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Select Honda and Acura cars now offering Siri Eyes Free integration
Honda has announced that a select number of its Honda and Acura vehicles are now available with Siri Eyes Free integration, with more to follow on December 3. The company announced the news in a press release today, stating that owners of select Honda and Acura models including the 2013-2014 Honda Accord and 2013 Acura RDX and ILX can now go to their dealerships and have Siri Eyes Free kits installed. Once done, owners of those vehicles can then use Siri on their iOS devices to send text and emails, set reminders and alarms, get turn-by-turn voice navigation and have sports and weather information read to them by iOS 7's digital personal assistant. From the press release: "Honda recognizes the power of Siri Eyes Free to meet connectivity and convenience needs of its customers in a responsible manner," said Art St. Cyr, vice president of product planning and logistics, American Honda. "With technology becoming further integrated into people's lives, we are happy to provide next-generation connectivity and meet our customer's ever-changing needs. There's no word on how much the Siri Eyes Free integration costs, but the price is likely to vary a little depending on the make and model of your car and labor costs associated with your dealership. Honda will announce additional cars that will support Siri Eyes Free integration on December 3.
Siri 'Eyes Free' coming to 2014 GM vehicles
GM has announced that Siri Eyes Free will be coming to the 2014 Chevrolet Camaro, Volt, Malibu, SS, Cruze and Equinox. The Eyes Free feature allows Siri to be activated with a button mounted in the steering wheel, making it easier and safer for drivers to interact with Apple's digital assistant while on the road. In a press release GM said: "The response to Siri Eyes Free integration in Chevy Sonic and Spark from our customers has been remarkable. Easy, reliable and portable connectivity is a top priority for our customers, and Siri complements MyLink's existing capabilities to help deliver an incredible driving experience, so we're excited to expand this to even more customers." GM is by no means the first or only car manufacturer to support Siri Eyes Free. Just check out all the cars expected to offer it next year here. With Eyes Free, Apple says users will be able to call people, hear and compose text messages, use Maps and get directions, select and play music, read notifications, add reminders, find calendar information and more.
2014 Spark EV test drive: affordable green fun (video)
We've driven a number of EV's over the years -- from the Ford Focus Electric to the Tesla Model S -- but none have been as affordable as the 2014 Chevrolet Spark EV. It costs $19,995, including the $7,500 federal tax credit, and just $17,495 in California, thanks to an additional $2,500 credit. The Spark EV is GM's first pure electric car since the company scrapped the EV1 program in 2002. It's a five-door supermini designed to carry four people plus luggage in comfort. While it's primarily a city car, it's perfectly at ease on the highway. We recently got the chance to take one for a spin in lovely Portland, Oregon, so hit the break for our impressions and hands-on video. %Gallery-194735%
Siri and iOS in the Car updates announced at WWDC
The next update to Siri has been announced at WWDC, bringing a new graphical user interface and improved search options. Siri will now show the sound wave of your question as you speak and features a new voice that sounds a little less HAL 9000. Users will have male and female voice options, with English, French and German voices packaged out the gate. More language options will be added as time goes on. Siri's capabilities have also been updated to include the ability to play voice mails, turn on Bluetooth or increase brightness. In addition Twitter, Wikipedia and Bing searching have been enabled. The Siri improvements also include the new iOS in the Car; 95 percent of the new cars on the market today have integrated iOS support. iOS in the Car brings iOS information on the screen in your car, allowing you to access Maps, messages, play songs and more without ever taking your eyes off the road.
BMW: Siri Eyes Free in all 2014 models
BMW has announced that all of its 2014 models will be getting an update bringing the Siri "Eyes Free" mode to it ConnectedDrive internet service. The mode will allow users to talk to Siri via their iPhone without having to actually look at their phone. With the latest update to BMW iDrive, both Apple Siri and Samsung S Voice can be accessed through the vehicle's voice command controls. With a paired device, pressing and holding the steering wheel voice command button will engage the device's voice access. Pressing the steering wheel voice button without holding it will continue to access the vehicle's voice command functions. The BMW voice command system itself has been enhanced to now include visual voice command suggestions. Once activated a banner across the top of the display offers prompts for when to speak and provides suggestions for what to say. The suggestions are tailored to the individual menu or function that the driver wishes to access. Honda started offering Siri Eyes Free on select models earlier this year.
