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'Siri for Mac' Virtual Assistant Described in New Apple Patent Application

Rumors suggesting Siri will make its way into OS X (http://www.macrumors.com/2012/11/19/os-x-10-9-to-include-siri-and-maps-integration/) have been circulating for years (http://www.macrumors.com/2013/02/05/apple-job-posting-hints-at-siri-for-macs-in-os-x-10-9/), but the personal assistant has yet to debut on the Mac. A new patent application (http://appft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-adv.html&r=2&p=1&f=G&l=50&d=PG01&S1=(345%2F473.CCLS.+AND+20140807.PD.)&OS=ccl/345/473+and+pd/8/7/2014&RS=(CCL/345/473+AND+PD/20140807)) published by the U.S. patent and Trademark Office and spotted by AppleInsider (http://appleinsider.com/articles/14/08/07/apple-details-siri-for-mac-desktop-virtual-assistant-in-new-patent-application-) revives these rumors with the description of an intelligent assistant for the desktop that provides features far beyond the current dictation available in OS X.
 
 (http://cdn.macrumors.com/article-new/2014/08/siri_mac_patent_help.jpg)
 The patent application, which was filed in February of this year and based on a provisional application from a year earlier, describes a system that in one iteration can sit in the dock, waiting for touch input or voice commands to activate a personal assistant in a manner similar to Siri in iOS. The assistant would then perform tasks based on input by the user. The same system can function as a third hand, allowing users to interact physically with a mouse and keyboard while simultaneously performing a secondary task using their voice.

Methods and systems related to interfaces for interacting with a digital assistant in a desktop environment are disclosed. In some embodiments, a digital assistant is invoked on a user device by a gesture following a predetermined motion pattern on a touch-sensitive surface of the user device. In some embodiments, a user device selectively invokes a dictation mode or a command mode to process a speech input depending on whether an input focus of the user device is within a text input area displayed on the user device. In some embodiments, a digital assistant performs various operations in response to one or more objects being dragged and dropped onto an iconic representation of the digital assistant displayed on a graphical user interface. In some embodiments, a digital assistant is invoked to cooperate with the user to complete a task that the user has already started on a user device.

(http://cdn.macrumors.com/article-new/2014/08/siri_mac_patent_globe.jpg)
 Though Apple is bringing some aspects of iOS to OS X such as Reminders, Apple has yet to integrate Siri into its desktop platform. The feature was not mentioned when Apple unveiled OS X Yosemite (http://www.macrumors.com/2014/06/02/apple-announces-os-x-yosemite/), and there is no known evidence in the current beta version (http://www.macrumors.com/2014/08/04/apple-yosemite-developer-preview-5/) of Yosemite that suggests Apple may integrate its personal assistant into future versions of the desktop OS. Still, it is clear Apple is thinking about ways to bring Siri-like features to OS X.
 
 
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Source: 'Siri for Mac' Virtual Assistant Described in New Apple Patent Application (http://www.macrumors.com/2014/08/07/siri-for-mac-patent/)