Today, Apple Insider reported that Apple had been granted a patent that would allow a voice recognition system to identify a user based on their speech and perform tasks based on who is speaking. This could be the framework for Apple to offer multi-user support with Siri. Right now, Siri will answer to whomever is speaking. This system would allow a user to set up profiles on their phone, and Siri could match the voice of whoever is speaking to the onboard profiles and customize responses. For example, a phone's primary user could restrict calendar or message access to protect information they'd like to keep private.

Price: £89.99Amazon's second-generation Echo is a revamped version of the device that invented the whole category of smart speakers in 2014. The new Echo is smaller, better sounding and better looking, in a choice of fabric or wood finishes. What makes the Echo great is Amazon's virtual assistant, Alexa. A ring of seven microphones in the top listens out for your choice of wake word – the default is simply "Alexa" – before sending what you say to Amazon's servers for interpretation. Alexa can almost always hear you including over music noise as loud as an extractor fan and from pretty far away.

It's the speaker to beat in terms of audio but being locked in to Apple services is frustrating and its voice assistant is lacking Tue 13 Feb 2018 02.00 EST Last modified on Tue 13 Feb 2018 02.02 EST After much anticipation, and speculation that Apple has missed the boat and handed victory to Amazon's champion Echo, the HomePod smart speaker is finally here. But is it actually any good? And why exactly does it cost four times as much as an Echo? The HomePod is a voice-controlled speaker that listens out for its wakeword "Hey, Siri" and then starts streaming what you say to Apple to interpret your commands and play whatever it is you wish. The fabric-covered cylinder stands an iPhone X-and-a-bit tall (172mm) with a diameter of an iPhone X (142mm), weighing 2.5kg (14.4 times the iPhone X).

Go ahead and ask Siri, "When is WWDC?" The AI will happily tell you the event "will be held June 13 through June 17 in San Francisco. The keynote will be held the first day of the event, and that's when we expect to hear about new Macbooks and operating systems. It's expected the beta version of iOS 10 will be released around the time of the event with the official launch of iOS 10 in the Fall. Expectations for the latest iOS are definitely high; here's the ten features we want to see in iOS 10.