Here are today’s Apple rumors and AAPL stock items.
Siri Gets New Job as Shopping Assistant: Apple’s creepy, popular voice-controlled personal assistant on the iPhone 4S, Siri, is about to get an upgrade if a patent application detailed by Apple Insider is any indication. The “Intelligent Automated Assistant” patent describes many of Siri’s existing features, but also describes a number of enhancements that may be included in future updates. While Siri can’t complete online transactions now–she responds with a terse “Sorry, I can’t purchase that.”–the application claims that the assistant can be used for “online purchases of items such as books, DVDs, music, and the like.” With a product lineup like that, Siri should be hugely useful at a Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) in 2002. Jokes aside, Siri can already browse items available on Best Buy’s web outlet, even though it can’t purchase those items. More information on Siri’s evolution will no doubt be revealed when Apple announces the next iterations of its iPad and iPhone later this year.
Apple Announces iBooks 2: Apple unveiled the second generation of its e-book reading app, iBooks 2, at a media event on Thursday. The updated app is built with textbook publishing and usage on the iPad in mind. A live demo of iBooks 2 was conducted onstage to show off a media rich biology textbook that included computer generated images of subjects like human cells, interactive review questions, note-taking features, and more. Phil Schiller, vice president of worldwide marketing at Apple, boasted that the iPad already supports 20,000 education apps and that 1.5 million tablets are already being used in education. The textbook industry represents a promising new revenue stream for Apple. College textbook sales alone totaled $4.5 billion last year.
AT&T to Introduce new iPhone, iPad Data Plans: On Wednesday AT&T (NYSE:T) announced on its website a slate of new data plans for its connected handheld users. The tiered plans give smartphone users 300MB of data usage per month for $20, 3GB for $30, and 5GB, as well as mobile hotspot functionality, for $50 per month. An additional 1GB of data can be added for $10 on larger plans. The tablet plans are the same, save for the lack of a 300MB plan. Existing customers can choose to keep their current data plan when the new pricing goes into effect, on Jan. 22. For industry followers, the new plan structure is notable because it will likely be the first of many offered by the larger telecoms in the U.S. With smartphone and tablet usage becoming ubiquitous and replacing traditional cellphones, telecoms will have to continue experimenting with how to maximize profits while also limiting the usage burdens customers may face on choked 3G networks and growing 4G networks.
As of this writing, Anthony John Agnello did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned stocks. Follow him on Twitter at @ajohnagnello and become a fan of InvestorPlace on Facebook. For more from the company, check out our previous Apple Rumors stories.
