Tomorrow’s the big day, and boy, are people fired up: There’s the Siri co-founder who’s convinced Apple’s announcement will change the world, the company willing to fork over billions for a (big) piece of the action, and the familiar face that may make an appearance. I don’t know about you, but the remainders for Monday, October 3, 2011 have fallen prey to the hype.
Co-Founder of Siri: Assistant launch is a “World-Changing Event” (9to5 Mac)
Could Apple’s (supposedly) forthcoming Assistant feature change the very fabric of our world? The co-founder of virtual personal assistant software Siri certainly thinks so. Norman Winarsky told 9to5 Mac in an interview on Monday that he not only thinks the feature will be nifty, it’ll be “a world-changing event.” Why? Because, says he, “if the rumors are true, Apple will enable millions upon millons of people to interact with machines with natural language.” Yes, yes, I know I should be scared about the doomsday potential of intelligent AI, but that fear is being shouted down by the thought of having an R2 unit inside my phone.
Sprint scores iPhone 5 exclusive thanks to $20 billion deal with Apple? (BGR)
To add another bit of fuel to the “One iPhone, or two?” fire, Sprint has supposedly guaranteed itself exclusivity to Apple’s iPhone 5—by agreeing to purchase $20 billion worth of the new handsets (30 million units, give or take) over the next four years. Oh, is that all?
Steve Jobs ‘expected’ to appear at Apple’s iPhone 5 event (AppleInsider)
Though he’s ceded the limelight to Tim Cook, it looks like dear old Steve may not be able to stay away entirely—according to a report from Reuters, Apple’s former CEO may appear at tomorrow’s presentation. I’m hoping for a bungee drop from the rafters, but I’d settle for a nice FaceTime chat.