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On the Road or Sitting at Home
Of importance to enterprise iPad power users, Apple introduced a slew of split screen and other data-handling additions for iOS. These include a drag-and-drop function for copying text, graphics, pictures, and Web links between apps and documents -- even allowing the ability to select multiple elements. And, the on-screen keyboard will have punctuation marks over the letters so users can tap to type a letter or flick to insert the punctuation mark.
My favorite feature is a Do-Not-Disturb function for use while driving, something that should be of interest to enterprises that might be held liable if employees cause an accident while sending or responding to business texts. Using Apple Play or Wi-Fi, the iPhone will sense when you are in a vehicle and automatically reply to texts with a response like, "I'll read your message when I get where I'm going." Passengers will be prompted to confirm they're not driving before they send texts, much like the experience when using Waze.
For improved location service, Apple is extending the Maps function indoors, so you can get a floorplan of the mall or the airport you're visiting, for example. It is rolling out this function in a limited number of venues initially.
The one announcement that will probably get the most air time is HomePod, Apple's entry into the home assistant market and the ultimate "me-too" offering. Of course, at $349 Apple's version costs more than twice what Amazon's Echo with Alexa voice assistant or Google's Home will set you back. Apple justifies that with better sound quality using a four-inch woofer and seven tweeters with beamforming ability and "special awareness." However, Siri still lags Amazon and Google in speech recognition accuracy and natural language processing capabilities.
Let me be first to go on the record saying these home assistant things will turn out to be a short-lived fad, yet another attempt to expand the appeal of devices in progressively smaller and smaller markets while desperately hoping to find a sweet spot.
Underneath the Pretty Wrappers
At the end of the day, Apple showed off a lot of eye candy and a couple of really forward-thinking ideas. Apple continues to push the envelope on user experience, and that shows up particularly in iOS for iPad and the extension of Maps into indoor environments -- every venue is going to want in on that. I'm most excited about what Apple will do to push ML and AR into the mainstream. While having a smarter Siri accessible through your HomePod is a nice gimmick, the real value will be to have the intelligence in your phone, the device you have with you all of the time.
For now we're all waiting for Apple's fall announcement to see what we get in the way of a new iPhone, and if the company plans for anything more striking than incremental performance features for the Mac line.
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