Apple's OS X 10.9 to include Siri and Maps integration

Jos

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Apple’s OS X 10.9 is still a ways off -- it should arrive in third quarter of 2013 if the company sticks to its schedule from the past few releases. But early builds are already in testing and apparently they continue the theme of bringing iOS features into the desktop. According to 9to5Mac, both Siri and the widely criticized Maps are being integrated into the next version of the Mac operating system.

Apple already took the first step in bringing its iPhone and iPad voice assistance to the desktop with the addition of Dictation in OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion. But rather than just transcribing speech into text, Siri integration would presumably enable voice-command and search functionality for Mac users. As far as Maps is concerned, it’s unclear if the company will introduce a stand alone application or just a framework to let developers make use of the feature within their own applications -- most likely it will be the latter, at least initially.

The report notes that whether or not the features make it to the final version depends on how well they do in testing. The move shouldn’t come as a surprise, however. Apple has been bringing iOS features to OS X for the last couple of releases, including Notification Center, AirPlay, Game Center, Reminders, and Notes.

Although Maps and Siri have received their fair share of criticism -- more so the former -- Apple is working hard to improve quality and accuracy and eventually they’ll be ready for more widespread availability. In the meantime Apple is building out massive data centers to ensure they can handle the ever-growing traffic.

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