Since Siri debuted on the iPhone 4S, voice assistants have become all the rage, with Amazon, Google, and Microsoft all following suit. Apple put Siri on the Apple Watch and the fourth-generation Apple TV, and rumors suggest that Siri may come to the Mac in the next version of OS X. A survey of 500 consumers by research firm Creative Strategies shows that most people have at least tried Siri, with only 2 percent of iPhone users having never used Apple’s digital assistant. How heavily is Siri actually used, and in what contexts? According to the study, 70 percent of iPhone owners use Siri only infrequently, which is a little sad to hear, but the more interesting statistic to emerge is that many iPhone users are too embarrassed to talk to Siri in public, with a vanishingly small 3 percent of iPhone users saying they do so. This might account in part for why the living-room–based Amazon Echo is doing so well — 39 percent of smartphone consumers say they use voice assistants at home. The primary place people are happy to talk to their technology? 51 percent of respondents used voice assistants in the car, where hands-free control is essential. And where no one can hear you.

 

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Mark Wilson quotes a report from BetaNews: The controversial Snooper's Charter -- or the Investigatory Powers Bill as it is officially known -- has been voted into law by UK MPs. An overwhelming majority of politicians (444 to 69) voted in favor of the bill which has been roundly criticized by both the public and technology companies. The Investigatory Powers Bill grants the UK government, security, and intelligence agencies greater powers for monitoring internet usage, as well as permitting bulk data collection and remote hacking of smartphones. The law allows for the kind of mass surveillance that Edward Snowden warned about, and while the bill may have passed a majority vote, there are still those who fear not enough has been done to safeguard individuals' privacy.

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Pedro Pablo Kuczynski's camp claims victory as over 97 percent of the ballots in from Sunday's runoff have been counted.

Clinton has won three million more votes than her rival Bernie Sanders and is well ahead in the pledged delegate count.

At least 32 killed and thousands flee in the wake of attack in Bosso town on Nigeria-Niger border.

Speaker of the US House of Representatives says Trump's comments were racist but will still support him.

Long-time Slashdot reader schwit1 shares a Gizmodo report: Starting today, it appears the U.S. military will be testing a device or devices that will potentially jam GPS signals for six hours each day. We say "appears" because officially the tests were announced by the FAA but are centered near the U.S. Navy's largest installation, China Lake, Californi -- home to the Navy's 1.1 million acre Naval Air Weapons Center in the Mojave Desert. And the Navy won't tell us much about what's going on. The FAA issued an advisory warning pilots on Saturday that global positioning systems (GPS) could be unreliable during six different days this month, primarily in the Southwestern United States. On June 7, 9, 21, 23, 28, and 30th the GPS interference testing(PDF) will be taking place between 9:30am and 3:30pm Pacific time. But if you're on the ground, you probably won't notice interference.

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Once an icon in the smartphone business, BlackBerry is having a hard time transitioning to Android. According to a report on CNET, the company's BlackBerry Priv Android smartphone, citing a high-level executive at AT&T, is really struggling. From the report: AT&T offered a more detailed account of why the Priv has disappointed. BlackBerry and the carrier expected to see demand for an Android phone with a physical keyboard. Instead, most of the buyers were BlackBerry loyalists, the executive said. Those faithful, however, struggled with the transition from the BlackBerry operating system to the Android operating system, leading to a higher-than-expected rate of return. BlackBerry's decision to market the phone as a high-end device also hurt its prospects, the executive said. The Priv initially sold unlocked for $699, above the starting price of the iPhone 6S, which sells for $650. Few premium phones have fared well beyond devices from Apple and Samsung.

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