Apple's sweeping new artificial intelligence play takes a page from features introduced by rival tech companies in recent years -- but adds the polished, user-friendly twist that consumers have come to expect from the electronics giant. At the company's annual developer's conference in San Francisco on Monday, Apple executives announced a raft of features in the company's soon-to-be released desktop and mobile operating systems that are powered by artificial intelligence, or the blend of powerful computing capabilities and software algorithms. Such technology can make the phone or other device appear smarter because it anticipates the types of activities people want to do. Apple also said it was opening up many applications to outside developers, including its messaging platform iMessage, Maps and virtual assistant Siri, a departure for the company, which in the past has kept these systems tightly controlled. For Apple, more AI and more integrations with third party services will mean less fatigue for consumers, who are already overwhelmed with too many apps, too many devices, and too much data.

This includes the future of messaging, photos, maps, and more. Apple's developer conference kicked off in San Francisco Monday. SAN FRANCISCO – Apple's developer conference Monday presented an avalanche of evolutionary updates but no broad vision for its future. While many tech world observers had hoped to hear CEO Tim Cook tackle hot topics such as artificial intelligence and virtual reality, he instead kicked off two hours of app-focused upgrades ultimately aimed at making the company's phones and other devices easier to use. Cook and other senior Apple execs talked about how Siri can now be integrated into all apps, Apple Pay can be used on a Mac laptop, Apple Watch is getting faster and Apple Music has gotten a redesign.

Apple to introduce more artificial intelligence Apple chief executive Tim Cook opened the keynote at the WWDC conference in San Francisco Apple is introducing more artificial intelligence to the iPhone and iPad, with devices now able to understand conversations and recognise faces in photos. The technology giant's virtual assistant Siri has been given a major update that now means it can use machine learning to predict words you plan to use in text conversations as well as find faces in your photo albums. Apple chief executive Tim Cook opened the keynote at the WWDC conference in San Francisco by paying tribute to the victims of the Orlando shootings, saying Apple offered its "deepest sympathies to everyone whose lives were touched by the violence". He then led a moment's silence before the event began.

USA TODAY's Jefferson Graham and Jon Swartz offer their take on Apple's WWDC developer conference, and how it stacked up to recent Facebook and Google sessions for developers. SAN FRANCISCO -- We've been here before, crammed in a luxurious theater, music pulsating, fellow reporters tweeting, anxiously awaiting Apple's vision to match the razzle-dazzle from recent Facebook and Google events. At WWDC, Apple's annual conference for software developers, there was a fleeting flash Monday of what it has in story for the "it" technology of the moment: artificial intelligence. For several minutes during a two-hour presentation, Apple offered a glimpse into its immediate plans for Siri, the voice-activated agent that stands to get more relevant with better AI. Siri will be able to scan Apple TV for genre-specific movies, Apple execs said. It will book rides on Uber and Lyft, and will make payments via Square Cash and others.

Apple is working to make its iPhone and other gadgets smarter, responding to competitors' recent moves by building more artificial intelligence into its Siri digital assistant, photos, maps and other online services. The tech giant kicked off its annual software conference by announcing new software features for the Apple Watch and Apple TV, as well, while unveiling a new design for the Apple Music service. It's also extending Apple Pay to the web, so users can pay for purchases made on their Mac computers using the fingerprint authorization on their iPhone or Apple Watch. Most of these new features won't arrive until this fall. At a time when sales of its flagship iPhone are slowing, Apple seemed determined to show that it can make its gadgets indispensable, or at least as useful as its competitors' products.

NEW YORK – In a surprise move, Microsoft said Monday that it is buying LinkedIn for about 26.2 billion, a deal that could bring subtle but significant changes for the professional network's more than 430 million members. LinkedIn will remain an independent unit of Microsoft. It will keep its name, and current CEO Jeff Weiner will stay on and report directly to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. LinkedIn lets members network with other professionals, upload their resumes, catch up on career advice and search for jobs. For Microsoft, the deal presents an opportunity to cement itself as the tech company for the world's professionals, helping them find jobs, learn new skills and do their work.

This includes the future of messaging, photos, maps, and more. Bill Graham Civic Auditorium is the site of Apple's WWDC confeence (Photo: Edward C. Baig) SAN FRANCISCO -- To many of the folks keeping score, Apple was already behind rivals heading into its annual Worldwide Developers Conference here in San Francisco. In the hotbed fields of artificial intelligence, virtual reality and voice response, Apple has lagged Amazon, Google, and Facebook -- even though Apple's Siri was the first to familiarize most people with the idea of a vocal personal assistant. I'm sorry to say that Apple didn't say a peep about VR or AR (augmented reality) during what was a packed two-hour presentation. Or spend much time focused on artificial intelligence.

USA TODAY's Jefferson Graham and Jon Swartz offer their take on Apple's WWDC developer conference, and how it stacked up to recent Facebook and Google sessions for developers. SAN FRANCISCO -- We've been here before, crammed in a luxurious theater, music pulsating, fellow reporters tweeting, anxiously awaiting Apple's vision to match the razzle-dazzle from recent Facebook and Google events. At WWDC, Apple's annual conference for software developers, there was a fleeting flash today of what it has in story for the "it" technology of the moment: artificial intelligence. For several minutes during a two-hour presentation, Apple offered a glimpse into its immediate plans for Siri, the voice-activated agent that stands to get more relevant with better AI. Siri will be able to scan Apple TV for genre-specific movies, Apple execs said. It will book rides on Uber and Lyft, and will make payments via Square Cash and others.

Amazon's virtual helper could learn a skill that some humans have yet to master - detecting a person's irritation and apologizing for it. The e-commerce giant is believed to be using new natural-language processing techniques for Alexa that will allow it to recognize emotional tone and apologize for misunderstandings. Sources say further improvements will help Alexa better communicate by remembering previous conversations and applying this information to subsequent interactions. Amazon is rumoured to be exploring natural-language processing techniques technology for Alexa that will recognizes emotional tone and apologize for misunderstandings. Alexa is the virtual assistant inside Amazon's Echo speaker and its smaller versions, Dot and Tap.

At this morning's annual developer conference, WWDC, the company announced its newest desktop operating system: macOS Sierra, which is slated to be ready for Apple customers this Fall. Although the name Sierra is in step with Apple's naming its desktop clients after California natural landmarks, it also marks a shift in its naming convention more generally: Apple desktop OS has replaced the suffix "X" with the prefix "mac," following the naming convention of the company's other hardware operating systems: tvOS, watchOS, and iOS. Siri joins the desktop OS with this next release. The idea is that you'll be able to use Siri much like you already use Finder and Spotlight, the traditional Apple desktop search engines. You can ask Siri to search for files, switch between apps, and do quick math. It can alos query the Internet and allow you to drag and drop those results into other apps running on your desktop.