Guests and members of the media begin to arrive for the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, with the Civic Center in the background, in San Francisco, Monday, June 13, 2016. (AP Photo/Tony Avelar) Apple's wisecracking digital assistant Siri could have a big role as the company's annual software conference opens in San Francisco.
As voice technology has improved, people are getting more comfortable with services like Siri and the service Google calls "assistant" to interact with online services for entertainment, shopping and the like.
A report by venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins says nearly two-thirds of U.S. smartphone owners used a voice assistant last year—more than double the rate in 2013.
Even so, many people are still reluctant to use voice-enabled services in public settings, like the office or the street. That makes the home an important battleground.
The weeklong Apple Worldwide Developers Conference opens with a keynote Monday.
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