Chevrolet Sonic, Spark first cars to get Siri Eyes Free integration
GM has announced that the Chevrolet Sonic and Spark will offer Siri Eyes Free integration in March of 2013. This makes good on a promise GM made in June 2012 to deliver the service to the cars within "the next 12 months." Eyes Free will be distributed via an upgrade to existing MyLink radios in the Sonic and Spark. Once the cars have the upgrade, GM says drivers will be able to: Make voice-activated, hands-free calls to Contacts on their iPhone. Play songs in their iTunes libraries, and even switch music sources automatically from AM/FM/XM radio to iPod mode. Listen to, compose and send an iMessage or text message to a phone number or anyone in saved Contacts. Access Calendar and add appointments. Minimize distraction even more by keeping the screen of the iPhone from lighting up even when Siri answers simple questions such as game scores or the dates of national holidays. The Siri Eyes Free feature of iOS 6 was first announced at WWDC last year. It allows drivers to safely interact with features of their iPhones via voice control without taking your eyes off the road. Besides GM, both Honda and Hyundai have promised to add Siri Eyes Free integration to their cars in 2013.
2013 Honda Accord, Acura RDX and ILX getting Siri Eyes Free option
More automobile manufacturers are hopping on the Siri Eyes Free bandwagon -- or should that be car carrier? Although announced as a partner in the endeavor last summer, Honda has finally confirmed which models will be the first to utilize the feature: the 2013 Honda Accord, Acura RDX and Acura ILX. All three of these models will interface with Siri-capable iOS devices running iOS 6 or higher via Bluetooth. Using a dedicated hands-free button in the steering wheel, drivers will be able to make use of Apple's virtual assistant for a number of tasks without their phone's screen turning on. The Siri Eyes Free feature will be available as an option that can be installed by dealers, and integrates with the HondaLink and AcuraLink entertainment systems featured in these models. Pricing for the option hasn't been announced.
Hyundai to add Siri Eyes Free to vehicles
Add Hyundai to the list of automakers who are jumping onboard the Siri bandwagon. The Loop reports that at CES, the company announced that the Eyes Free mode added to Siri in iOS 6 will be deployed in unspecified future models. In June, we reported that the Chevrolet Sonic and 2013 Spark from GM are supposed to have the Eyes Free feature, which allows users to interact with Siri through a voice command button on the steering wheel. Other automakers with plans for Eyes Free integration include BMW, Toyota and Honda.
Daily Update for January 7, 2013
It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for daily listening through iTunes, click here. No Flash? Click here to listen. Subscribe via RSS
Qualcomm develops eyes-free smartphone for the blind and visually impaired, calls it Ray
Smartphones have made juggling multiple single-purpose gadgets a thing of the past for many, but the blind and visually impaired often use a raft of devices built with eyes-free use in mind. Qualcomm and Project Ray, however, are aiming to consolidate phone calls, text messaging with voice read-out, navigation, object recognition, audio book reading and more for the visually impaired in a system built on an off-the-shelf Android phone. To navigate the smartphone, users leverage a handful of simple finger movements that can be started at any point on the handset's touch screen. Voice prompts and vibration provide feedback to users, and the UI adapts to usage patterns and preferences. Currently, Ray devices have access to Israel's Central Library for the Blind and are being tested by 100 folks in the country. For the full lowdown, head past the break for the press release.
GM to add Siri "Eyes Free" to Chevy Sonic, Spark
Apple has announced that Siri will integrate with certain auto voice control systems once iOS 6 is released. The "Eyes Free" system, as Apple calls it, allows Siri to be activated with a button mounted in the steering wheel. Now, GM has announced that the Chevrolet Sonic and the 2013 Spark will support the feature. The auto manufacturer hasn't provided much detail beyond the initial announcement, but expect more details "within the next 12 months."
Aftermarket Eyes Free Siri button: Could it be possible?
