WWDC 2016: Siri is coming to desktops, laptops

Apple's virtual assistant, Siri, is coming to desktop and laptop computers. The digital assistant, first introduced on Apple's iPhones in 2011, will now be available in Apple's operating system for Macs, Apple announced at its Worldwide Developers Conference today.

That follows a trend in which Microsoft and Google have built similar voice services to their operating systems for computers. Microsoft added its digital assistant, Cortana, to the Windows 10 operating system released last year. It's activated when users say "Hey Cortana."

Apple CEO Tim Cook reacts while observing a moment of silence in remembrance of the victims of the mass shooting in Orlando, Fla., at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference, Monday, June 13, 2016, in San Francisco. (Tony Avelar/Associated Press)

Google also offers voice commands in its Chrome operating system. It added the ability to respond to a spoken "OK Google" in 2014, but removed that feature a year later, saying not many people used it. Chrome users can still click on a microphone icon to activate voice commands.

Apple's new Mac system will be called macOS Sierra and will likely come out this fall.

Other updates include features that will allow users to moves more seamlessly between different kinds of Apple devices. It will help people move more files to the internet and have let users log in without a password.

TvOS update

Apple is also making it easier to use its Apple TV set-top box as the new hub of a digital home.

The new version of the tvOS system will enable you to sign in once to access multiple apps from various TV network providers. It's also adding services like Dish's Sling TV and Fox Sports Go.

There's also better integration with the Siri voice assistant. You can launch live TV viewing with voice command and search YouTube and the iTunes store for videos using Siri.

The company also enabled Apple TV to interact with photos stored in Apple's online locker, iCloud, and interact with smart home devices such as thermostats that use the company's HomeKit platform.

Fitness tracking for wheelchair users

Apple also announced an upcoming Apple Watch feature that will offer fitness tracking for wheelchair users. Instead of standing breaks, people in wheelchairs will be prompted to wheel or spin their chairs around regularly. Apple will also start tracking distance, speed and calories burned during wheelchair use, just as it does for walking or running.

The efforts could give Apple's smartwatch an image boost over stand-alone fitness trackers such as Fitbit, though the target market isn't likely large enough to significantly lift sales. In the first three months of the year, three Fitbits shipped worldwide for every Apple Watch, according to research group IDC. Apple hasn't released sales figures for its watch.

A free software update, watchOS 3.0, expected later this year, will allow Apple Watch to track the fitness activity of wheelchair users. (Koji Sasahara/Associated Press)

Jeff Williams, Apple's chief operating officer, said the feature isn't about market opportunities.

"We want to make products that serve every walk of life," Williams said in an interview. "We realize that while it was great for messages on the wrist, we wanted to offer this group of people the same opportunity to get healthier using Apple Watch."

Apple partnered with two groups that promote physical fitness in disability populations, the Lakeshore Foundation of Birmingham, Alabama, and the Challenged Athletes Foundation of San Diego. The two groups recruited about 300 people in wheelchairs for more than 3,000 hours of activity research.

Jeff Underwood, Lakeshore's president and CEO, said wheelchair users tend to be more sedentary than the general population because they face more barriers to physical activity. Although having a fitness device alone won't make someone fit, he said, having one sends a message that inactivity shouldn't be the norm.

The feature is part of a free software update, watchOS 3.0, expected later this year. No new hardware is required.

The $300 US-and-up Apple Watch appears to be the first fitness device to offer extensive wheelchair capabilities. GPS wristwatches can measure distance and speed fairly accurately, but calorie measurements assume moving the entire body, said Dawna Callahan, a four-time wheelchair finisher in the Boston Marathon and director of programs at Challenged Athletes. In addition, GPS devices aren't good for all-day tracking because of battery constraints.

Apple largely had to start from scratch because past scientific studies on burning calories weren't designed with wheelchair subjects. The company couldn't simply translate formulas meant for walking and running.

For one thing, people push their wheelchairs differently when approaching a ramp or circumventing an obstacle. Apple also had to factor in different seat and wheel heights and different surfaces, like carpeting or asphalt. And some formulas change depending on whether the disability is from a spinal-cord injury or muscular dystrophy.

"The more you look into it, the harder and more challenging you realize it was," said Ron Huang, Apple's director of software engineering for location and motion technologies.

Moment of silence

Apple CEO Tim Cook opened the company's annual software conference by acknowledging Sunday's mass shooting in Orlando, Florida.

Cook said Apple is offering its "deepest sympathies to everyone whose lives were touched by this violence." He called the shooting a "senseless, unconscionable act of terrorism and hate aimed at dividing and destroying."

He noted that Apple makes a point of celebrating its diversity and asked the crowd to rise and take part in a moment of silence.