Hey Siri!

Imagine controlling your whole boat from your back deck sun pad. With voice-activated technology, it soon might be possible.

By Craig Ritchie

We use voice controls to make phone calls from the car and to control things like lights and HVAC in our homes. Now the technology is poised to make boating easier and more convenient than ever.

Apple made a huge splash when it unveiled its then-revolutionary digital assistant, Siri, back in 2011 with the launch of its iPhone 4S. Former Apple CEO Steve Jobs had acquired the company that developed the voice control technology one year earlier, and person­ally oversaw its integration into Apple’s newest iPhone. At the official grand unveiling, tech fans gasped in delight as Jobs and Apple’s then-COO Tim Cook stood on opposite ends of a stage, Jobs voiced the command “Hey Siri, call Tim,” and Cook’s phone began to ring.

Just three short years later, Amazon’s virtual assistant, Alexa, made its global debut and forever changed the way we do things in the home.

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