After Monday's keynote, many of us here at TUAW wondered whether an aftermarket Eyes Free button was possible. Eyes Free buttons, which will be integrated into several car lines, allow you to access Siri features by pressing a button on your car's steering wheel. Apple is working with car manufacturers to integrate Siri into select voice control systems. Through the voice command button on your steering wheel, you'll be able to ask Siri questions without taking your eyes off the road. Could this be created? With all due respect to Ian Betteridge, the answer to this headline is not "no" but "maybe". For all that we'd love to kickstart up an effort on this, it turns out that the obstacles are both technological and legal. The button would need to be paired to a phone, would need a power source, and would need to be installed securely on the steering wheel or attachable to a sun visor or provide some other mounting for use while driving. With regard to technical viability, we already see similar features in the Jawbone Bluetooth earpiece line with its support for voice dialing. Press and hold the earpiece button and you invoke VoiceControl on older iPhones and Siri on newer ones. So the tech challenges aren't insurmountable. It would have to be a little more specialized than other aftermarket Bluetooth buttons currently on sale, but only in that the button would be limited to invoking Siri. There are already kits available to wire up existing buttons to aftermarket devices, like the one discussed in this forum post. (Look about halfway down the page, where you press the button for two seconds to place a call, that's how you'd invoke Siri.) In other words, we could easily see this be a product in the $30-$50 range, especially with less snazzy requirements for lower-end cars. I contacted Matthias Ringwald, expert on all things Bluetooth, to discuss what it would take to install an after-market Siri button in a car, specifically tied to voice dialing. What Ringwald thinks might stand in the way could be "made for iPhone" licensing. Apple might require participation for certification, so the product could be sold as intended. As for the tech, he told TUAW, "If it's part of the regular hands free profile (HFP), it shouldn't be hard to add." UPDATE: An anonymous source tells TUAW that Apple detailed the API for Eyes Free Siri in the WWDC Bluetooth sessions.
Android devs: if you can't use your app with your eyes closed, open them and read this
Google's doing a lot to bolster its Android developers guide at the moment, with fresh design tips we covered yesterday and then a new section on accessibility arriving shortly after. The latter provides a bunch of suggestions on things like minimum button size (48dp or around 9mm), and also explains how to make use of free components like TalkBack, which gives a spoken description of an app's UI, and Eyes-Free Keyboard, which many users find easier than regular touch-to-click. These stock services work best with apps that have been designed with them in mind, so if we were presumptuous enough to command all devs to look at the source link, then we probably would. (Do it. Do it.)
Georgia Tech researchers turn an iPhone into a Braille writer with BrailleTouch app
It wasn't all that long ago that we saw a student turn a tablet into a Braille writer, and now some researchers from Georgia Tech have done the same thing for smaller touchscreens, too. The Yellow Jackets produced a prototype app, called BrailleTouch, that has six keys to input letters using the Braille writing system and audio to confirm each letter as it's entered. To use the app, you simply turn the phone face down, hold it in landscape mode and start typing. As you can see above, it's currently running on an iPhone, but the researchers see it as a universal eyes-free texting app for any touchscreen. Early studies with people proficient in Braille writing show that typing on BrailleTouch is six times faster than other eyes-free texting solutions -- up to 32 words per minute at 92 percent accuracy. Skeptical of such speeds? Check out the PR and video of the app in action after the break.
Eyes-Free shell for Android actually delivers on its name
There's certainly no shortage of means to customize your Android experience, but there's few tweaks as innovative as this new Eyes-Free shell developed by Charles Chen and T.V. Raman., which makes the handset more accessible to the blind, or anyone simply looking to make a call without having to divert their attention. As those following Android development may be aware, the underlying code for the shell has actually been available for some time, but it's only just now been made available to general G1-toting public on Android Marketplace. One of the stand-out components is the brilliantly simple dialer, which automatically brings up a 5 no matter where you touch the screen, from which you can then simply slide your finger to dial the rest of the numbers, with an audible click providing some added assurance as you move over the numbers. Things don't stop there, of course, with the shell also able to provide things like single-touch access for the current date and time, audible notifications of battery life and signal strength, and even a mini app that draws on the phone's GPS capabilities to announce your present location. Head on past the break for a quick video of dialer, and dive into the read link below for a more thorough overview.
