have yet to hear about a launch date or a launch OS for this new Siri, but it could be pretty big for the iPhone 8 as the “next-generation iPhone” poised to dominate the market if it releases alongside this improved AI assistant. iOS 11 for the new iPhone and iPad are also being kept under wraps so it’s possible that the enhanced Siri could also launch with the next iOS.

The iPhone 8 is expected release to the market by September this year.

[Featured Image by Oli Scarff/Getty Images]