Speech on Windows Phone, Siri on the iPhone, and Voice Search on Android. Photo: Ariel Zambelich / Wired

One year ago, Mat Honan argued that Siri was “often quite dumb.” What are your thoughts? Are personal digital assistants ready for prime-time?

The post “Siri, When Will Personal Digital Assistants Finally Work?” appeared first on Hotwired.

A 1952 patent for a “Vertically adjustable work holder and support therefore, including motor mount.” Image: US Patent Office

We already know the patent system is broken. And it desperately needs to be fixed: Patents affect and will continue to affect nearly every technology business or product we use. So for the next few weeks, Wired is running a special series of expert opinions – representing perspectives from academia to corporations to other organizations — proposing specific solutions to the patent problem.

Here’s the first article in the series. Leave your thoughts in the comments section below.

The post Let’s Go Back to Patenting the ‘Solution,’ Not the ‘Problem’ appeared first on Hotwired.

The development of Assassin’s Creed III spanned several continents and involved hundreds of people working for three years.
Image: Ubisoft

That’s a big claim. But whether you agree or not, one thing is clear: video game consoles have changed in recent years. The rise of higher quality tablet games has put the squeeze on both manufacturers, who now cram more and more multimedia functionality into their consoles, and developers, who are cornering the expensive, high-end game market, in an attempt to stay relevant. Is the console as we know it fighting a losing battle?

The post Consolation Prize: The Game Console Is Dead. What Will Replace It? appeared first on Hotwired.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer talks about the future of Windows at the Consumer Electronics Show in January 2011. Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

Microsoft is about to have its biggest product release in nearly 20 years. Before the end of the month, Windows 8, Windows RT, Surface RT, and Windows Phone 8 will all launch. While you can already pre-order some of these products right now, the party’s really just getting started.

But are they already screwing it up?

The post Why Windows Just Can’t Win appeared first on Hotwired.